PREMIER MOVIE REVIEWS - Factory Girl (2006)

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Factory Girl (2006)

Genre: Biography/Drama

Director: George Hickenlooper

Certificate: Factory Girl  was rated 16 by the Irish Film Censor's Office (www.ifco.ie) i.e. suitable for those of 16 years of age or upwards.

Violence = moderate. Drugs = strong. Sex/Nudity = strong. Language = strong.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE: Factory Girl

  Plot Summary & Review

When a film attempts to retell a story based on real events it always treads a thin line, and Factory Girl is no exception.  It tells the story of Edie Sedgwick (Sienna Miller) a fragile and vulnerable socialite who drops out of college in the mid-sixties and becomes the muse of Andy Warhol (Guy Pearce) who attempts to make her a star by way of his experimental art-house film making.

Factory Girl
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Entering his bizarre studio known as the Factory, where she is initially hero worshipped by Warhol, you soon realise she is on the slippery slope as he squeezes every last drop of human goodness out of her and hangs her out to dry.  Edie spirals into a world of drugs and heavy drinking, and the rest as they say is history, as she battles with an unhealthy loyalty to Warhol and the love she has for a folk singer called Billy Quinn (Hayden Christensen) who many believe to be really Bob Dylan, but they couldn't actually get say this in the film for legal reasons.

I never did quite see the attraction to Warhol, a shallow, precious, individual who accelerated his own career on the backs of many others but that's just my opinion.  Pearce gives an okay performance as the pale and supposedly interesting pop artist, but falls well short of his usual high standard…  But Miller's Sedgwick leaves a lot to be desired.  I find it incredulous that there was an Oscar buzz around it quite frankly.

Warhol was apparently captivated by her beauty and her Holly Golightly persona, sadly none of this came across in the film and by the end of it when she is a shell of her former self, she is painful to watch on the screen in more ways than one, exuding little in the way of any real star quality or presence.

There are some unpleasant drug taking scenes so it’s not for those who find that sort of thing distasteful, and sadly the overall chaotic, and over the top artistic nature of many of the scenes just didn't work for me at all.  Factory Girl is possibly worth a peep for those interested in the whole Warhol thing, and the sixties soundtrack works well, but best kept for DVD…  In a word - Disappointing.

Reviewed by Mary Kate, Premier Movie Reviews 2007

RELATED MOVIE REVIEWS: SIENNA MILLER: Alfie,  Layer Cake.  GUY PEARCE: The Proposition,  The Time Machine.  HAYDEN CHRISTENSEN: Star Wars Episode II - Attack Of The Clones,  Star Wars Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith.  JIMMY FALLAN: Almost Famous,  The Perfect Catch.

Main Cast

Sienna Miller

Guy Pearce

Hayden Christensen

Jimmy Fallan

Jack Huston

Armin Amiri

RATING

ONLY IF YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO

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