The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe
The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe
| 30 May 2015 (USA)

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SEASON & EPISODES
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  • Reviews
    Supelice Dreadfully Boring
    Micransix Crappy film
    Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.
    Casey Duggan It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny
    sarabernard-79872 Stupid min series with stupid actress who is trying hard to become Marilyn she looks more like a bad clown I felt pain every minute she was on the screen Susan is the only reason to watch this stupid show 1/10
    MovieHoliks Over the years, there have been countless movies about screen icon, Marilyn Monroe, so I was not really all that excited about getting to see this latest one- a Lifetime TV mini-series, that is- until I heard Kelli Garner was starring in the lead. I've seen her in several things over the years, and remember thinking- long before this movie- that, even though she doesn't really resemble Marilyn, she still has that similar spirit; especially in a little movie I saw her in years ago called "DreamLand".Now this movie doesn't really give us anything new about Ms. Monroe; in fact, pretty much re-hashes what we all have seen over and over again in the movies released about her in the past few decades. And BTW- I would say my favs. over the years have been "Blonde", which featured Poppy Montgomery in the lead, and the wonderful experimental HBO film, "Normal Jean & Marilyn", which featured Mira Sorvino & Ashley Judd in the dual personas. I saw the last one, "My Week with Marilyn", a few years ago- which was probably the one which featured the highest production values of all of them. It's funny, overall I liked that film better than this new Lifetime film, but I like Kelli Garner better in the role than Michelle Williams. There are shots in this film, especially while she is making "Seven Year Itch", where she was just the spitting image- I had to do a double take!But I will give this a marginal recommendation- only for Garner's performance. Jeffrey Dean Morgan (as Joe DiMaggio), Emily Watts, Jack Noseworthy, and Oscar winner Susan Sarandon (as Marilyn/Norma Jean's mother) co-star.
    edwagreen Kelli Garner does an admirable job in this biography of tragic screen legend Marilyn Monroe. Did anyone notice that early in the career of Monroe, Garner sounded just like Monroe did as Sugar in "Some Like it Hot?" Unfortunately, no mention was made of 'Hot' in the film as well as "Niagara," where Monroe did a solid dramatic role.The use of flashbacks is used nicely here as Monroe recounts her life story to a new therapist. We already see that Monroe had been around the block in therapy and knew a lot about Freudian psychology.Susan Sarandon stole the show as her schizophrenic mother, devoid at times of reality, but protective of her famous daughter.Jeffrey Dean Stanton shows us Joe DiMaggio in a different light-that of a wife beater and the Arthur Miller character is also abusive to the hilt.While the Kennedy issue is discussed, Marilyn's death is blamed on drug and alcohol mixture. Marilyn came across as delusional imitating her mother and grandmother every step of the way.
    jlthornb51 This is a rather shoddy production that at times seems outright exploitation. Kelli Garner is not much of an actress, looks nothing like Monroe, and does a terrible imitation of her iconic voice. Susan Sarandon is surprisingly bad in the role of her mentally ill mother and it's some of the worst work she has ever done. The other actors do what is required of them and while this is all interesting at times, overall it isn't very enlightening. The standout in all of this is Emily Watson as Marilyn's aunt. As is often the case, Watson rises above a travesty and walks out of the ruins with her head held high. Wells she might for she not only gives a superb performance but brings a touch of real class to the proceedings. She gives her part a depth and humanity that's absent in the other characters that populate this film. For her moving and beautiful portrayal alone this lackluster mess is awarded 6 additional stars to the 2 it deserves on its own merits.