Blonde

This movie gives us Marilyn Monroe's life in the series of events that are most famous to US - the audience. They mimic many moments that we should know (like "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend," MM walking out of City Hall after marrying Arthur Miller, MM singing to JFK). Why? To keep us entertained by showing us just HOW much Poppy Montgomery looks like the wondrous Marilyn Monroe. And...she does. Poppy succeeded in this role because she wasn't intimidated by the part...and I read somewhere that she was always obsessed with Monroe, so that probably helped.

This bio is definitely not bad. It has moments of pure brilliance. One of the last scenes, where Marilyn is on the ferris wheel & she runs away from the carnival barefoot to the dark road - it was one of the most fascinating, ingenious scenes in the entire movie. ALSO, I was surprised by the kink-factor of this CBS television mini-series. Now, MM on the beach having a threesome with the insinuations of oral sex...it definitely added an unexpected element to the film. But it shouldn't surprise us, since her business WAS sex. That trait payed her bills.

"Blonde," by the end, portrayed MM as a rent-a-kitten. DiMaggio got her for a while. Then Arthur Miller had his turn. Did all these people just want ownership rights to her like she was some convenient muse that they couldn't exist without but ended up unable to exist with? This I don't understand. Was it all about her genetically impossible, intimidating high standard of beauty? A form of self-sabotage? Her life seems impossible, which can only mean she had some form of depression or paranoia (inherited from her mother). The film shows this well in the end. She was crazy. Normal people just don't live that way. That's why she is so untouchable and fascinating to us still - because we can't make any sense of her. She's a complicated, perplexing, confusingly self-denying girl that we can't get out of our heads. If only we could FIX her, we think. If only we put that missing puzzle piece in, then she'd be all right. Then we could have peace of mind.

So, was this only an act? Marilyn was smart...did she know this affect she had on people? Were WE her toys instead of vice versa? It would be a conspiracy, but I believe Marilyn Monroe was an extremely strong person that made fools of us all. If in fact she enjoyed any of it, then this was her strange fetish: to always play the role of the little girl. Her forever game of pretend.

Poppy Montgomery did a great job as Marilyn. The one thing she lacked, though, is MM's silent intelligence. But otherwise, it's very obvious Montgomery worked hard and did the part with a respectful devotion to Monroe...and it succeeded. And, I also believe, the character of Monroe must be a very pleasurable role to portray...so don't tell me that Marilyn Monroe herself didn't enjoy being in her own skin. I think she liked it more than we've led ourselves to believe.

I am a person very much intrigued by the great Marilyn Monroe.I have seen her at her best and at her worst and like most people know about her life,her demons and her dreams.Considering we know all this,this movie seems to offer us nothing new.It fails to create the glamour of the golden years of Hollywood,it fails to portray the kind of Marilyn the world didn't know and worse yet the movie consists of more fiction than fact,and when one sits down to watch a movie portraying the life of one of Hollywood's greatest that can get pretty annoying(especially if one has to ask the person sitting next to you,"Did that really happen?")This is the first movie I have watched on Monroe's life and I awaited it with great anticipation.....but I was very disappointed.

Apart from Poppy Montgomery's good performance,the rest was unimpressive.The movie also left me thinking "Surely being Marilyn Monroe would not have been all that bad?"

Not a bad biopic - though, not being a fanatic, I can't vouch for the accuracy. Although long (over 3 hours) time passed quickly - borne along by the appealing performance of Poppy Montgomery as MM.

I've never see her before, but will look out for her in the future after this convincing performance. Interestingly, her portrayal of the younger Norma Jean seemed to better capture the essence of Marilyn's fragile appeal than the later scenes when she became "Marilyn".

As for the production itself, the script was effective (if a bit tame) and the inhumanity of the Hollywood Machine was well portrayed. The supporting cast gave workmanlike performances too - but with Poppy on screen in almost every scene, who's going to waste time looking at them?!!

This may be called a fictional account of the life of Norma Jean Baker, and there appears to be mixed reviews on the accuracy of the events, as well as on whether or not Ms. Montgomery's performance truly represented Marilyn Monroe's hardships. I think the naysayers are paying more attention to the difference in the two women's physical attributes or lack thereof in Poppy Montgomery's walk and sexiness.

I have seen enough of Marilyn Monroe's movies and it is my opinion that Poppy Montgomery nailed Ms. Monroe's emotions and voice perfectly. The mini series itself was not very deep but some times a persons true to life story is not all that appealing. Having a mother who could not even take care of herself, is not a real endearing event to have to portray through a 36 year period which was the time of Ms Monroe's actual death.

What we did glean from this mini series is the physical and sexual abuse Norma Jean tolerated from most of the men that came (and went) in to her life. Drug and alcohol dependency was her escapism and Poppy's portrayal of the torment experienced by Ms Monroe came through as close to reality as possible.

I did notice the absence of any portrayal of either of the two Kennedy brothers (John F. and Robert Kennedy) who were strongly rumored to have both shared her bed. This may be a result of the strength that politicians and the Kennedy name still maintained over the studio to this day to keep the good name of the Kennedy's out of the tabloids and may well be the reason for Ms. Monroe's premature demise as alluded to near the end of the movie.

In summary, Poppy Montgomery may not have the physical attributes of Marilyn Monroe, but she studied well the mannerisms and speech of the famous star to provide a very accurate portrayal of Norma Jean Baker through her adult life, and the relationships with the key men in her life.

The intention of this film was not to be a bio-pic. It's not a chronology of her life like the many other Marilyn films. The purpose of this film was to do a psychological study of this woman and her life. I thought it was exceptional concept and very well executed. It was a refreshing derivative from the trite superficial Marilyn bio-pics that are too numerous to mention. If you want to understand the real human being beneath the celluloid and make-up...this is the one to watch.