El misterio de Natalie Wood

The actress who played Natalie Wood is a twin. There were parts in the movie where I wasn't sure if they were using footage of the real Natalie Wood. Case in point when she was playing Maria in West Side Story. The camera was showing her singing and I thought it was really Natalie Wood. Not only does she was very good in the part. Many a time they find a actor who looks like the person they are portraying but they can't act. This actress even had her walk down pat. I liked the movie it was no worse then some biops. Her mother was a nutcase. I would of liked to see more of her older sister Olga who I hear is still alive and who she was very close to. The actor who played Warren Beatty was very good, BUT I was not crazy about Michael Weatherly's portrayal of Wagner. I remember Wagner being very cute, thin and boyish even when he was in his 30's. Weatherly looked more like someone from Baywatch. I like Weatherly I watched him since he was on Loving. But not in this role. Also I would love to see what RJ has to say about this movie because he was not seen in a good light IMHO. God I remember when she died. I have been a fan of hers since I saw her in Miracle or 34th St. I felt on screen she really was able to transpire herself from a child actor to a adult very smoothly, like Elizabeth Taylor. Splendor in the Grass and WSS are my two of my favorite movies. I like the way the movie didn't try to smooth out the details of what might of happened the night she died. Try and clean it up. Natalie Wood was a drinker and RJ was a jerk who anyone probably would of tried to get away from. I myself of would of swam to shore in a hale storm to get away for RJ if he truly acted the way the movie showed. I remember hearing about her having a affair with Walken. But why would Walken go on a boating trip with them if it was true and knowing how much a jerk RJ was. And why would RJ have him on his boat. I always thought that was strange, the movie really didn't clear that up. But over all I like the reality footage mixed up with the movie footage. I enjoyed it enough to keep me watching for 3 hours.

There are several really good things about this TV biopic and a few not-so-good things. On the plus side, director Bogdanovich has given the standard approach a bit of a spin with snippets of interviews from actual people who knew the subject and inserts of photos and clips of the actual star to help move the story along. Also, Waddell (as Natalie Wood) gives a very strong performance in a challenging role. Almost (but not quite) matching her is Weatherly as the love of her life Robert Wagner. Both of these actors have obviously spent a great deal of time studying their subjects and perfecting their body language, mannerisms and voices (particularly Weatherly.) The film also has a generous running time to help keep the story from being rushed and hacked to death in order to squeeze it in to the usual two-hour TV-movie slot. On the negative side, Wood's mother has been presented like something out of a Hans Christian Anderson horror story. Her portrayal is so unrelentingly domineering and menacing that it borders on cartoonish and ridiculous....not balanced much at all. Also, the hair and make-up people have sorely let down Waddell's accomplished performance. Years go by and Waddell has the exact same length of hair and basic style, yet Wood was a chameleon with her hair and the pictures that are continuously flashed on the screen confirm this. Also, Wood ALWAYS, even swimming, had thick black eyeliner on her lower lids. Waddell is never made up this way. The eyes are all wrong throughout the movie. So this detracts somewhat from what could have been a downright eerie resemblance because she manages it several times anyway. More than once, it's hard to believe that it isn't Natalie Wood (and Robert Wagner) on the screen. Several other star impersonations crop up. Some are really pretty good (Marilyn Monroe, Warren Beatty, Sal Mineo, James Dean), others are completely, utterly WRONG (Joan Collins - Attention hair and make-up! - Her engagement picture to Warren Beatty is right in the middle of her autobiography. Look it up!) Enough decent moments occur in the film to warrant seeing it and there's a right-on portrayal of Wood's younger sister Lana (the actress bears a strong resemblance to the real lady.) After all is said and done, though, the audience has only learned a little of what made Wood tick and there's only fabrication about how she died.

I loved watching this on cable. I'm astounded by Justine Waddell's performance. Not only is she a Brit coping with a flawless American accent but she brings such warmth and charisma to the late, great star. There are times when you're watching the movie when you don't know if its her or the late Natalie Wood on screen. In particular there is a scene in West Side Story that's eerie. And a moving scene when she calls her mother that seems to come straight from Inside Daisy Clover. The script certainly isn't the best and the direction is hackneyed. Great actors like Alice Krige come off as ghoulish stereotypes. But watch it for Justine, her beauty, her talent and her ability to deal delicately with dark subject matter are totally apparent.

As far as I am concerned, Robert Wagner and Natalie Wood were the perfect Hollywood couple, who had their ups and downs like any other marriage. Michael Weatherly (Robert Wagner),"Trigger Happy",'01, did a fantastic job of acting like Bob Wagner and was able to show great emotions when Natalie had her first child and it was not his child, which he wanted it to be. Later on in their second marriage they were able to have a child from their "Second Time Around Marriage". Matthew Settle( Warren Beatty),"The In Crowd",'2000, portrayed a great role when he was asking Natalie to appear in his film "Bonnie & Clyde", in which she declined. Justine Waddell(Natalie Wood),"Anna Karenina",'97 was outstanding in her performance and was radiant in every scene. I never realized what a horrible effect Natalie's mother had in her life and the evil control she had over everything she did. In this TV film, you really have to draw your own conclusions as to what really happened to Natalie Wood and READ BETWEEN THE LINES! in order to come to an honest Ending to this story!

...then I'll have to take this movie's word for it. "The Mystery of Natalie Wood" did actually do a pretty good job showing her life and death. Justine Waddell, as Natalie Wood, does look almost exactly like her. As for some aspects, I never knew that her mother Maria (Alice Krige) pushed her so hard to be famous (or pushed her at all), or that Ms. Wood got raped when she was young. As for the death scene...well, I guess that Natalie Wood's death will remain a mystery, and they had to choose something to portray. Probably taking a cue from "Reds", director Peter Bogdanovich interviews some people who knew her (most notably "West Side Story" co-star George Chakiris). A well-done biography, if nothing else.