The Notorious Bettie Page (2005)

This film could have stood to be a tad more notorious...

Some films suffer from a heavy hand; direction that is too concentrated on a deep and meaningful delivery that the real meat of the film finds itself bogged down by a self-imposed dramatics. That is not that case with `The Notorious Betty Page'. There is a completely different problem running through the veins of this film. `The Notorious Betty Page' suffers from direction that takes its material too lightly, making what could have been a deeper and more meaningful biopic feel almost hollow in parts. It's very point-by-point and at times very vapid.

That isn't to say that it isn't somewhat enjoyable, and it certainly has its highlights, but as a whole `The Notorious Betty Page' could have and should have been `fuller'.

The film centers around none other than Betty Page, the famous pin-up queen who used her body and `god given talent to pose for men' to catapult her name and image onto the covers of magazines and the minds of men everywhere. The film spends a few minutes giving us a little background information on Betty's childhood and adolescence before throwing us into her quick ascent into the world of adult entertainment.

Above anything else one must notice the brilliant performance given by Gretchen Mol. Her portrayal of Betty Page is phenomenally on point, never wavering from her grasp of her characters inner struggles with life in general. She manages to capture the air of the era (a feat captured by actresses like Julianne Moore in `Far From Heaven'), delving into a more mannered delivery, yet she remains fresh and natural, allowing her characters naivety and innocence to permeate her delivery and flourish within each scene. When Page is behind the camera Mol comes to life, vibrant and casual and gallant, but she also manages to capture Page's separation from character, which can be seen in moments when she is confronted by fans of her work.

`The Notorious Betty Page' plays a little like `Ed Wood' meets `Gia' with the story gutted from it. The direction has the air of Burton's masterpiece (both are shot in black & white and both capture the very mood of the time period) and the `rise to fame' story has draws to `Gia' (of course without the drug use) but `The Notorious Betty Page' feels empty in ways that neither of the other two films ever felt. It's sad because Betty's lifestyle could have used a little heavier handling, for it would have added a darker edge that could have elevated the film, adding some depth. Instead the film carries with it the same naivety that Page herself depended on and so the film winds up merely mirroring its star; albeit that the star fairs much better than the film itself.

`The Notorious Betty Page' is light frothy fun, but if you are wanting a more in depth study of character then there are certainly other biopic's to chose from (the two I mentioned in particular are great examples). Gretchen Mol gets a clear `A' from me, but the film itself lands at the high end of a `C'. August 6, 2008

Ugh. Don't even rent this one.

To be fair, I didn't view this entire movie. I couldn't finish it. Although the camera work is lovely, the costumes are beautiful and accurate, and Ms. Mol made a fabulous Bettie, this movie does not do the famous pin-up queen any justice. Flashbacks of her early life are pitiful-poor young Bettie the victim is mistreated by one man after another, pouting and crying. She was a strong woman in reality, but this film presents her as an abused creature to be pitied. Although it is never stated, the movie implies that the reason she got in to fetish modeling was a direct result of her abusive and tumultous childhood. Blech. This film is rather entertaining to look at but if you really want to get a sense of who Bettie Page was, look somewhere else. July 8, 2008

Wonderful Acting and Period Detail: Still Bettie Page Remains an Elusive Figure

I can say two things about this film. Gretchen Mol did a brilliant job for "The Notorious Bettie Page," a bio-pic of the "Pin-Up Queen" or cult pop culture icon, directed by Mary Harron ("American Psycho"). Shot part in black and white, and part in color (and the colors you see here are soft like Technicolor), the film is also benefited from its period detail of the 1950s.

And what else? Not much. The film follows the events that happened in her younger days in Nashville and, though Mary Harron uses a restrained approach in showing them, some of them are truly painful ones. It also gives a portrait of Bettie Page in New York City where she begins taking acting lessons. She also poses and wields a whip before camera, but sweet-natured Bettie is also a very religious person. And as you know, she suddenly vanishes from the public eye.

Certainly "The Notorious Bettie Page" shows the life story of Bettie and her amiable personality, but they are described in a rather detached way. For all the superb performances from Gretchen Mol, we cannot relate to the person we are supposed to be interested in. Moreover, supporting characters are mostly flat. This is regrettable because we are not allowed to know Bettie through dialogues or emotional interactions with her and the film also misses the chance to explore the business world of photos and films Bettie Page appeared - Chris Bauer and Lili Taylor as Irving and Paula Klaw deserve more time.

The film gives few clues to understand her as a real person or cultural icon. The issue of censorship is only briefly touched in the "frame" section of the story. The film gives no answer as to why Bettie Page could attain such a unique status in pop culture history, but that is OK. After all, this is a biographical film about a real woman, but sadly the film does not show much about who Bettie Page really was, or how come she could be called "notorious." April 1, 2008

you're forced to watch the trailers

I'm a diehard pinup fan and love this movie. However, I HATE the DVD. They made it so that when you put in the DVD and the trailers for 3 other movies start playing, you can't go to the menu, you can't skip, you can't fast-forward, you can't even pause! Is this what DVDs are coming to? Forced preview watching? I'm disgusted with HBO, or whoever is responsible for this decision. February 10, 2008

Great Buy!

Great movie and in great condition. Speedy service and a pleasure to do business with. January 24, 2008

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