Blonde: Or "The One Where Young Jensen Sashays in a Kimono"

[feliciakw]

As if Devour wasn't evidence enough that Jensen Ackles has made my list of "actors for whom I will watch almost anything," I Netflixed Blonde this week. A made-for-TV fictitious bio-pic (how's that for an oxymoron?) about the life of Norma Jean Baker, better known as Marilyn Monroe. There were actually a lot of familiar faces, but overall, I found it to be a very unpleasant movie.



So this apparently ran as a 2-part miniseries. Jensen was the last actor listed in the regular credits at the front end of the show. Other actors you'd know were Poppy Montgomery (from Without a Trace, played adult Marilyn); Patricia (Mrs. Tim "The Tool Man" Taylor on Home Improvement)Richardson; Wallace ("Inconctheivable!") Shawn; Patrick (Dr. McDreamy) Dempsey; Ann-Margaret (who received a special credit after the regular front end credits); and Kirstie Alley (who also received a special credit at the front end). And the girl who plays child Norma is pretty amazing.

If any of the way Norma's formative years were depicted is true, the poor girl didn't stand a chance. There was more than an implication of abuse implied, and people rarely saw past her sex appeal.

Jensen's character, Eddie G, didn't show up until the second half of the two-parter.

Not really a villain per se, Eddie G is nonetheless a pretty smarmy character. He and Cass (Patrick Dempsey), with whom Marilyn is in love, pretty much use her to sustain their debauched, alcoholic, drug junkie lifestyles. Threesomes are heavily implied, and when Marilyn discovers she's pregnant, she's not sure who's it is--Eddie's or Cass's--so she breaks the news to them at the same time, and the three of them determine to have the baby together (with talk of life insurance policies). Eddie even does a quick smash-and-grab of a stuffed toy tiger that Marilyn admires in a store window.

Cass and Eddie disappear from her life about the time the studio insists she have an abortion. Then it's marriages to a baseball player (a thinly veiled allusion to Joe DiMaggio) and a playwright (a thinly veiled reference to Arthur Miller).

Later on, Eddie shows up at Marilyn's hotel to tell her that Cass is dead ("He died an alcie death, not a junkie death"). He gives her a box that Cass wanted her to have; inside it is the stuffed tiger and what amounts to a confession that Cass has been sending her fake letters from her unknown father. Marilyn has a fit and storms out, and Eddie, who's not looking overly well himself, seems sorry--perhaps genuinely sorry--for what's happened.

It's not necessarily Jensen's best work, but given the material he had to work with, I'd say he did his best with what he had. I'd still give it a nod of approval.


If you're interested in seeing some of Jensen's early work (post-DoOL/pre-Dark Angel), I'd suggest renting Disc 2. The rest of it would probably only be of interest to those who are interested in the fictitious bio-pic genre, or Marilyn Monroe.

Comments

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

That scene you linked me with the kimono reduced me to giggles. I looked up a few other scenes on YouTube, and they convinced me that the movie was A) too sad and depressing for me to watch just for Jensen and Dempsey and B) too discomfiting with the whole threesome element for me to enjoy the pretty actors properly, anyway. But the sashaying in the kimono is still hilarious.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

Truly you're not missing much. What you've found on YouTube is pretty much everything of Jensen's in the movie. He's not really in it much at all. But when he is there, he's very pretty. And when I saw the kimono scene, my first thought was, "Man, he's such a good sport. And as an actor, there must not be much he's afraid of." He was so young then. Just a baby.

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

Ern and I were looking at pictures of him when he was in Dark Angel, and I think we even found a few from his DoOL days, and we were squealing over baby!Jensen. So squishy! *squishes him*

[leelust.livejournal.com]

What can i say? I watched it before i even knew who Jensen is and the only scene i could remember from it was the scene you've described - the one with stuffed tiger - it was the only moment i felt connected with characters (that's cos i somehow missed The Kimono scene on my first watch). After rewatching more properly i think that Jensen was very good (considering bad material) and Poppy, sorry, but she was awful.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

I thought Poppy did an okay job. My complaint about these kinds of movies is that it's difficult to separate the fact from the fiction. Which is difficult to do with a personality like Marilyn Monroe anyway.

I'm glad I saw it, I suppose. At least Jensen's stuff. But the movie itself? I was not impressed.

[leelust.livejournal.com]

Oh. But for me she was completely 'meh'. I didn't feel for her or her story. It wasn't touch me at all she was rather annoying. I can't tell maybe it wasn't her fault but she was told to play her role in that mood but it totally wasn't impressive. I saw her later in some show (Cold cases or something like that) and she was a lot better there i think.
But yeah, i agree, i'm glad i saw that cos of Jensen's performance. :)

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

I totally know what you're saying. She was okay--not great or brilliant or amazing. She had the whispery Marilyn voice down pretty well, and she actually made up to be a reasonable facsimile of Marilyn, but the whole thing was just "meh." I mean, I felt bad for her because Norma Jean had such a tragic life and was used at every turn and even the people who loved her couldn't help her. But the overall production (maybe it was the writing and the directing, I really can't point to any one element) was just blah.

And I'm sure she has improved with experience, just as Jensen has. So, yes, I'm glad I watched it for Jensen's stuff, but overall, I was very unimpressed. *shrug*

[leelust.livejournal.com]

Yep - agree. Visual she was ok but other then that? No. I think it was and directing and writing.
she has improved with experience
I think it's just wasn't her kind of role. She's better in modern roles so to speak.
But Jensen was more than ok there :) Hell, he was more than even on DOOL! :) *i watch some on Youtube*

[yasminke.livejournal.com]

I had the same reaction as leelust -- I watched it when it was on TV because it was filmed here (Melbourne) and there was probably nothing else on. Didn't know who the two guys were and didn't care about the movie at all.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

Filmed in Melbourne? That must have been the previous trip to Australia I heard him mention during his most recent trip Down Under.

Yeah, the movie is pretty forgettable. I was kind of impressed with the cast they put together, but all in all? Not impressed. Though Jensen did well enough with what he was given.

[yasminke.livejournal.com]

Probably is. He mentioned being in Melbourne repeatedly, even that he went to a (football) Grand Final but had no idea what was going on.

Honestly, I thought so little of it, he and McDreamy couldn't convince me to rent it. Sort of like Devour -- saw it once, thought "holy guacamole" and returned it after a few good laughs.

[feliciakw.livejournal.com]

The link to "Devour" in my above posts takes you to my review of the movie, if you're interested. I thought it started out with potential, but then went in a WT???? direction that I totally, totally did not like.

Edited because my fingers can't type.

[yasminke.livejournal.com]

I thought the same thing! The premise was good, the first half and then when it delved into a family issue, it snowballed into ridiculous. And the ending? That was a huge WT-! Not even a skillful twist, just stupid and out of the blue.

I frequently have "non-typing" days -- my students get used to it.