Grey Gardens – DVD Review

DVD Reviews, Reviews

Grey-Gardens

In 1975, brothers Albert and David Maysles released a fascinating documentary about two reclusive women, Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter, Edith “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale. Grey Gardens gave a captivating insight into the little world that these two women had fashioned for themselves.

As amazing as the documentary was it didn’t tell much of their story. It totally focused on the women, who they were, what they had to say and how they related to one another. Now a film has been made about Big and Little Edie that not only captures the magic of the original documentary, but give more insight into the lives of these mesmerizing women and offers an idea on how they came to be who they were.

The film tells the story of these two women but focuses specifically on their relationship. When Big Edie gets divorced she becomes more and more a homebody, never leaving the family homestead, Grey Gardens. Little Edie attempts to make a life for herself, but after several set backs moves back in with her mother where she tightens her grip and the two begin to develop a very co-dependent relationship. It is deep in the co-dependency where the documentary takes place.

The thing that really sells Grey Gardens is the acting. Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore are superb as Big and Little Edie. They completely capture the essence of who these women were and deliver fabulous performances. Barrymore even took voice lessons to nail Little Edie. It’s a shame this movie was not released in theaters because this is easily Barrymore’s best performance to date and Oscar worthy to boot.

You can tell that the filmmakers had a great love for their subjects and present them as historically accurate as possible. As with any movie fictional elements have to be used, but much of it has historical basis. Not only are several scenes reenacted flawlessly, but there are many lines of Little Edie’s that are taken from her diaries and journals.

In any lesser hands, this film wouldn’t have worked. But with a strong director and devoted actresses, Grey Gardens is an entertaining look into the lives of Big and Little Edie and provides a little more insight to an already absorbing documentary.

The film is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen and 5.1 surround sound. The film looks and sounds great. The scenes that recreate the documentary look really good.

Commentary with director Michael Sucsy and producers Lucy Barzun Donnelly and Rachael Horovitz: Not the most exciting commentary I’ve heard but actually filled with a lot of interesting tidbits which is more than can be said for most commentaries.

Grey Gardens: Then & Now: (11 min.) A nice piece comparing the documentary to the film with interviews with the director and producers as well as Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange. It shows some clips from the documentary which will make anyone who hasn’t seen it want to make it the next film on their list.

If you’ve not seen the documentary, I highly, highly recommend seeing it. If you’ve seen that and loved it, you’re sure to enjoy this film. Drew Barrymore is fantastic in it, and the story overall enhances that famed documentary from the Maysles brothers in 1975.




HBO presents Grey Gardens. Directed by Michael Sucsy. Written by Michael Sucsy and Patricia Rozema. Starring Drew Barrymore, Jessica Lange and Daniel Baldwin. Running time: 104 minutes. Rated TV-PG. Released on DVD: July 14, 2009. Available at Amazon.com.

Mike Noyes received his Masters Degree in Film from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco. A few of his short films can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/user/mikebnoyes. He recently published his first novel which you can buy here: https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Days-Years-Mike-Noyes-ebook/dp/B07D48NT6B/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528774538&sr=8-1&keywords=seven+days+seven+years