On N List of Movie Reviews
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Norma Jean and Marilyn (1996)
Rate:
8
Viewed:
10/20
10/20:
People know what Marilyn Monroe looked like, but they don't know the real her, hence the film
Norma Jean and Marilyn.
It's often fascinating although highly inaccurate. Understandably, there's so much material that it's difficult
to get them all into a two-hour picture. To make up for the shortcoming, Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino provide a
collaborative effort for a tour de force. They're both outstanding in different ways. I love the idea of making
Ashley's Norma the destructive ego for Mira's Marilyn during the second half. It's effective, compelling, and
perhaps crazy.
Although Marilyn Monroe was verbally and physically abused by various men over the years, I still can't
sympathize with her; it's the price of fame she sought which ultimately did her in. In reality, Marilyn
Monroe was more of a whore than anything. The most fascinating part is the incident in the dressing room prior
to Marilyn Monroe singing "Happy Birthday" to JFK. Then, I watched the actual footage of the famous moment,
and now, it does make sense. She would die three months afterwards.
If anything, apart from the casting of the actor for the Joe DiMaggio part, I'm disappointed with the ending
because JFK and RFK had Marilyn Monroe killed (a doctor injected air through her pubic area which caused an
embolism). When she asked Joe DiMaggio to get her immediately, he planned to by coming to Cal Neva a
few days prior but was ordered by Frank Sinatra not to.
Why it did have to occur was Marilyn Monroe was going to spill the dark secrets to the media about the Kennedys.
JFK promised to divorce his wife and marry her. RFK was also banging Marilyn Monroe at the same time, so the
murder meant one thing: they needed to shut her up permanently or risk a huge scandal that would topple them out
of power. Happily, these corrupt brothers died in the next seven years under bizarre circumstances.
All in all, I'm not a fan of Marilyn Monroe, but Norma Jean and Marilyn is a good movie.