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List Price: $19.95 | | Label: The Weinstein Company
Salesrank: 5470
Released: July 17, 2007 |
| Our Price: $11.92 |
| Used Price: $7.25 |
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MPAA Rating: Unrated
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
(Drama) "Factory Girl" tells the story of the rise and fall of the original "IT GIRL" Edie Sedgwick. When Edie meets famed artist Andy Warhol, she is thrust into a life of glamour, parties and ultimately…tragedy.
Description of Factory Girl (Unrated):
The lovely face of Sienna Miller fills in for luminous but tragic 1960s icon Edie Sedgwick, the child of wealth and privilege who found brief delight but eventual destruction in the fabled Factory of Pop artist Andy Warhol (Guy Pearce). Factory Girl begins with Sedgwick as a naive art student who comes to New York City seeking freedom from her troubled family, just as Warhol was surrounding himself with oddballs, sycophants, and drug addicts. The eager girl briefly becomes Warhol's favorite and the center of the city's attention, but when she falls into an affair with 'The Musician' (the only slightly ambiguous depiction of a certain nasal-voiced rock star, played by Hayden Christensen, Shattered Glass), Warhol is stricken with jealousy. Factory Girl wants to paint Warhol as the villain in this story of innocence corrupted, but the casting undercuts the movie's moral. Miller, though pretty and capable, never takes us under Sedgwick's skin, and Christensen's performance is one-note and clumsy. But Pearce's Warhol fascinates; it's a sneaky, stealthy performance, predatory yet passive, hiding a million neuroses beneath a cunningly vapid facade. Whenever Pearce is on-screen, Factory Girl sparkles; when he's not--despite abundant views of Miller's and Christensen's attractive naked flesh in the "uncut unrated" version--the movie loses its fizz. Also featuring Mena Suvari (American Beauty), Jimmy Fallon (Fever Pitch), and Illeana Douglas (Grace of My Heart). --Bret Fetzer
Factory Girl (Unrated) Reviews:
(2.5 STARS) Good Acting, But Empty Overall 
2008-09-01 - "Factory Girl" is not a terrible film. It is just strange. The film is supposed to be about Edie Sedgwick, a college dropout-turned-Andy Warhol's muse in the early 1960s, but what you remember after watching her tragic life story is not anything about her; it is Guy Pearce's chilling portrait of Andy Warhol as self-absorbed artist. For all Sienna Miller's strong acting as troubled Edie, "Factory Girl" does not get under the skin of the character for whom it has been made. It is as if Warhol is taking over her story.
So many (possible) references to her in pop culture (especially music) suggest she has been still influential as cultural icon long after her early death, but George Hickenlooper's film never gets deeper than the top layer of the topic it deals with, going down the familiar course. Her romance with the "Musician" (Hayden Christensen impersonating Bob Dylan) leaves no impression on us. neither the supports from Jimmy Fallon, Mena Suvari, Shawn Hatosy, Edward Herrmann, Illeana Douglas and Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
But I may be too harsh. Maybe her life story was really as familiar as anyone else's. If the film's Warhol seems taking over the story of Edie, maybe it is because that's exactly what happened to her. (One of the characters refers to him as a "blood-sucking vampire.") Also, the film is filled with blurred images, split screen and other superficial camera works that only detract us from the purpose of the film: showing Edie as a person.
In one scene of the film the "Musician" refers to the "empty" nature of Warhol's painting. Intentional or unintentional, I don't know, but "Factory Girl" sometimes makes us feel the same way.
Forget the press, the girl CAN act!
2008-08-19 - I hated Sienna Miller in Layer Cake. She pranced around in her underwear a lot of the time. She does the same in this too, there are quite a few scenes where Edie seems to live in her underwear, but there's almost a certain innocence to it somehow.
Sienna Miller is of course more well known for her personal life these days, than her film career, and people seem to forget that. This is actually the first film I've seen of hers since Layer Cake, and was surprised when she was actually really good. It shows a great actor when you forget who they really are, they manage to become that character. It would have been especially hard to become such a tortured character like Edie Sedgewick was.
The film is basically centred around Edie's short life. Interspersed with scenes of Edie being interviewed when she's in rehab I think? Those scenes were the only parts I didn't like, as it didn't seem to add anything to the movie.
Guy Pearce who plays Andy Warhol in this, was the weirdest character. He actually gave me the shivers watching him on screen. I don't really know anything about Andy Warhol (or Edie Sedgewick for that matter) and the apparent similarities between Hayden Christensen's character and Bob Dylan I didn't notice. Really, this was a blind impulse buy.
For anyone who wasn't from the era this movie was based in, like me, won't really know the music. It didn't really do anything for me, add to the movie or anything. The fashion was cool, but I've seen better. It didn't really scream sixties if you know what I mean?
Overall, Factory Girl was a good little movie, not too long, not too short, quite sad towards the end, and with a couple of interesting features. But I finished it feeling I hadn't really found out anything about Edie Sedgewick. It skimmed over the top of her life, and left me feeling a bit empty afterwards.
Great acting, a sad story 
2008-08-11 - Factory Girl is a movie that weaves three major characters Edie Sedgwick, Andy Warhol and Bob Dylan together in a tragic, real-life drama. Movies about the lives of famous people allow us to open the door to their life-time choices and it was sad to see the trajectory of Edith Minturn Sedgwick, known by all her friends as "Edie."
Born on April 20th, 1943 to a wealthy family, Edie was the daughter of Alice Delano de Forest and Francis Minturn Sedgwick, who was a sculptor, philanthropist and rancher. Edie came from a well established family in Massachusetts, but her parents had moved to California, where she is born in Santa Barbara. Her ancestors can be traced back to her seventh grandfather, who was the first Major General of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
At the early age of 22, she meets Andy Warhol and begins a relationship with him, appearing in many of his movies, becoming a regular at The Factory, the studio where Warhol met with associates and friends while pursuing his endeavors. Andrew Warhol was born on August 6th, 1928, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, so when he met Edie he was in his late 30's. Andy started his career as a commercial illustrator and soon became famous for his work as a painter and his unique pop art, the name given to his 60's paintings of American products such as Campbell's Soup and Coca Cola cans.
The movie shows an insecure, troubled young woman, who involves herself in drug use which ultimately causes her demise. At some point, she meets Bob Dylan, an American song writer, author, poet and guitar player, but Andy Warhol becomes either jealous or resentful and he stops devoting his attention to Edie, who can not understand the motives behind his abandonment and loses control of herself.
The movie is well done, providing great detail into the lives of people we did not know much about, but the story of Edie Sedgwick left us saddened to see a young girl with great promise deteriorate to the point of self-destruction. Great acting.
Miller and Pearce are brilliant, "Factory Girl" is fabulous
2008-08-10 - Reshoots and delayed release dates are usually indicative of cinematic disaster. That is not the case for "Factory Girl."
This an amazing cinematic experience. Both a compelling look at the beginnings of celebrity culture and the highly personal story of a sad, lonely young woman at the center of a maelstrom beyond her control, "Factory Girl" is excellent.
Leads Sienna Miller (whose off-screen infamy sadly tends to outshadow her on-screen work) and Guy Pearce are very well-cast as Edie Sedgwick and Andy Warhol. The ostensible muse and poseur artist are a match made in hell, each feeding off the other until one is eaten alive by fame.
This is a rich, detailed film worthy of repeated viewings. With the exceptions of Hayden Christensen (especially disappointing considering his award-worthy work in "Shattered Glass") and Jimmy Fallon (is it possible to be less than one-dimensional? If so, Fallon has the secret), the casting could not have been better. Artful use of different film stocks helps to set the scene. The attention to detail pays enormous dividends as a powerful emotional story unfolds.
DVD extras are magnificent: an insightful biography of the real-life Edie includes commentary from dozens of survivors, Guy Pearce's video diary is an enlightening look behind the scenes, and Sienna Miller's audition tape is remarkable for the mere hint it offers of her superb work in the finished film.
For younger audiences, it's a fascinating look into the beginnings of the days when fame first became its own reward. For those who remember the 1960's, it's a pitch-perfect flashback.
Great Tribute to a 60's Icon 
2008-08-08 - Edie was such an icon of the 60's, I am extatic they made a movie to introduce her to the next generation! Hollywood always fabricates some info for movie purposes, but the majority of the film is surprisingly accurate. If you want further info on Edie the greatest book is Edie: American Girl"Edie : American Girl" by George Plimpton. Great Movie!
