Love, Marilyn

If Marilyn Monroe were alive today she'd be 90 years old.

Now 50 years after her death, this well-produced documentary takes yet another look at Marilyn Monroe, as a Hollywood legend, whose image still remains recognizable, even by today's younger generation.

And just like actor Humphrey Bogart, Marilyn Monroe's well-established screen-charisma still continues to endure while so many others of her generation have faded away into obscurity.

Through vintage film clips and countless stills (as well as contemporary celebrities (sometimes annoyingly) reciting passages from Monroe's personal diaries and letters), this fairly insightful documentary is certainly worth watching as it offers the viewer a surprisingly close-up look at all of the glamor and all of the tragedy that was, indeed, Marilyn Monroe (who died in 1962 from a barbiturate overdose).

Writing a review is not usual for me, but after watching this film I felt compelled to offer an alternative take to what another reviewer has described as "fairly insufferable". That is a personal view, not particularly objective, or even fair, in my opinion. I believe anyone who has seen any to all of Marliyn's movies will appreciate the insights this movie provides into her private life. I found the readings from her journals particularly enlightening. The content of these journals was deeply personal and well articulated, and the dramatic readings by various actors only amplified this fact. I've seen other documentaries about MM, but in my opinion this film does the best job of demonstrating the dichotomy between her movie persona and her personal life. It reveals that behind the sex symbol was a thoughtful, intelligent woman who worked hard for everything she got, and who was plagued throughout her life by psychological demons. It is an evenhanded approach, neither castigating her for her faults, nor deifying her for what she accomplished.

Highly recommended for all MM fans.

When I saw this documentary was on HBO I tuned in and wanted to see what it was all about, I wasn't that impressed. The letters straight from Marilyn's thoughts were interesting and heartfelt but having them read by Hollywooace actors just didn't work that well In my opinion. When SOME of these A listers read from the aforementioned letters they seemed like they themselves were making it all about them and not Marilyn at all. The lines from the letters were often over dramatized and poorly executed and would have been more effective had they just come from an unseen source. Overall this film seemed like it made everyone else out to be the bad guy when it came to Marilyn's unhappiness and misfortune and maybe that was the case, who can say. Although when Marilyn didn't know her lines and often didn't show up to the set for a variety of reasons I'm sure that it could wear on a director or producer who was probably under the gun to finish the picture as it is. Although Marilyn was often trouble on the set her performances on the big screen were always pure, genuine and special but the film made her out to be a troubled pawn in the chess game of Hollywood life and to me the film could have been more objective at times. Overall this is not a bad film (especially if you love Marilyn) but nothing to write home about, pun intended.

I love Marilyn and this documentary was really great at showing more of her that I haven't seen before and things I really didn't know about her.

The one thing that I hated (which is why I gave it an 8/10) is the awful readings by all these actors. They did a horrible job and all overacted and exaggerated all her diary readings. For me that ruined the movie and it would have been awesome with just a unknown backperson reading as Marilyn.

The only ones who I thought did a good job was Lindsey Lohan and Elizabeth Banks, and that's because they just acted naturally.

But I just found myself getting confused about if it was them talking or them reading as Marilyn.

Overall though, I loved the new insight into Marilyns life and the hurtful ending to her life.

This was a very good documentary. I learned a lot about MM and liked seeing old interviews with her and her friends and peers. The story, structure, music and editing were great and it was never dull. My only complaint is that I cringed many times, watching most of the actors read from Marilyn and others' letters and books. I felt that they emoted waaaaaay too much and were showing off. It felt like they agreed to recite the words or "act" for selfish reasons. It was over the top: especially Marisa Tormei, Uma Thurman and Adrian Brody. It called to much attention to the actors and was very distracting. It took me OUT of the film.

The film was about MM not these actors. At the very least, the should have been offscreen, only supplying a voice over. I suppose the director's argument would be that they were trying to convey the emotions of the subjects who had written the books, poetry, etc, but it was embarrassing and self serving. I will not see the film again for this single reason. This is a documentary. I don't want to see Hollywood actors overacting.