hot_in_pink_hate_red I've seen this movie 4 years ago and I loved it. The only thing I didn't like about it, was that they painted Marilyn as a s*ut and they included stuff that NEVER happened to her in real life. She WASN'T sexually abused by her foster father, she WASN'T stupid, she NEVER had a female doctor when she was in therapy, she NEVER hated being referred to by her real name (Norma Jean), and she NEVER lied around with various men who we don't have much knowledge of who knew Marilyn and were depicted in the film. Ahsley Judd does a wonderful job playing Norma Jean, BEFORE she become Marilyn. But her portrayal of Norma Jean AFTER Marilyn comes in is so tepid and cruel. Mira Sorvino does an amazing job portraying Marilyn, AFTER Norma Jean is gone. She shows Marilyn as the sexy blonde bombshell that she is, but shows her as an emotional wreck who was ALWAYS insecure and feeling like her career-referring to the end of the film-would never come back. I still love this movie and the only thing I wish was that they keep it as true as possible and NEVER included stuff that was unfounded and misconceived.

evil_cupcake I believe that this has to be one of the worst movies, based on someone's true life, I have ever seen. I'm aware that many people do love the film, but it just has too much fiction in a story that is meant to tell the truth of the beloved Marilyn Monroe. There are many moments that are factual, but the film is based on the book "Norma Jean: My Secret Life With Marilyn Monroe" by Ted (Eddie) Jordan.After reading the book I finally saw this film, and there are obvious comparisons. However, if you happen to find the book (which I believe is out of print now) notice the nude pictures of Marilyn/Norma Jeane. The pictures are not of Marilyn but of a look-a-like from the late 50's / early 60's. A couple of the pictures were also in playboy. Jordan's account of being with Marilyn at all times is dirty and at times disturbing. He frequently talks of how she struggles with herself(like in the movie) and she apparently has a horrible problem keeping herselffrom sleeping with him and other men/women and even his future wife, who was a popular strip-tease artist in California. This is basically where the "lesbian" story evolved from.Based on Jordan's book, comments, fake pictures and all the other hub-bub he has put into this God Awful book, none of this should be considered "Marilyn's Life". Nor should this film.However, all in all the film is generally entertaining. It's just too bad that it is full of lies, and it is contributing to Marilyn's so-called "sleeps with everyone/anyone" reputation.

SlawDawg I feel a need to defend this movie, at least against the charges that it doesn't present accurate characterizations of Marilyn Monroe. First of all, for someone to decide that Mira Sorvino plays Marilyn as an extension of her screen persona and not as she "really was" is specious at best. The way public figures behave off-camera isn't exactly something we as an audience can make a decision on. You don't know what happens behind those closed doors. That's why they're closed, so you can't see what's going on. But, really, that's beside the point. Whether or not Marilyn was truly like Sorvino plays her isn't really an issue. The surreal qualities of Norma Jean & Marilyn give ample indication that the filmmakers had no intention to go out and make a straightforward biopic. What they have in mind here is more complex. As heavy-handed as it may be, the symbolism is the real focus of the movie. Marilyn Monroe had two identities, and Sorvino and Ashley Judd go to great pains to illustrate in no uncertain terms that these two identities were in conflict with one another. The very different characterizations aren't saying that Marilyn was two different people. They are simply a case of filmmakers taking dramatic license to exaggerate something for the sake of making it clearer: Norma Jean Dougherty reinvented herself in her mind as someone who could get what she couldn't get herself. Try not to think of this film as a study of Monroe's outward change from Norma Jean to Marilyn. Think of it as more of a look inside her head, as an analysis of all the motives and frustrations bouncing around in her mind, and ultimately serving to identify her more than any physical appearances could ever do. It doesn't matter whether or not she really saw the word "Bourbon" and read it as "Bonbon." As the film lays it out, this is her image of herself, and in reflex, everyone else's image of her.And then there are those who will complain that it isn't right to speculate on someone's image of herself. But you can't ask a film to stick completely to facts. Conjecture is what makes nonfiction interesting. And it is what makes Norma Jean & Marilyn interesting.On the acting and in response to those who see the film as "soapy" and "campy": Life is a soap opera. Most of us are able to keep that at bay and live life as a perfectly reasonable chain of events. But desperate people historically are not able to do that. Drama is what they have, and drama is how they can get results. Marilyn, as the film puts it (and remember, you need to always look at a film like this on its own merits, especially when it doesn't portray itself as factual, which this one emphatically does not) is one of these desperate people, and the script respects that as a mean to that untimely end. Mira Sorvino's performance understands this. Yes, it's pretty wooden at first, but by the time she sings Happy Birthday to President Kennedy, hopped up on her crutch of barbituates and alcohol, her Marilyn has become fully realized in the downward spiral that will eventually take her life. Coupled with Ashley Judd's commanding performance as the girl who can only get what she wants by becoming someone else, and Sorvino's performance makes a full, tragic character, keeping to that perception of Marilyn Monroe as the eternal blonde bombshell legend.

martaF Years after Marilyn Monroe's death, a portuguese channel decided to pay homage to one of the greatest sex symbols of all time. Starting with a (beautiful) documentary, followed by "Some like it hot", "The Prince and the Showgirl" and (disaster!), "Norma Jean and Marilyn". Let's face it, the movie is a caricature, Mira Sorvino is ridiculous, but Ashley Judd doesn't look that bad.My advice: stick to the original one.