I just watched "The Mystery of Natalie Wood" which, all things considered, was much better than I had expected it to be. As a long-time fan of Natalie Wood, I had dreaded something that would do her a great injustice.
Done docu-drama style and directed quite effectively by Peter Bogdanovich, who looks like he's back on form with this, it was shot on locations in New South Wales and in the Fox studios in Sydney, Australia, with a cast chosen, as carefully as possible, I guess, for their resemblances to Natalie and her sister, Lana, Wood; Robert ("R.J.") Wagner; Warren Beatty; and Christopher Walken. The men were the best matched, with the actress playing Natalie occasionally catching her spirit from time to time but looking very much like her only in certain scenes and, often, only from certain angles. (Her face was a bit too narrow, in my opinion.) The actors playing Wagner and Beatty really "nailed" it, with the actor, Matthew Settle, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the young Warren. The actress playing Natalie's scary mother, Alice Krige, was made up and coifed to be quite ghoulish-looking (Great fake Russian accent, by the way!) and gave you the feeling that Natalie's mother was, indeed the true nemesis in her tragically cut-short life. Her father, apparently a browbeaten sort, was very effectively played by Colin Friels. The final sequence was particularly well-done and the recreation of Natalie's drowning, guess work but quite credible, was very effective, I thought. Photos of Natalie from her movies and public appearances, with some clips of her arriving at premieres, etc., were interspersed, not too distractingly, but unfortunately highlighting Justine Waddell's lack of a close resemblance to the lovely Ms. Wood. Music by Richard Marvin and cinematography by John Stokes were of a fairly high order and the production values, for a teleplay, were on the deluxe end of the scale.
Natalie is still sorely missed and her film legacy, which many feel contains some gems that are very much worth preserving, is testimony to how very difficult it is for a beautiful woman with real talent to gain recognition in Hollywood. May she be looking down on today's benighted world from a much happier place than was her lot while she was with us.
Done docu-drama style and directed quite effectively by Peter Bogdanovich, who looks like he's back on form with this, it was shot on locations in New South Wales and in the Fox studios in Sydney, Australia, with a cast chosen, as carefully as possible, I guess, for their resemblances to Natalie and her sister, Lana, Wood; Robert ("R.J.") Wagner; Warren Beatty; and Christopher Walken. The men were the best matched, with the actress playing Natalie occasionally catching her spirit from time to time but looking very much like her only in certain scenes and, often, only from certain angles. (Her face was a bit too narrow, in my opinion.) The actors playing Wagner and Beatty really "nailed" it, with the actor, Matthew Settle, bearing an uncanny resemblance to the young Warren. The actress playing Natalie's scary mother, Alice Krige, was made up and coifed to be quite ghoulish-looking (Great fake Russian accent, by the way!) and gave you the feeling that Natalie's mother was, indeed the true nemesis in her tragically cut-short life. Her father, apparently a browbeaten sort, was very effectively played by Colin Friels. The final sequence was particularly well-done and the recreation of Natalie's drowning, guess work but quite credible, was very effective, I thought. Photos of Natalie from her movies and public appearances, with some clips of her arriving at premieres, etc., were interspersed, not too distractingly, but unfortunately highlighting Justine Waddell's lack of a close resemblance to the lovely Ms. Wood. Music by Richard Marvin and cinematography by John Stokes were of a fairly high order and the production values, for a teleplay, were on the deluxe end of the scale.
Natalie is still sorely missed and her film legacy, which many feel contains some gems that are very much worth preserving, is testimony to how very difficult it is for a beautiful woman with real talent to gain recognition in Hollywood. May she be looking down on today's benighted world from a much happier place than was her lot while she was with us.