The Mystery of Natalie Wood

Yes, it is a biography and it is also extremely lengthy, a good combination for disaster movie, but not this movie. It is so good and more educational than I ever thought.

Tell the truth I don't know who she was before watching this movie. I watch it because I have nothing to do. And it really hooked me from the start. It is far more interesting than I could imagine.

I think, a bit this and that that actually make this movie so enjoyable to watch and very insightful about the rising of this Hollywood legend. The casting is without doubt really good especially Waddell which look really a-like to Natalie.

The real footage adds a little life to the story and makes it more convincing. And the story tells me what I need to know about Natalie's life. Though in the end the story about her and her family was a bit too brief.

Recommendation: Anyway, I really enjoy watching this movie and so I highly recommend everyone especially the one who doesn't her to watch this movie. This movie makes you want to watch her works.

Rating: 7.5/10 (Grade: B+)

I can't believe that this is a (TV) movie made by Peter Bogdanovich whom I admire for his delicious "Cat's Meow", "The Last Picture Show", "Paper Moon" and not to forget the medicore but joyable "The Thing Called Love". Natalie Wood's life and stories - I believe has to be much better than it. Especially, in Bogdanovich's hand, and the good choice actress : Justine Waddell, who's surprisingly playing Natalie so well, and also very very much look alike. To be honest, Waddell is the only thing that's good in this TV movie. (And I really hope she can find another good role for her talent and beauty).

while the rest of the cast are not so good, (maybe Alice Kridge's not that bad for her role of the crazy ambitious mother from hell, though) and they made this worse. I can't even really find the "Joan Collins" and much different Christopher Walken (not after the famous scene came out) , the one who plays James Dean also looked so different and can't capture Dean's spirit.

the plot also should've been better than it. Anyway, it's still pretty enjoyable to watch, but I still hope if only it's better than this.

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.

At the start, we see what happened when Natalie Wood drowned, including footage of CBS anchors Charles Osgood and Dan Rather (ironic considering ABC aired this movie). Then comes the first of many comments by real people (a nice touch), followed by a flashback to when Natalie's mother was told by a fortune teller that Natalie would drown. From that point, Natalie's mother was overprotective, though she cared more about her daughter having an acting career than she did about what that career might do to the little girl, and her treatment of Natalie bordered on cruel.

At age 5, little Natasha (as she was known then) was very persistent with a movie director who thought acting was a terrible career for a child. Still, Natalie (as she was soon called) turned out to be quite talented and charming, and she soon became a big star.

As a teenager, Natalie began to wonder what it would be like to be 'normal'. She went through ups and downs not only in her career but in her relationships. She met many people whose names viewers might recognize. And some of those people met with tragedy. Natalie had many reasons to be sad, and over time drugs became a big part of her life. Would she ever find happiness? Would she give up her career and become a mother, as she longed to do?

I thought Justine Waddell did a wonderful job. She especially shined in one scene where Natalie had to convince a director to let her take an adult role, even though she was best known as a child star. Another scene where a terrible event occurred showed Natalie absolutely paralyzed. I also thought Waddell did quite well in a scene where Natalie talked with two girls in a restaurant just as if they were her own.

The little girl who played Natalie at 5 was also quite good. I thought it was a letdown when Natalie became a teenager played by Elizabeth Rice.

Alice Krige made quite an evil mother, though she could come across as tender and almost make one want to forgive her for everything. Sophie Monk captured Marilyn Monroe quite well, at least to me. She seemed cartoonish, but then that's my impression of Monroe.

It was hard to watch all the terrible things that Natalie Wood went through, but she was such a charming person who could give others the appearance of being happy even when she was really miserable. It was a worthwhile effort, and real footage and interviews with real people helped a lot.

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!