Anna Nicole - Una vita da playmate

Agnes Brucker is beautiful. More beautiful than Anna Nicole for sure. The prosthetic breasts they add on to her are actually quite good and convincing. I was pretty impressed by that. Agnes' performance here can be measured a couple of different ways: was it good on its own merits and does it pass the George C. Scott test? If you take out the "playing a real person" aspect, her performance was perfectly adequate for your average Lifetime drivel. But if you judge her by whether she accurately captured Anna Nicole, then no she did not. She seemed more often than not like a caricature. Not that Anna Nicole was anything deeper than what we saw. I highly doubt she was. Still, people are people and even the likes of the Kardashians or Anna Nicole Smith don't act off camera like they do on. So when you're portraying a person like that and you're playing them based solely on stuff you've seen on camera (including interviews), you're not going to have a fully formed idea of who they were.

Anyway, the movie is not very good. The gimmick where her older/younger self appears to her is cheesy and laugh-inducing. I think doing a bio for a woman famous for taking her clothes off is kind of hard to do on a network where you can't show nudity. Perhaps an R rated movie would have at least had more cheesecake to admire. Anyway, if you're a fan of Agnes Bruckner, check it out. She's in every scene and most of the time wearing very little.

Pretty pre-teen Vicky Lynn is visited by her future self, in her mirror; she's bosomy blonde Agnes Bruckner (as Anna Nicole Smith). The tyke idolizes Marilyn Monroe while her parents holler, fight and drink. This apple will not fall far from the tree. When she becomes a teenager, our heroine stuffs her bra and becomes pregnant. After acquiring extra large breast implants, Ms. Smith is an exotic pole-dancing sensation. She poses for Playboy, meets wealthy octogenarian Martin Landau (as J. Howard Marshall) and soaks up whatever drugs are available. Alas, tragedy waits...

Anna Nicole Smith was a celebrity due to her looks and lifestyle. The comparison to Marilyn Monroe falls flat because Ms. Monroe was skilled at a craft we can (still) see and admire (although her own drug problems eventually hindered her work). Ms. Smith was not able to develop much of an artistic skill, though she may have had the potential. Smith's wretched TV program "The Anna Nicole Show" (2002–2004) featured the overweight star in obvious stages of alcoholism and drug abuse. This biographic TV movie covers that travesty, along with Smith's tabloid headlines...

Looking much like his counterpart, Adam Goldberg (as Howard K. Stern) plays the sleazy lawyer lover. Grown-up Graham Patrick Martin (as Danny) finds his own way out of mama's mess. Mary Harron orchestrates them well. Everyone here does a good job conveying the excess and incredible sadness in watching Smith waste her life away. Even worse is the heartbreaking story of her neglected son. However, there is nothing special about this celebrity's life. That could have been the point, but it isn't; instead, the subject is herein cheapened by false elevation and evaluation.

Anna Nicole (6/29/13) Mary Harron ~ Agnes Bruckner, Martin Landau, Adam Goldberg, Graham Patrick Martin

I personally loved the movie! I did notice a similarity to 'Norma Jean & Marilyn' with the talking to the older and younger self so I understood it. Agnes did a superb job!!! I have become a fan! And the haunting rendition of FAME by Amy Gerhartz was to die for. Too bad it wasn't used in the actual movie. The ending was so sad. I can't help but feel sorry for Anna. So many people used her in her life, even her own family. The only person she could truly rely on was Daniel and she was devastated to of lost him. It would of been nice if they did this as a Mini-Series instead of a 2 hour movie. All the actors were truly extraordinary and I definitely thought this movie was WAY better than LIZ & DICK, which was a flop.

Well I didn't hate this, it was pretty interesting actually, especially the early years of Anna before she became tabloid fodder. Anna Nicole Smith was one of those celebrities who was always all over the news and gossip mags, so that even if you didn't want to know, you knew exactly what she was up to. On that note this made watching "the story of her life" way more interesting because I remember the headlines.

Agnes Brucker does a decent job here portraying Smith who goes from small-town Texas teen to Playboy pinup to Guess model, including her marriage to an elderly oil tycoon, Hollywood excesses and tragic death at age 39.

Surprisingly this does not go into the media sh!t storm that followed after her death when everyone was laying claim to being the baby daddy.

Martin Landau is excellent as her older billionaire husband "Paw Paw" and the makeup people also did a great job with her ever changing weight, hairstyles and wardrobe. 08.13

Following the rocky road and life a times of Playboy model and 'actress' Anna Nicole Smith up to her untimely death of 39.

Actress Agnes Bruckner delivers a fine portray of the larger than life troubled Anna Nicole/Vicky Lynn. While not being an Anna look-a-like Bruckner certainly captures Anna's spirit and persona, at times effectively laying down some of heart wrenching scenes. Although this a steppingstone presentation of her life, it covers the main highs and lows but leaves you with a lingering feeling that it's a little rushed.

The acting for the most part is impressive especially from Bruckner, Cary Elwes - Marshall's son, Virginia Madsen - Anna's mother and Martin Landau as billionaire J. Howard Marshall. American Psycho (2000) director Mary Harron keeps it interesting and fast paced. The prosthetic make-up effects of Anna's assets and weight gain are particularly notable.

The Anna's voice from the grave aspect, her younger self and Marilyn Monroe vision/dream additions scripted by Joe Batteer and John Rice keep the proceedings at times eerily compelling.

Its an especially well made for a TV movie and thankfully treats the departed with respect while at the same time being entertaining and highlighting the superficial world of celebrities. As an anti-drug movie look no further and to the producers credit ironically and in contrast to Anna's real life job offers it's certainly not a cheap cash-in.