Grey Gardens (2009)

Rating: 5/5

Based upon the famed documentary of the same title, Grey Gardens (2009), is a movie filled with transformative performances if there ever was one.

In the 1970's, the Maysles brothers decided to make a documentary featuring the lives of Big and Little Edie Beale; a mother-daughter pair who were related to the famous Jackie Kennedy. It is now fairly common knowledge that the two lead very irregular lives, but what events in their younger years took them on the path to the eccentric legacy they left behind? That exact question is answered in the the 2009 film titled, Grey Gardens.

In the late 1930s, Little Edie (Drew Barrymore) Beale lives with her mother, Big Edie (Jessica Lange), though she dreams of moving to New York City and becoming a performer. When Little Edie attempts to make the big leap away from her mother and their home of Grey Gardens, it is too much for Big Edie, and through a series of events, Little Edie moves back to her roots, with her dreams unfulfilled. From then on, Big and Little Edie rarely stray from their house, becoming more and more shut inside Grey Gardens.

Grey Gardens essentially tells two stories; that of the Beale women in their vibrant youth, and of their reclusive personas in their later years. Both are fascinating, but for very different reasons. The women had always been aloof, that didn't develop with age, but it did perhaps become more heightened as the years progressed. Big and Little Edie were two bizarre but fascinatingly wonderful people, who made it very clear as to why the Maysles brothers were so eager to make a film about them. What's so nice about this movie created by HBO, is that we are now able to see a snapshot of their lives before the world only knew them as Jackie Kennedy's hidden cousins.

When portraying real life people, especially ones portrayed in a documentary as well known as the original Grey Gardens, there can no doubt be a lot of pressure to do the real women justice, and both Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore were more than up to the task. Lange's performance is both deeply emotional and incredibly convincing. As the flashbacks progress towards the time in which the documentary was filmed, you can see Big Edie's grasp on reality slowly slipping away, making it very obvious as to why Lange won an Emmy for her role. Drew Barrymore's work in Grey Gardens is not to be overlooked, as she too does a wonderful job; especially given that she doesn't have as long a list of dramatic roles as her co-star does.

Even though this Grey Gardens is a feature film, the movie still has a rawness to it that can be found in most documentaries. The scenes that take place in the past do feel more rooted in the traditional sense of film, but all the moments where the Beales are seen around the time of the actual documentary, appear incredibly natural and real. The two acclaimed actresses disappear into the characters, and it is easy to forget that they aren't the real women. Makeup and styling of the film are a big part in making this happen, as well as those involved with the set design. Throughout the movie, Grey Gardens progressively becomes more and more decrepit, to the point where you can almost feel the filth and grime. Even though this was a movie made for TV, it had all the trademarks of any great film you'd see in the theaters.

This film does an excellent job at not portraying the Beales to be crazy or a mockery, but telling the tale of two women who had their own dreams, but may have been either too afraid or too set in their ways to fully achieve them, and therefore relied on one another for their happiness instead. Their relationship may have been out of the ordinary and strained at times, but it was one of true love between a mother and daughter. It is thanks to the Maysles original documentary and this film, that viewers have been privy to the odd, but beautiful lives of Big and Little Edie Beale.