'The Mystery Of Natalie Wood' isn't in the same league as some of the more recent big screen biopics - e.g. 'Ray' (Ray Charles bio), 'The Aviator' (Howard Hughes) and 'Walk The Line' (Johnny Cash). I suspect that this is, in part, due to the restraints of a TV budget and also to the portrayal of Natalie. Unlike the aforementioned bios, 'The Mystery Of Natalie Wood' made no attempt to show her 'dark side', ignoring examples of jealousy, pettiness and 'drama queen' behaviour. Instead, she was portrayed in this movie as something of a hapless victim, to whom things happened because of everyone else - nothing was her fault. It would have been interesting to see a much more rounded, realistic, 'warts and all' portrayal of Natalie.
The opposite seems to have been the case with the portrayal of Natalie's husband, Robert 'RJ' Wagner. He was portrayed as a thoroughly dislikable character - boring, self-centred and light-weight. Where was the charm, intelligence and wicked sense of humour (Mike Myers has described him as "Very, very silly...a combination of great old Hollywood stories and...er...potty mouth!") which he was/is known to have? There was nothing about him in the biopic that showed us what Natalie actually saw in him - and she must have seen something, because she married him twice!
I think that the odd biases (for Natalie, against RJ) probably can be accounted for by the script of the biopic being based largely on Suzanne Finstadt's biography of Natalie, in which these biases clearly existed.
Another thing that slightly niggled was sloppy research (again, I suspect the result of relying on Finstadt's bio as source material). In one scene, Natalie and RJ are discussing going to England to make 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof'. Natalie indicates that she might want to take on other work after completing 'Cat...' and tells RJ "It's alright for you, you have 'Hart to Hart' to work on when we get back!" As 'Cat...' was made in 1976 and work began on the pilot episode of 'Hart to Hart' in 1978/9, then they couldn't have been discussing 'Hart to Hart' before going to England to work on 'Cat...'.
I also thought it was odd that no mention was made (in the latter part of the movie - set in the late 70s/early 80s) of Natalie's insecurity about RJ's working relationship with his 'Hart to Hart' co-star Stefanie Powers. There was one reference to Stefanie (Natalie's mother mentions her in a conversation with RJ) - and that was it. No mention of the rumours (whether true or not) about RJ being involved off-screen with Stefanie - which were doing the rounds at the time. No mention either of the effect of these rumours on Natalie. A glaring omission, I thought.
I also have a 'niggle' concerning Natalie and RJ's yacht, 'Splendour'. In the movie the yacht is shown with wood panelling on the exterior - but in actual photos/footage of 'Splendor', there is no exterior panelling. If they can get something as straightforward as this wrong, what else did they get wrong?
I also felt that the music at the end was ill-judged. We'd just had harrowing scenes of RJ and Maria being told the news of Natalie's death. These were followed by a montage of Natalie photos/clips (a nice and moving touch), accompanied by Natalie singing cheerfully 'Let Me Entertain You' - which clashed horribly with the montage!
Having said all that, I thought Justine Waddall (Natalie), Alice Krige (Maria - Natalie's mother) and Michael Weatherly (RJ Wagner) did well with the material they were given. Alice Krige in particular gave a stunningly chilling performance as the 'stage mother from hell'!
Incidentally, it might have been an idea to have had another actor playing the 'older' (1970s/80s) RJ, rather than just giving Michael Weatherly a dodgy wig and body padding.
To sum up, this is an entertaining biopic, but if you know anything about the 'true' story, be prepared to nit-pick!
Joanne
The opposite seems to have been the case with the portrayal of Natalie's husband, Robert 'RJ' Wagner. He was portrayed as a thoroughly dislikable character - boring, self-centred and light-weight. Where was the charm, intelligence and wicked sense of humour (Mike Myers has described him as "Very, very silly...a combination of great old Hollywood stories and...er...potty mouth!") which he was/is known to have? There was nothing about him in the biopic that showed us what Natalie actually saw in him - and she must have seen something, because she married him twice!
I think that the odd biases (for Natalie, against RJ) probably can be accounted for by the script of the biopic being based largely on Suzanne Finstadt's biography of Natalie, in which these biases clearly existed.
Another thing that slightly niggled was sloppy research (again, I suspect the result of relying on Finstadt's bio as source material). In one scene, Natalie and RJ are discussing going to England to make 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof'. Natalie indicates that she might want to take on other work after completing 'Cat...' and tells RJ "It's alright for you, you have 'Hart to Hart' to work on when we get back!" As 'Cat...' was made in 1976 and work began on the pilot episode of 'Hart to Hart' in 1978/9, then they couldn't have been discussing 'Hart to Hart' before going to England to work on 'Cat...'.
I also thought it was odd that no mention was made (in the latter part of the movie - set in the late 70s/early 80s) of Natalie's insecurity about RJ's working relationship with his 'Hart to Hart' co-star Stefanie Powers. There was one reference to Stefanie (Natalie's mother mentions her in a conversation with RJ) - and that was it. No mention of the rumours (whether true or not) about RJ being involved off-screen with Stefanie - which were doing the rounds at the time. No mention either of the effect of these rumours on Natalie. A glaring omission, I thought.
I also have a 'niggle' concerning Natalie and RJ's yacht, 'Splendour'. In the movie the yacht is shown with wood panelling on the exterior - but in actual photos/footage of 'Splendor', there is no exterior panelling. If they can get something as straightforward as this wrong, what else did they get wrong?
I also felt that the music at the end was ill-judged. We'd just had harrowing scenes of RJ and Maria being told the news of Natalie's death. These were followed by a montage of Natalie photos/clips (a nice and moving touch), accompanied by Natalie singing cheerfully 'Let Me Entertain You' - which clashed horribly with the montage!
Having said all that, I thought Justine Waddall (Natalie), Alice Krige (Maria - Natalie's mother) and Michael Weatherly (RJ Wagner) did well with the material they were given. Alice Krige in particular gave a stunningly chilling performance as the 'stage mother from hell'!
Incidentally, it might have been an idea to have had another actor playing the 'older' (1970s/80s) RJ, rather than just giving Michael Weatherly a dodgy wig and body padding.
To sum up, this is an entertaining biopic, but if you know anything about the 'true' story, be prepared to nit-pick!
Joanne