Blonde (2001) starring Poppy Montgomery, Patricia Richardson, Patrick Dempsey, Wallace Shawn directed by Joyce Chopra Movie Review

Blonde (2001)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Poppy Montgomery in Blonde (2001)

A Dull Blonde

As a child Norma Jean was raised by her Grandma as her mum was too unfit to and when she tries only put the future star in danger which lead to young Norma being placed in an orphanage when her grandmother died and her mother was committed to an asylum. Things for grown up Norma were still difficult as her beauty caused other women to be jealous and become confused whilst men lusted after her. Eventually fame and fortune come calling after being discovered by a photographer but so does a dependency on drugs as she finds through out her life men wanting her but not able to cope with her.

I have read a few books on the Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe and whilst I would never claim to be an expert I know enough to spot when in a biopic things don't ring true. Unfortunately through out "Blonde", the Marilyn Monroe biopic, I found myself annoyed by the frequent scenes of fiction which for me don't belong in a true biopic as does the decision to alter names as it is not needed in a biopic.

Ironically the flitting between fact and fiction is not my major issues when it comes to "Blonde", nope my major issue with this TV mini-series/ TV movie is it is so dull. Considering we are talking about the life of one of Hollywood's most glamorous stars the glamour is seriously lacking throughout. Now there is a reason for this as "Blonde" is more about getting us to understand how Marilyn needed to be loved whilst the men in her life felt the need to possess the beauty but because everything is so tedious this ends up a boring retelling of what most people already know about Monroe.

The one positive about "Blonde" is Poppy Montgomery who puts her own spin on Marilyn Monroe, not going for a full imitation but giving us the traits of Monroe. It works because very few actresses having anything close to Marilyn Monroe and those who try to imitate rarely get close to capturing the essence of Monroe.

What this all boils down to is that "Blonde" has good intentions by showing us the two sides to the life of Marilyn; the need to be loved and how men wanted to own her but couldn't cope with her. The trouble is that "Blonde" is so dull that it fails to capture the glamour of Monroe or tell us anything which we don't already know.


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