I am one of the world’s ultimate Bettie fans and can’t wait till this comes out on DVD. Though I would say that it wasn’t the best they could’ve done, but it wasn’t horrible. I mean it was an HBO film. At first I was a little iffy about Gretchen Mol playing Bettie because of the body, but she did a pretty good job. I’d actually like to see her acting in other films now, since I’ve never really seen anything else of hers.
Of course they could’ve added more things of importance that went on in her life, but hey, it’s a movie, they can never fit everything about one person in an hour and a half or two hour film.

i was sort of hoping the movie would fill in the gaps in the biography. i just didn’t feel the whole “i’m getting back to jesus” thing was adequately explained to me. i guess i still don’t completely get it. maybe i’m just dense about the whole christian sin thing. it was beautiful, but felt slow at times and not in a character building sort of way.

I saw this film last night. The showing was at the Colony Theater on Miami Beach as part of the Miami International Film Festival. The director was in attendance, as was Bunny Yeager, who photographed her in Miami and later submitted her photos to Playboy.

The film itself was very enjoyable. Gretchen Mol’s performance was outstanding, and she really made the film. The stock footage was seamlessly blended with the new to create a beautiful film that recreated the locations and feel of the 1940s and 50s.

While there were some imperfections and rough spots, the film is still great. Some parts feel rushed, some seemingly important events utterly absent, and others sluggish and bordering on tedious. There are focus issues throughout the film that I think were partly the projection that we saw, partly for effect, and partly just bad. I’m not sure what to make of that part.

Gretchen Mol, however, is absolutely excellent, perhaps flawless. One member of the audience, during the post-film Q&A, mentioned that he went to college with Ms. Page. When the director asked him about the star’s portrayal of the star, he gushed.

My favorite part of the story?
The way that she reconciled her nude and bondage modeling with her unwavering Christian beliefs.

I don’t feel that the film quite lives up to the beauty and poise of its subject, but only barely misses the mark.