Factory Girl Review
Posted by Chad Webb on 02.08.2007
Enter this factory, and you’ll leave with assorted reactions.
Sienna Miller: Edie Sedgwick
Guy Pearce: Andy Warhol
Hayden Christensen: Musician
Jimmy Fallon: Chuck Wein
Jack Huston: Gerard Malanga
Armin Amiri: Ondine
Tara Summers: Brigid Polk
Mena Suvari: Richie Berlin
Shawn Hatosy: Syd Pepperman
Beth Grant: Julia Warhol
James Naughton: Fuzzy Sedgwick
Edward Herrmann: James Townsend
Directed By: George Hickenlooper
Release Date: February 2nd, 2007
Running Time: 90 minutes
Rated R for pervasive drug use, strong sexual content, nudity and language.
The life of Edie Sedgwick, much like the movie Factory Girl is surrounded in controversy. Little is known of certain periods in her life, which are based on sketchy stories and twisted facts of family members and close friends. Directed by George Hickenlooper, this film displays a passionate and perhaps inventive view of this young woman’s existence. This is a merciless and ambitious story that definitely chooses a side, and never attempts to be impartial. Regardless of an ending that sends a blitzkrieg of mixed signals, Factory Girl is extremely fascinating in its own surrealistic world.
Before Edie Sedgwick (Sienna Miller) met Andy Warhol (Guy Pearce) in 1965, she attended Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts as an aspiring artist and model. She moved to New York, and was introduced to rising artist Andy Warhol by her friend Chuck Wein (Jimmy Fallon), a Harvard graduate. Edie quickly became one of Andy’s “superstar” girls. She proceeded to star in numerous films he directed at his infamous factory. As Edie continued to climb the popularity ladder, she and Andy grew closer as friends, much to the dismay of her mother and abusive father, Fuzzy Sedgwick (James Naughton). She blazed onto the New York underground scene, and caught the attention of basically everyone she came in contact with. Edie soon began meeting with an accomplished folk musician (Hayden Christensen), which does not sit well with Andy. During her time in the city, she also experiments with multiple different drugs, and slowly becomes addicted to them. As Edie struggles with drugs and her various associations with celebrities, her fame rapidly decreases and her health goes on a downward spiral.
The strongest muscles of this body are the three main performances by its stars. The leader of the trio is Sienna Miller, whose determined, engrossing, and dynamite depiction of Edie Sedgwick is both faithful and honest. Miller portrays Sedgwick as she was, an innocent girl reaching for fame and notoriety who was swallowed by the influence of a celebrity-obsessed culture. She was the “it girl” for that time. The allure she possessed in appearance, attitude, and overall spunk are accurately articulated. It doesn’t matter if the audience doesn’t entirely understand what was so mesmerizing about Edie. It is important that viewers appreciate why others enjoyed her comfortably energetic company. Sienna Miller was cast twice for the part. She had no trouble proving her merit to me.
For some, it might not sit well to see Guy Pearce (Memento, The Count of Monte Cristo) sporting white hair, a ghostly pale complexion, and a weird accent. This is a more hilarious performance than it is compelling or award worthy. Pearce is admirable, but does show spurts of his sensational acting. In particular, the sequences involving his confessions to a priest were by far the most engaging. After examining Pearce as Andy Warhol, I thought of how truly unbelievable it was that Philip Seymour Hoffman was able to pull off the tone and mannerisms of Truman Capote without being annoying. Pearce is not bothersome, he is actually very good, but this is a supporting role, not a lead. His time on screen is not overwhelming; I think to prevent moviegoers from irritation. Warhol’s peculiarities and anxiety are never explored deep enough however. Glimpses of his true self are visible to diminish his mysteriousness, but perhaps an added ten minutes or so with a couple extra scenes would have done this character justice.
On the International Movie Database website (www.imdb.com), Hayden Christensen is listed as “musician.” Other sites cite him as Billy Quinn, while more yet describe his character as a “conglomeration” of various people. All are wrong. In fear of a defamation lawsuit from Bob Dylan, the name was changed. Hayden Christensen has to be the one and only Bob Dylan. Argue all you want. Possible Spoilers! - Dylan was afraid this film made him look responsible for the death of Sedgwick. Make no mistake, the only person to blame is Sedgwick herself End of Spoiler. This is Christensen’s best work to date. Later this year, many other actors will portray Dylan during various points of his life in I’m Not There, but I liked Christensen’s work here. His normal stiff acting abilities have disappeared. He plays "Dylan", or whoever, as a legitimate musical genius and influential folk singer. He was an experienced, confident, and calm celebrity, who bluntly tells Edie “You don’t know shit about shit.” One could make the statement that Sedgwick and Dylan did not have a sexual relationship, but it is difficult to debate that claim. In my opinion, many Dylan songs make reference to, or are altogether about Sedgwick.
Chuck Wein was the man who brought Edie to Andy Warhol. Jimmy Fallon is very adequate and convincing as Wein, a colleague of Edie’s who gradually becomes the voice and even “right hand” of Warhol. Other notable supporting roles come from Mena Suvari (American Pie) as “factory” friend Richie Berlin, Shawn Hatosy (The Faculty) as loyal college buddy Syd Pepperman, and the terrific Edward Herrmann as the Sedgwick family money handler James Townsend.
What was so interesting about Factory Girl, is how it exposes that celebrities can have a colossal effect on their followers. This theme has not, and will not, be executed as well as it was with the character of Penny Lane in Almost Famous, but I have always found it captivating. These artists sometimes have no idea how powerful they can be to regular fans and cohorts. For Edie, it was similar to a blissful fantasy being accepted into a circle, despite how bizarre it might have been. She was so carefree and serene that it was almost effortless for people to take advantage of her. I don’t mean any one person, but probably dozens of her acquaintances. It’s fun to be surrounded by those who are desperate for your attention. She can be compared to the hottest trend in fashion. One week she was “in”, and the next she was thrown away like yesterday’s newspaper.
Edie Sedgwick was a girl who attracted two men that were opposites. That is the most absorbing facet of Factory Girl. No matter what Warhol’s sexual preference might have been, she was wrapped around both men’s fingers. She was obviously not the first woman to draw in two completely different men, but Dylan and Warhol really had only one thing in common, which was that both of them were artists in some way. When she wasn’t on speed, Sedgwick had a likable and upbeat beauty to her with a million dollar smile.
If George Hickenlooper’s direction was not so inept and clumsy, Factory Girl might have received better reviews. His camera work feels nervous with black & white sequences mixed with quick editing, superfluous angles, and occasional grainy footage inserted as if supposed to be actual interviews. The party and club atmosphere, as well as the homosexual tendencies of certain characters, is reminiscent of Party Monster with Macaulay Culkin. Both pictures are strangely satisfying. Hickenlooper has signs of promising talent, but in the future he should think about tackling a subject a bit less contentious. After being forced to cut, alter, and switch various names and events, the film appears largely unfinished. I didn't hate the mediocre screenplay, but it did need some improvement. On a side note, Lou Reed of the Velvet Undergound despises this film. That music group is shown in a few segments.
I was simultaneously pleased and perplexed with the conclusion. Without divulging too much, I disapproved of the “Dorothy from Kansas” image of Sedgwick during a particular portion. Factory Girl is barely respectable due to the gripping relationships between Warhol, Sedgwick, and the “Musician.” On the other hand it is very contrary with the messages it sends, which causes it to fail in lifting the enigmatic qualities of the factory and its visitors. Factory Girl is a success and a disappointment, but at least causes a stir, and is not boring.
The 411: Director George Hickenlooper’s Factory Girl has difficulty settling on a certain method or approach. The performances are wonderful, some scenes are suspenseful and fascinating, but the filmmaking is very contradictory, awkward, and incomplete. It is worth seeing for Sienna Miller, Hayden Christensen, and Guy Pearce, but those expecting answers to all unanswered questions, and a completely accurate plot, might leave disappointed. In the end, this gets a mild recommendation for a decent try.
