I watched Grey Gardens on HBO last night on my DVR. I had seen clips, and she nails it from the short clips I've seen of the original documentary. Watch the same "costume of the day" clip from the 1975 documentary and you'll see what I mean:
Frankly, I didn't think Drew had it in her to do the range that she shows in this movie. As she says in this interview with Ellen, she's known as the "romantic comedy girl", but she knew she could do more, and fought for this dramatic role. She nails the accent, and all the nuance.
For those who don't know what Grey Gardens is, it was a 1975 documentary about two eccentric women: Edith Bouvier Beale, aunt to Jackie Bouvier Kennedy and "Little Edie", her daughter. Little Edie was a debutante, and for years lived in squalor with her mother at their house in the Hamptons called Grey Gardens. After the health department forced their way into the house after complaints from neighbors, they found the women with a house with no heat, no running water, stacks of garbage and countless cats and racoons. Articles and pictures forced their relative Jackie Onassis to make the house livable for them. After her mother died, Little Edie sold the house to Ben Bradlee who extensively renovated it. The original documentary is a cult classic, and Edie became a gay icon. There was also a Grey Gardens musical on Broadway starring Christine Ebersole which won three Tonys.
In the HBO film, Jessica Lange plays Edith Bouvier Beale, and both actresses play the women over a span of decades. Daniel Baldwin plays Edie's married lover, and Jeanne Tripplehorn plays Jackie Kennedy Onassis. It is just an excellent film, and if you don't get HBO, I highly recommend you rent it when it comes out on DVD.
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