DVD Review: Factory Girl (Unrated)

DVD Reviews

By Jeff Swindoll Jul 18, 2007, 1:44 GMT

The biopic of rich girl Edie Sedgwick covers her time in Andy Warhol’s factory and her fall from grace. It stirred controversy when Bob Dylan threatened to sue to have his likeness and name removed from the picture.

What the back of the box says:
“In the 1960s, no star burned brighter than original "It" girl Edie Sedgwick. Starring Sienna Miller (Casanova) in a "captivating, compelling and absurdly sexy" performance (Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press), Factory Girl follows Edie's meteoric rise from art student to the top of New York's fashion scene. As the muse of pop artist Andy Warhol (Guy Pearce), Edie paid a steep price for fame. An intoxicating journey through pop-culture history, Factory Girl takes us inside Warhol's legendary studio, where the worlds of art, fashion and celebrity all collided.”

In some ways it’s hard to feel too sorry for Edie since she starts off being a trust fund kid only to lose it all thanks to her actions. Her claim to fame is having hung around the scene stirred up by Andy Warhol. Lately I’ve been seeing a lot of performances of the larger than life figures such as Warhol and Truman Capote. They’re fascinating in their oddness and eventual declines. For all the excitement and interest in the world of Warhol, this film is really not that interesting to me. I guess I just didn’t get into the poor little rich girl that threw it all away for drugs. Add to the mix Hayden Christensen as a wooden Bob Dylan but not Bob Dylan (according to Dylan’s lawyers demands) and it only sinks it a little more in my opinion. You know that it’s supposed to be Dylan but they never let him exactly go full Dylan, so his performance fells wooden. Pearce is delightfully strange as the odd Warhol, but you wish that his performance were in a more compelling film. Factory Girl is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include a commentary by director George Hickenlooper. “We’re all Lost” is a deleted scene that runs a little over 1 minute that has an optional commentary by Hickenlooper. “The Real Edie” runs 28 minutes and features interviews with her family, contemporaries, and friends and is frankly more fascinating in my opinion than the film. “Guy Pearce’s Video Diaries” are 19 minutes of the actor filming on the set and behind the scenes. Next is the 7-minute “Sierra Miller’s Cast Audition” which is pretty self-explanatory. “Making Factory Girl” is a 9-minute making of that has interview with director Hickenlooper, Sierra Miller, Guy Pearce, and Jimmy Fallon (“Chuck Wein”). Finally there’s the film’s theatrical trailer. The life of Edie Sedgwick should’ve made a more compelling film with all of the famous faces that were in it, but I came away not being particularly impressed by the film. Her tale is full of sadness and woe and the film can’t help but be the same.

Factory Girl is now available at Amazon. It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for a Sept. 10th release. Visit the DVD database for more information.

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JohnApr 5th, 2008 - 19:26:49

Hey, 'critic,' learn to proofread.

Also, a little depth beyond 'It didn't interest me/I didn't get it' might be helpful. Otherwise why not just leave the review to someone competent?

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DVD Review: Factory Girl (Unrated)

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