Love, Marilyn

Believe it, or not - Since her tragic death (at the age of 36) back in 1962 - Approximately 1000 books have been published on the life, the loves, the highs, and the lows of Marilyn Monroe.

To this very day, Marilyn Monroe's phenomenal, manufactured screen-charisma has endured like no other Hollywood actor's of her (or any other) generation ever has.

Through vintage footage, stills (as well as drawing on never-before-seen personal papers, diaries, and letters written by Monroe), this celebrity-documentary recaps Marilyn's life in a nutshell as contemporary actors discuss her prevailing appeal and recite (sometimes with too much embellishment) from her writings.

Competently directed by Liz Garbus, "Love, Marilyn" is, most certainly, well-worth a view to all, regardless of whether one is a die-hard Marilyn Monroe fan, or not.

While it's interesting after a fashion to hear these actors read her journals and try to make them come alive, sometimes too empathetically, it becomes repetitive after a while. What could have added an extra needed dimension to this since they gathered such an amazing array of talent is to have these respected thespians, well except for Lohan, tell what value they found in Marilyn's work and what she meant to them. It would have added a more personal touch and since the actors involved are a broad spectrum of ages and techniques it would have shown how someone who was often dismissed as a lightweight had an impact on screen that bridged generations.

Still this is worth seeing, if for nothing else the clips of Marilyn. Only a few are different from the ones that are usually shown but as always she glows with an interior light.

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.

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.

Since Marilyn Monroe is one of my idols, I had to watch this documentary. I knew a lot about her already since she has been such a big part of my life but I was excited to see and hear Marilyn's own voice come to life in such a unique way. The movie takes you through the ups and downs of her life with commentary from great talents and other people in her life such as Milton Greene's widow, Amy Greene, friends and other actors/directors such as Jane Russell and Billy Wilder. I found myself crying throughout the whole documentary because we all know Marilyn's life was ended tragically but yet, everyone still sees her as just a sex symbol when really, that was the farthest from her real personality. Love, Marilyn takes you inside her mind by talents of this new era and it is thoroughly enjoyable.