Monday 5 August 2024

Movie Review: Factory Girl (2006)


Genre: Biographical Drama  
Director: George Hickenlooper  
Starring: Sienna Miller, Guy Pearce, Hayden Christensen  
Running Time: 99 minutes  

Synopsis: Edie Sedgwick (Sienna Miller) comes from a wealthy but troubled family, and in the mid-1960s she relocates from the Boston area to New York. Edie befriends underground artist Andy Warhol (Guy Pearce), who finds her alluring and features her in several of his short independent movies. She achieves celebrity status as a fashion icon despite living beyond her means and developing a drug addiction. An affair with a folk singer (based on Bob Dylan, played by Hayden Christensen) threatens her bond with Warhol.

What Works Well: Edie Sedgwick's fleeting flirtation with stardom as a generational "it" girl is captured in a fever dream of gonzo art, parties, fashion, drugs, and flashing lightbulbs. Captain Mauzner's brisk script recreates 1960s New York as fertile cultural territory for a new wave of icons, but still finds space to contextualize Edie's background and the demons driving her into a destructive lifestyle. In a masterful performance, Sienna Miller finds a seam of vulnerability folding into fame and bedazzlement, and is well supported by Guy Pearce and Hayden Christensen as two legends parlaying notoriety into power.

What Does Not Work As Well: With Andy Warhol and Bob Dylan supplying the jet fuel for Edie's flight to the sun, her story can only exist in their shadow.
 
Conclusion: Dream factories are also full of danger.






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