Blonde

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?!!

I read Marilyn Monroe's biography when I was 20.

Her life is so dramatic and she is very humane, intelligent, artistic and sensitive,susceptible.Her pain and dream, eagerness for life, family, love,,, all of things touched my mind.

She is full of contradiction, and so many faces,,, her image betrays her inner self-like many others actually,,,but She exposed other people's eyes, always center of rumor.

This film is better than "Norma Jean& Marilyn' . That was boring. Ashley Judd, Mira Sorvino can't express effectively Marilyn's character. Poppy Montgomery reflects Maryilyn's more humane side, her loneliness and sensibility more persuasive.

This film's strong point is well describing her childhood. Her childhood formed, explained her later life. But her adult life, so many things abbreviated. And Marilyn is described as just very weak, nervous breakdown person. I'm sorry about that. I think She always struggled, made effort to overcome her obstacle. She is nervous but at the same time, very strong.

Anyhow this movie is a catalyzed of memory. I remind of her once again.

I was going to blast this movie as completely garbage when I read some of the other reviews here---one in particular that said plainly and clearly that the viewer must remember that this is a work of pure fiction. On that basis, the movie has its good points. But fiction or not, the real characters in Marilyn Monroe's life are still portrayed here and not thinly disguised either. I often think a good movie is one that makes you think about it and stays with you after the ending. This is what happened to me, so I changed my mind about how I feel about it. I have been thinking about Blonde (a dull and unimaginative title---why the writers did not come up with something less lame is foremost in my mind) and have come to the conclusion that it does have merits. The actress, Poppy Montgomery, I never heard of her, but that is beside the point, does resemble Marilyn in some shots while in others, you are looking at a bad costume job. The wigs in this movie were horrible and so stiff and completely absurd in some shots. It was pleasant to hear the real Marilyn sing Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend, but Montgomery was no dancer and the dubbing was inconsistent. Still I praise her performance. She portrays the vulnerability that Marilyn had, but she does not give off any backbone--or maybe that is the point. I do not know if that was her intention to portray Marilyn as weak. Maybe her weakness helped destroy her. I do not know. I do recommend this movie, but with the warning that it is fiction. I never read the book and have no desire to. I have read many biographies of Monroe, so if you are looking for the real life story of Marilyn, this is not the place to start.

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.

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.