Factory Girl (Unrated) Reviews

• Revisiting the 1960s: Was it really that strange?

  
  By A328S9RN3U5M68 on 2007-07-19
  FACTORY GIRL is a film that divides viewers into those who love it and those who dismiss it as trivial trash. For this reviewer there are some strong points in this film about an almost indescribable time in our history that helps clarify points about Andy Warhol and his significance on the art scene. And one of those points is made more clear by the film's refusal to make Warhol the central character. This is Edie Sedgwick's story and it is told in a manner compatible with the times in which it took place.
  
  Director George Hickenlooper, using a story/screenplay by Aaron Richard Golub, Captain Mauzner and Simon Monjack, elects to tell this pseudobiopic in the form of interviews and flashbacks, beginning with an interview of the makeup-less Edie Sedgwick (Sienna Miller) speaking to a reporter in a hospital, some time after her extended 15 minutes of fame. Edie was a wealthy beautiful but psychologically and physically damaged art student from am important, albeit extraordinarily dysfunctional, family an escaped to New York where she was taken in by the newly fashionable Pop artist Andy Warhol (Guy Pearce) and made a member of his bizarre family who lived in The Factory. Warhol made films (probably some of the worst ever made...) and promised fame to Edie. But Edie spent all her wealth on parties and drugs and broken promises of fame, fell in love with an unnamed folk singer (Hayden Christensen - very shallowly imitating Bob Dylan), and eventually fell out with the world and into the realm of drug addiction. All the while Andy Warhol remained the enigmatic weird artist whose relationship to the world was distorted at best. The films walks through some raunchy scenes, some glimpses of Warhol's infamous silkscreens of pop objects, and offers a chance for a fairly secure cast of actors to draw some of the people who lived in the factory - actors including Jack Huston, Jimmy Fallon, Shawn Hatosy, Mena Suvari - and those who were outside the 'temple' - actors such as James Naughton, Beth Grant, Edward Hermann and Ileana Douglas as Diana Vreeland.
  
  Yes, there are holes in the script and the film feels like a bad hangover at times, but for this viewer the acting of Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce make the film worthwhile. This is not a pretty story but it is an informative one about the depravity of the 1960s and the lasting effects (both bad and good) on art and society. Grady Harp, July 07
  
  
  
  

• Made a fool out of her

  
  By A1D2C0WDCSHUWZ on 2007-05-29
  One of the most notorious self-destructs of the last century was Edie Sedgwick, a glamorous poor-little-rich-girl whose distant pixielike beauty made her Andy Warhol's muse.
  
  Too bad her biopic "Factory Girl" is basically a piece of drivelling trash, with all the depth and artistic intelligence of a "Biography" episode, based on the director's massive crush on his subject. And it doesn't help that the supremely untalented Sienna Miller gives Edie all the life of a block of wood.
  
  Edie Sedgwick (Sienna Miller) was an American blueblood, with vast quantities of money and a bright future. But she encountered Andy Warhol (Guy Pearse), the pop artist who turned the art/music world on its ear, and soon she was his "muse," even starring in some of the brief films that Warhol directed. For a time, she was on top of the world.
  
  But soon Edie's inner torment began to surface, as two men began a tug-o-war with her affections -- Warhol, and the handsome young folkie Bob Dylan.... I mean, Quinn (Hayden Christensen). And Edie's lover can't stop her from descending into a personal hell, which ultimately destroyed her.
  
  They've been trying to drum up notice for this film by sprinkling the rumor that Christensen and Miller really had sex for the cameras. Well, the rumors are actually more interesting than the movie itself -- despite Sedgwick's life of sex, film, glamor and drugs, "Factory Girl" is dull as ditchwater.
  
  Basically, it's a love letter from director George Hickenlooper to Edie, and his unwillingness to grasp that the ruination of her life can't be blamed on anyone.Though Sedgwick was already on drugs and pain when she met Warhol, here she's a pitiful waif damsel who is being fought over by handsome Dylan and the evil queeny Warhol -- who, the movie not-so-subtlely suggests, ruined her life.
  
  The whole movie feels rushed. Hickenlooper tries to include every style and bit of trivia of the period, making it feel like a clumsy cram. And the messiness extends to the story -- a tangle of flashbacks, splicing, parties, trashy glitz, and characters that flit in and out without much consequence -- not to mention the "interviews," which are apparently included because the plot is too incoherent. Oy.
  
  And the actors cannot bring their legendary characters to life. Miller is a screeching, histrionic creature without glamour, range or poignancy, and definitely without Edie's beauty. Christensen is choking on his role as a thinly-veiled Bob Dylan... oops, I meant Quinn. Guy Pearse is the only bright spot, despite the flimsiness of his character.
  
  Instead of semi-accurately portraying Sedgwick's life, "Factory Girl" is a blinkered love letter, a rewriting of history in which all Sedgwick's problems were due to Warhol. A glitzy, glamless disaster.
  
  

• A fantastic film for people who truly did their homework

  
  By A3IHKGT1W8H1PI on 2007-06-21
  This film got an exceptional amount of poor reviews by people who had a faint idea of who Edie Sedgwick was and the effect she still has on people today. She was the underground, self-indulgent, addict version of Audrey Hepburn. Everyone wanted to be her. She couldn't help herself, but everyone wanted to help her until they realized the enormity of that task. Edie was a poor little rich girl, yes, but she was raised to be that way. She was someone who was heavily medicated from a young age, someone who was taught to go to others for your problems. She wanted to escape, but the foundation of who she was was never solid enough for her to make it on her own, hence her inability to be completely independent. Enter Andy Warhol, the sychophant who relished in her beauty, charm, and complete lack of self-awareness. She was everything he wasn't, and vice versa. Once Warhol had capitalized on her and milked her dry, he left her wanting, so she found other means. Therewithin is her demise.
  
  Knowing Sedgwick, and especially the nuances of this film, makes you look at it in a different light. The too-fast pace marked by subtleties such as "is the salmon fresh?". If you don't know that era, those people, the Warholian group, you'll dislike this film. Simply because you won't appreciate how much went into developing the characters. Any press will show you that Sienna worked on the role well over a year, Guy lost loads of weight, and Miller had to master a voice that crept away from the person who possessed it in a very short time. Not an easy task.
  
  It's a fantastic film. If nothing else, appreciate the artistry of it.
  
  

• Now I remember why I don't like Andy Warhol

  
  By A35YWA2V4QHOJ3 on 2007-08-26
  This is a movie that is a bit tricky for me to review. If you ask: "Was it well done?" The answer is yes. If you ask: "Was the cast good?" The answer is yes. However, it's simply not what I expected, and that's my fault. I did not read the plot of the movie. I read about how it was un-rated & heard that Sienna Miller did some nude scenes in it. Both are true, but neither was able to overcome my lack of interest in the story.
  
  The movie is based on a true story of a woman named Edie Sedgwick. She was part of Andy Warhol's entourage in the 1960s. I'd always figured Warhol to be a quack. If this film is remotely accurate, then Warhol was even more of a quack than I thought!
  
  Sienna Miller gives a terrific performance. Guy Pearce is creepy and whacked-out enough to play Warhol. The problem is, I just couldn't get into the story. I've always had a big problem having sympathy for junkies, as it seems to me that they "make their own beds" insofar as their myriad problems are concerned. The movie reminded me a lot of Angelina Jolie's Gia (Unrated Edition), which was about another troubled young woman / junkie from about a decade later.
  
  I will be, in the end, as fair as I can be here. If you are a big fan of Andy Warhol and / or Edie Sedgwick, then this film certainly belongs on your shelf of DVDs. If you are (like me) mainly drawn to this film due to the fact that it's Un-Rated, then I would recommend you find other, more saucy UR films. That's as diplomatic as I can be.
  
  

• The tragic decline of a bright young 'Factory Girl'

  
  By A2PN7Z2VTHICL8 on 2007-08-05
  Admittedly, this movie is my first foray into the interesting life story of Edie Sedgwick, one of Andy Warhol's brightest stars and hanger-on's in Warhol's studio, which became known as 'The Factory'. It's definitely a great place to start to peak your interest in the story of Andy and Edie, and the tragedy of Edie's life.
  
  Edie was a blue-blood from an important family, an artist who wanted to explore the big city of New York. She meets Andy Warhol and the two become fast friends. Andy sees in Edie something he can use, and stars Edie is several of his underground movies. The two of them became a sensation, and Edie was suddenly a sweetheart of the New York art scene. Exposure to the wild and willing deviance of Warhol's Factory soon led to Edie's use of drugs. Her trust fund was running low. Then Edie meets Billy Quinn (in real life it was Bob Dylan).
  
  Warhol disapproved of Edie's relationship with Quinn (Dylan) and began to shun her. Edie was devastated by the estrangement of Warhol, her best friend, so she chose Warhol over Quinn, only to discover that Warhol had already written her off as yesterday's news. Edie spiraled into her drug addiction, her trust fund ran out, and her relationship with her rigid parents was already strained past the breaking point. She had no where to go and no one to turn to. Except drugs.
  
  'Factory Girl' is a well-done film. Sienna Miller as Edie was perky and perfect for the role. Hayden Christianson was above his usual performances as Billy Quinn. Guy Pearce was stunningly perfect as Andy Warhol, and watch for SNL's Jimmy Fallon as Edie's friend Chuck Wein. The acting was excellent, the atmosphere captured the 60's, and the photography added that tiny bit of craziness that inundated the era. The movie woke my interest in the Factory, and I was recommended two books, "Edie: American Girl" by Jean Stein and "Factory Made: Warhol And The Sixties" by Steven Watson.
  
  If this subject fascinates you at all, 'Factory Girl' is a great place to start. I recommend watching this film. Enjoy!
  
  
  
• Made a fool out of her
  By A1D2C0WDCSHUWZ on 2007-02-27
  One of the most notorious self-destructs of the last century was Edie Sedgwick, a glamorous poor-little-rich-girl whose distant pixielike beauty made her Andy Warhol's muse.
  
  Too bad her biopic "Factory Girl" is basically a piece of drivelling trash, with all the depth and artistic intelligence of a "Biography" episode, based on the director's massive crush on his subject. And it doesn't help that the supremely untalented Sienna Miller gives Edie all the life of a block of wood.
  
  Edie Sedgwick (Sienna Miller) was an American blueblood, with vast quantities of money and a bright future. But she encountered Andy Warhol (Guy Pearse), the pop artist who turned the art/music world on its ear, and soon she was his "muse," even starring in some of the brief films that Warhol directed. For a time, she was on top of the world.
  
  But soon Edie's inner torment began to surface, as two men began a tug-o-war with her affections -- Warhol, and the handsome young folkie Bob Dylan.... I mean, Quinn (Hayden Christensen). And Edie's lover can't stop her from descending into a personal hell, which ultimately destroyed her.
  
  They've been trying to drum up notice for this film by sprinkling the rumor that Christensen and Miller really had sex for the cameras. Well, the rumors are actually more interesting than the movie itself -- despite Sedgwick's life of sex, film, glamor and drugs, "Factory Girl" is dull as ditchwater.
  
  Basically, it's a love letter from director George Hickenlooper to Edie, and his unwillingness to grasp that the ruination of her life can't be blamed on anyone.Though Sedgwick was already on drugs and pain when she met Warhol, here she's a pitiful waif damsel who is being fought over by handsome Dylan and the evil queeny Warhol -- who, the movie not-so-subtlely suggests, ruined her life.
  
  The whole movie feels rushed. Hickenlooper tries to include every style and bit of trivia of the period, making it feel like a clumsy cram. And the messiness extends to the story -- a tangle of flashbacks, splicing, parties, trashy glitz, and characters that flit in and out without much consequence -- not to mention the "interviews," which are apparently included because the plot is too incoherent. Oy.
  
  And the actors cannot bring their legendary characters to life. Miller is a screeching, histrionic creature without glamour, range or poignancy, and definitely without Edie's beauty. Christensen is choking on his role as a thinly-veiled Bob Dylan... oops, I meant Quinn. Guy Pearse is the only bright spot, despite the flimsiness of his character.
  
  Instead of semi-accurately portraying Sedgwick's life, "Factory Girl" is a blinkered love letter, a rewriting of history in which all Sedgwick's problems were due to Warhol. A glitzy, glamless disaster.
  
  
• Evocative But Frustratingly Elliptical Look at Andy Warhol's Factory and the Sad Party Girl in the Middle
  By A13E0ARAXI6KJW on 2007-09-05
  For the concerted effort Sienna Miller puts into her searing portrayal of Warhol protégé and underground celebrity Edie Sedgwick, it would have been rewarding to experience a film that matches her unbridled dramatic impact. Unfortunately, director George Hickenlooper, primarily a documentary filmmaker, seems more focused on eye-catching cinematic techniques - a deliberately artsy mix of overtly dramatic images, grainy film stock and slow-motion photography - than honest character development in this highly fictionalized 2007 account of her brief life. The result feels energetic but ultimately rather cursory in the way he depicts the Manhattan party scene in the mid-1960's, in particular, the Factory, where Warhol let his coterie of drug-addicted fame-seekers gather to make virtually unwatchable films that reflect their constant state of ennui.
  
  With her big raccoon eyes, pre-punk hairdo and flashing smile, Miller bears such a striking resemblance to the real-life Sedgwick that she carries much of the film by the sheer will of her character's Holly Golightly-like sense of exalted self-worth. But like Holly, Sedgwick lacked talent to sustain a film career, and the script leaves Miller to her own devices in connecting us with her character's tormented psyche amid her escalating drug use. On the upside, Guy Pearce accurately captures the discomfiting public image of Warhol down to the familiar narcissistic indifference and manipulative shyness, but his character gradually recedes into the background. At first, Hayden Christensen comes across as amateurish and unintentionally amusing as a Bob Dylan doppelganger, especially since he makes a feeble attempt at capturing the singer's recognizable speech cadences. Just as he manages to transcend the awkwardness of the character's intrusion into the story, he also disappears making his impact in Sedgwick's life feel rather fleeting.
  
  Even though the cryptic screenplay by Captain Mauzner, Aaron Richard Golub and Simon Monjack conveniently paints Warhol and the faux-Dylan as polarizing figures pulling at Sedgwick's soul, the story really comes down to her own inner demons. The problem is that she remains oddly elliptical throughout, and Hickenlooper seems satisfied with leaving us with an impressionistic view of a person who barely warrants our attention forty years later. Among the supporting players, there are quite a familiar faces - Ileana Douglas as Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, Jimmy Fallon as Sedgwick's confidante Chuck Wein, Tara Summers as fellow Warhol protégé Brigid Berlin, Mena Suvari as Brigid's sister Richie, Edward Herrmann as the family attorney, Mary Kate Olsen as a partygoer. However, none of them are given any opportunity to shine.
  
  The 2007 DVD includes several extras of varying interest, the best being an insightful commentary track from Hickenlooper and a thirty-minute documentary on the life of the real Sedgwick that mimics the main film's stylistic touches. There is also a bland ten-minute making-of featurette, a scene that was understandably excised, audition footage of Miller, the original theatrical trailer, and a twenty-minute behind-the-scenes video diary coordinated by Pearce. Despite strong work from Miller and Pearce, the film is only marginally effective as a dramatic vehicle even as Hickenlooper viscerally evokes a fascinating period of history in the arts scene.
  
  
• Edie Lite
  By A14ADG0TTI4XBV on 2007-07-17
  Personally, I'm glad the movie focuses only on 1965-1966, when Edie rose and fell with equal velocity. The script is flawed, but not fatally. Sienna Miller manages to evoke Edie--her intelligence, her smoky voice and aristocratic origins, her wry pixie humor. What the film doesn't have time to explore is her complexity. I could have done without the Bob Dylan character--it's corny, as well as inaccurate-- in real life Dylan had little to do with her rise or fall. It was Bob Neuworth, Dylan's sidekick, that transfixed her. In place of the Dylan subplot, I would rather have seen more solo Edie hitting the party circuit, making films, doing fashion spreads, conquering the media Guerilla style. That would have given Sienna Miller a chance to show more of Edie's strength and pizazz.
  
  In "Factory Girl", Edie's turnabout from happy Queen of Warhol's Factory to ousted junkie is a little too sudden. One or two more transition scenes would have helped. The film depicts Edie's downfall as a result of failed romance & her oust from the Warhol set, but this appears to be innacurate. From what I have read, her ruin was really built into her psychological makeup, it seems. All the demons of her childhood and resulting lack of self esteem (combined-as so often in these "charismatic trainwreck" types--with a huge ego), seem to have created a timebomb, inevitably counting backwards to zero. But she was a beautiful and compelling timebomb, a butterfly captured--temporarily--and studied through Warhol's lens. Andy got the exclusive on her--for she fell apart almost immediately after she stopped appearing in his movies.
  
  Aside from some fashion modelling and the movie "Ciao! Manhattan"--a painful attempt to either resurrect her or capture and exploit her death throes (for she really was dying on film here, spiritually if not physically--and was dead of an overdose only months after filming wrapped), Edie remains otherwise undocumented on celluloid-- flickering through the rest of time in Warhol's unseen vaults. One wonders why the Warhol Estate doesn't release them now that "Factory Girl" is becoming a sleeper hit on DVD. Boxset, anyone?
  
  More than being a model or a movie star though, Edie's real gift seems to have been more of a live phenomenon--as is evidenced by the countless testimonials of those she bewitched or enchanted in person. Yes, she was beautiful (check out the Girl on Fire book if you are in any doubt of her considerable physical charm). She was also intelligent--something that might surprise the uninformed skeptic. And inspite of her exasperating insistence on self-destruction, she was magical. And she made those she touched feel magical too. In a world that seems to be turning more apocalyptic each day, being society's Tinkerbell just may be a more significant achievement than being a good actress. I give props to the film makers for evoking some of Edie's magic then, in this imperfect but interesting and rewatchable study.
  
  
• Devoured and spit out by The Factory
  By ATXL536YX71TR on 2007-02-20
  FACTORY GIRL is a portrait of Edie Sedgwick(an outstanding performance by Sienna Miller),born into a well-to-do
  back East" family,whose restless ambition and need to be loved brings her to the avant-garde art scene of 1960's New York.She is free,bubbly,vivacious and most of all,a true innocent who gets caught up in the free love,sex,drugs and music of the Cultural-Anti-Establishment Revolution.Her closest "confidantes" are the artists of Andy Warhol's FACTORY,Andy Warhol himself (played by a practically unrecognizable Guy Pearce who plays his role with such creepy coolness and cruelty),and the music and fashion icons of the time.What at first is fun becomes dark and deadly as we watch Edie literally devoured by it all.These people are heartless and will discard you like yesterdays leftovers!Those who so shallowly pretend to be her closest friends stand by numbly (or drugged) as they watch her decent into oblivion which is horrific and almost painfully unwatchable.This is not a pleasant film to watch,but it is so well crafted and acted that one viewing makes it unforgetable.Reminiscent of films such as GIA and JUDY GARLAND:ME AND MY SHADOWS, the outcome is sadly predictable for these once bright stars.
  
  
• One of the best films!
  By A3LWWUH2XN848H on 2007-06-10
  This movie got so much bad reviews, but in my opinion it is one of the best films ever. Reminds me of those old classic films kind of like Breakfast At Tiffany's or Lolita. One where you fall in love with the protagonist.
  Sienna Miller is amazing in this film.
  
  
• STANDARDIZED EDIE, NOT EPIC ROCKER BIO-PIC
  By A20ZIE95S13WPE on 2007-07-13
  Sienna Miller as Edie Sedgwick is a good start for anyone unfamiliar with Edie's life and history, but it really doesn't even scratch the surface of Edie the rocker, the masochist, or the life artist. Her days at The Factory and with Warhol were so short compared to the rest of her life, that the film leads one to believe The Factory was all that it was. Where is Edie's disturbing childhood? Her days with Bartle Bull or at Cambridge? Where is there any mention of Alan Ginsberg, Nico, Jim Morrison - or even filming Ciao Manhattan? Not even a whisper of her last years in California and her eventual downfall? Why can't the audience get a truly realistic insight into Edie's drug addiction and descent other than the standardizied version shown in the film? Unfortunately, this bio-pic lacks a lot of important details that could help iillustrate why Edie is still such an icon even 36 years after her death, and although Sienna looks the part, she fails to truly go severly deep into the disturbingly dark, reckless, yet playful Edie that we see in film clips and photo stills. A true Edie fan will miss the epic details and lovable eccentricities and vulnerabilities that Jean Stein's book gives so much more insight to.
  
  
• excellent film about exploitation
  By A2D37EP9KT2E3D on 2007-07-21
  I really liked this film. The story was done very well and the acting was the for the most part very good as well. Sienna Miller's range as an actress in the part was really amazing to see. She had to be many different things at once and she managed to pull it all off almost effortlessly.
  
  The other thing I want to say though is that this is a story. It should not be taken as the "truth" of Edie Sedgwick or Andy Warhol's life. Both were so much creatures of image and the media that its impossible to ever really know either of them in a definitive way. The use of a faux Bob Dylan as some sort of superior moral figure was a bad idea. What the film deliberately missed was that Dylan and Warhol were more alike in how they used people and struck a pose than how they were different. If Warhol was the fake/con-man as artist, Dylan was the fake/con-man as poet. And to suggest as the film does that Dylan of that year was any cleaner than Edie is absurd.
  
  The film misses a number of key events in the lives of the people featured. It misses the decline of the factory crowd and ultimately Warhol being shot. It misses Dylan's motorcycle "accident". It also gives a wrong impression of how brief Edie's factory period was. Its a very good film, but it could have been better if it had covered the broader landscape of what was happening.
  
  The film also doesn't quite capture the decline of the Factory from 1965 to 1968. It wasn't just Edie who went into decline as depicted in the film. Almost everyone in that crowd did along with the Chelsea hotel.
  
  Two other comments. There is unusual amount of smoking in the film. There is a line between incidental smoking in a film and a film so full of smoking scenes that its really noticable. Factory girl is in the later catagory. Rather than being a bad thing, it more raises the question of "why".
  
  Other works of interest would be "Nico:Icon" and "I shot Andy Warhol".
  
  
  
  
• weak story
  By AZ7R1RUYONOS8 on 2007-09-30
  The movie dragged and although it was based on real people, the story was hardly captivating. The main character was also hard to relate to: A spoiled rich girl who gets involved with drugs and the wrong crowd and ultimately is ruined by her own weaknesses, wah..wah..wah. Who cares? It was a total waste of money.
  
  
• Wow! Miller and Pearce are amazing!
  By AGI34AHBTPGPZ on 2007-07-18
  Not sure which film some other reviewers were watching, but as far as I'm concerned, Miller and Pearce deliver amazing performances as Edie and Andy respectively. I would even go so far as to say they're dead ringers for the icons of the 60s pop art scene that they portray.
  
  This is not, nor was it intended to be, Edie's complete life story. It focuses on her time in New York and her association with Andy Warhol, his Factory scene and her downward spiral into heavy drug use. If you're expecting something more than this, you may be disappointed.
  
  As far as the extent of Edie's relationship with "Quinn", the jury's still out. Conflicting stories abound.
  
  
• Destined to be a cult classic
  By A1D6DFC3AGV3JZ on 2007-07-20
  This year, 2007, being the twentieth anniversary of Andy Warhol's death, there seems to be a resurgence of interest in the late pop artist. FACTORY GIRL, about Andy Warhol's muse Edie Sedgwick (referred to, perhaps unfairly, by some as the Paris Hilton of the 1960s) seems to be the latest example of the resurgence of interest.
  
  My own interest in Andy Warhol was piqued in the 1980s when my sister, an actress living in the village at the time, told me about the times she saw Warhol standing on the street corner at night and staring vacantly into space. Over the years, I have come across references to him here and there. But it wasn't until the recent PBS American Masters documentary that I really got some insight into who he was. Since then, Andy Warhol has become something of an obsession for me. I have since read several books about him, which I plan to review on Amazon at some point.
  
  So, suffice it to say that I come to this movie with at least a bit of knowledge on the topic.
  
  What's most stunning about FACTORY GIRL is that Sienna Miller looks a great deal like Edie Sedgwick. In some of the scenes, particularly the recreations of the various Warhol movies she starred in, I had to do a double-take. I thought maybe they were using actual historical footage. Beyond that, Sienna Miller herself is a stunning beauty and did a stunning job with the material she was given.
  
  And that brings us to the material. It leaves something to be desired. From what I've read, Edie was an extraordinarily complex person, as was Andy Warhol himself. The two were sort of counterparts for one another. They had a multi-leveled relationship. FACTORY GIRL really gives no indication of the depth of character that both possessed nor the complexity of their relationship. Sienna Miller brings Edie to life, but the screenplay and editing really doesn't allow the audience to get to know Edie as a person. Guy Pearce has his moments, but for the most part he seems to play Andy Warhol as a caricature rather than a character, sort of an impersonation. Jared Harris offered a much better reading in I SHOT ANDY WARHOL. And I'm sorry to say that Hayden Christensen's take on Bob Dylan is almost B-level acting. I just don't buy him as a rebellious rock star.
  
  Overall, the movie doesn't seem like a coherent movie in and of itself. It seems like conceptual pieces, disjointed scenes haphazardly strung together, with no continuity holding them in place. It's a real shame because this movie could've been great. The first 20 minutes offer real promise. Sienna Miller makes it clear that she's a real talent. She is first-rate in this movie. The rest of the movie does not stand up to her performance. Ironically, like Edie Sedgwick herself, Sienna deserved better.
  
  In the PBS American Masters documentary about Andy Warhol, an art critic says that Andy's pop art paintings of advertisements upset the art world. They were disconcerting because, unlike abstract impressionism, Warhol's paintings have a flatness with no brush strokes evident, the effect being that the paintings throw you back on the surface and offer no place for your spiritual eye to penetrate the work. The same could be said for FACTORY GIRL. Like Warhol's paintings, and despite Sienna Miller's laudable attempts, this movie throws you back on the surface and allows no place for your spiritual eye to penetrate. For a tremendously complicated girl with such a tragic life, the viewer is left with only a memory of how beautiful she was. All surface.
  
  However, the surface is beautiful enough to, in my opinion, guarantee that this movie will become a cult classic. Despite this three-star review, I intend to buy myself a copy. Sienna Miller's performance, and the visual recreations of the Factory, are good enough to warrant repeated viewings.
  
  
• VERY STRANGE BUT INTERESTING MOVIE
  By A2VJUBBKFJNVMF on 2007-07-19
  A bit too long, and very strange. I thought at the beginning it was going to be in documentary-style format, but it then got started. Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce (as Andy Warhol) were excellent. Since I grew up in the 60s, I could relate to what was going on and the interaction between the characters and situations but those who didn't might find it difficult to follow and get lost. All in all, it could have been a bit shorter, but it definitely spelled out what life was like in the 60s in that type of counter-culture.
  
  
• LOVED IT!
  By A2J1VQV4UATNPQ on 2007-07-20
  I just happened to catch this movie on an international flight and loved it! I had never heard of Edie Sedgwick before but was totally mesmerized by the film! I have since watched it many times and can't get enough. I definitely recommend this movie to anyone with an open mind.
  
  
• A peek inside Warhol's factory through the eyes of one of his victims.
  By A2EBXJL1AL3DTS on 2007-07-26
  I disagree with all the criticism about this movie. I thought it portrayed Warhol and his factory hangers-on very well. Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce were outstanding.
  Yes, it was a depressing movie. They were a depressing bunch.
  
  
• Why do people who give only One star
  By A330SMV45V77OX on 2007-07-28
  Have to write epic reviews? And ruin the entire movie for anyone interested in watching it? I took a chance and rented this one, anything that has to Do with the study of Warhol? Im there. It was a well made film with excellent acting, and storyline. Its simply an Interesting true story of the days of The Factory...But, you don't need to diss a movie with one star, and babble on and on.Revealingthe Whole story of the movie. Definitely 4 out of 5..!! IFC studio is churning out some Great independent movies well worth watching. As Andy Warhol said..."Art is What you can Get Away with.
  
  
• in all fairness,unfair to Edie Sedgwick
  By on 2007-10-09
  This film is a poor portrait of the genuine article.
  It seems very fake . Sienna Miller is lacking the sparkling and perfectly symmetrical beauty of Edie Sedgwick, bearing no resemblance except the make-up and hairdo, mimicking Edie Sedgwick very unflatteringly.
  
  I'm waiting fro Warhol's "Kitchen" and "beauty" starring the real Edie Sedgwick.
  I highly discourage the purchase of this bland film, lacking in all respects.
  
  
• Edie's gone
  By A2IU4JKJ595GC3 on 2007-07-17
  Edie Sedgwick's been dead longer than she was alive. She didn't live very long, but she left a mark because of how she looked and who she knew. She was neither brilliant nor talented, she just was. I've never seen anything else that Sienna Miller has done, but this would really be all she'd need to do. She mimics Edie almost perfectly. The time period isn't perfectly evoked, but you can catch its scent.
  
  
• not sure why all the bad press..
  By AA0XJHK8D7HQS on 2007-07-18
  Yah, I guess I've heard in the press why all the bad press. I don't pretend to be an expert on Warhol, Edie or Dylan, but I think this was a much better movie than it's getting credit for.
  
  I'm sorry if it doesn't cover the depth of Edie. My guess would be most movies about someone may not give the whole picture. I wouldn't say I'd add it to my top 5 list, but if you have an interest in the subject matter, please keep in mind the goofy politics of the people worried about their reputations and how they may have swayed what was included in this script, and enjoy it for what it is.
  
  I did.
  
  
• Factory Girl Review
  By AME0VCSZMOIC3 on 2007-07-20
  Director George Hickenlooper's biographical drama charts the meteoric rise and subsequent fall from grace of Edie Sedgwick (Sienna Miller), an ambitious starlet who becomes the muse of Andy Warhol (Guy Pearce). Heading for New York City's bright lights after dropping out of college in 1965, Edie meets pop-culture icon Andy, who turns her into the toast of the town. But she soon discovers that glamour and fame have a price.
  
  
• flawed and inaccurate but the BIG picture is Right On
  By A2ZQXJD7YUIEHB on 2007-08-06
  While this movie is flawed and it's no "Citizen Kane", it was much better than I expected.
  The facts are murky and some of the characters are "composites" as it says at the end of the movie, but it gets the big picture right.
  
  Edie Sedgwick was real, "the Girl in Tights", a poor-little-rich-girl, Life magazine, wide-eyed "blonde" Pop fashion flash all the young girls were immitating for a year or so around '65. She pretty much invented that no-bra, minidress and black tights look, two years before the advent of pantyhose (so says designer Betsey Johnson in the additional stuff). Sienna Miller, while a talented actress, does not have the incandescent beauty of the real Edie.
  
  Andy Warhol and the Factory, are accurately portrayed. His Dada-esque soup can, Brillo Box "art" and his pretentious plotless 12-hour "movies" were considered very "avant-garde" as were the junkies, speedfreaks and assorted talentless poseurs at the Factory.
  
  All this came on a backdrop of a rich New York elite of art buyers, gullible and ready to believe Warhol's mass-produced stuff, (not to mention Jackson "Jack-the-Dripper" Pollock)was, in fact, the latest "high art" just because some authority-figure art critic said so. "Art" with neither beauty nor meaning.
  
  Rich Edie did fall in and did nose dive into self-destruction. And Bob Dylan, or "Quinn" (as in the The Mighty Quinn) was there somewhere, even if Bob Neuwirth was Edie's real lover, there are a LOT of Dylan songs which have always been reputed to be written about Edie Sedgwick. Only Dylan knows for sure. For example:
  
  Like a Rolling Stone
  
  "Once upon a time you dressed so fine
  You threw the bums a dime in your prime, didn't you?
  People'd call, say, "Beware doll, you're bound to fall"
  You thought they were all kiddin' you
  You used to laugh about
  Everybody that was hangin' out
  Now you don't talk so loud
  Now you don't seem so proud
  About having to be scrounging for your next meal..."
  
  Just like a Woman
  
  "Nobody feels any pain
  Tonight as I stand inside the rain
  Ev'rybody knows
  That Baby's got new clothes
  But lately I see her ribbons and her bows
  Have fallen from her curls.
  She takes just like a woman, yes, she does
  She makes love just like a woman, yes, she does
  And she aches just like a woman
  But she breaks just like a little girl..."
  
  Loeopard-skin Pill-box hat
  
  "...Well, I see you got a new boyfriend
  You know, I never seen him before
  Well, I saw him
  Makin' love to you
  You forgot to close the garage door
  You might think he loves you for your money
  But I know what he really loves you for
  It's your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat."
  
  Ignore the nitpick reviews. This is a better movie and a more accurate description the times and of these three people, than most reviewers say. Even if Dylan wasn't Edie's lover, he sure got a lot of mileage writing memorable songs (probably) about her and her downfall.
  
  
• Missing Dylan
  By A1UBNZC28BYIYM on 2007-08-23
  Bob Dylan's refusal to allow his name and music ruins a great story. He immortalized Edie, seeing very early on how weak and damaged she was. You can't tell the story of Edie without Bob.
  
  
• An enchanting movie, a spirited muse
  By A9DEBL9JBKQBF on 2007-08-26
  A lot of people gripe about this film, but I side with Edie's bro Johnathan: I think it does a wonderful job evoking her spirit. The acting is great, the sets and costumes and music are fabulous, and the story is heartbreaking. Though it may have some inaccuracies, I've never seen a Hollywood biographical film that didn't. I'm so glad I bought this movie so I can watch it again and again!
  
  
• Guy Pearce Steals the Show as Andy Warhol
  By A34D06JL7LC6MU on 2007-09-15
  "Factory Girl" is a biopic about Edie Sedgwick, the muse of Andy Warhol...Beautiful, talented, and vulnerable, it's hard for her name not to come up when talking about Warhol. My familiarity with Edie came from a song by The Cult called "Edie (Ciao Baby)" which is a truly beautiful song about (as Ian Astbury put it) an "angel with a broken wing." This film took forever to be released, mostly because it hasn't really received good reception from anybody. It does tread over some familar ground and (in style) even bears some similarities to the recent biopic "The Notorious Life of Bettie Page" (which I did not like); But "Factory Girl" does feature dynamite performances by Sienna Miller and Guy Pearce, despite the mostly weak script. The beautiful Sienna Miller plays Edie Sedgwick, from the innocent and beautiful aspiring artist we see in the beginning to the drug-addicted, poor girl we see at the end and she never misses a beat. Once Edie finds herself in New York, she captures the attention of pop-artist Andy Warhol (Pearce, nearly unrecognizable). Andy begins putting Edie in his films (movies which, essentially, never went anywhere), as Edie grows to start using drugs with other people in Andy's factory. Soon, Edie meets a musician (Hayden Christensen) who seems to be based on Bob Dylan, and falls in love...Their romance is never really developed. It basically plays out in 4 scenes. They meet, the meet again, they have sex, and he pisses her off so they part ways. The movie does do a good job of illustrating Edie's difficult childhood (which, of course, features the sexually abusive father figure), but the whole time I was watching this film I didn't see anything that seemed new to me. If not for Miller and Pearce, the film would nearly fall flat after a fairly strong first half. I like the cinematography and the direction of the film and the first half of the movie DOES work, but it soon enters familar territory and it's all downhill from there. The performances are truly Oscar-worthy, Pearce completely blends into his role and makes you believe he IS Andy Warhol...It's one of the most impressive supporting performances I've seen this year. Miller, who's beautiful and talented but hasn't really done anything to gain her much notice, deserves an Oscar nod for this film...But she won't get one. This isn't a terrible movie and it's worth seeing for the performances alone.
  
  GRADE: B-
  
  
  
• Thursday's child is Sunday's clown
  By A2FEJIORC1MBG3 on 2007-09-27
  Edie Sedgwick was a Paris Hilton-type figure of the 1960s; a trust fund babe with an ability to attract the paparazzi by associating with just the right people in just the right places. She arrived in New York City in the mid 60s and was drawn to the downtown art scene, where she was spotted by Andy Warhol, who became platonically smitten with her wide-eyed, waif-like beauty and vowed to make her a "superstar". Warhol featured her in a number of his experimental films, and she became the iconic symbol of the "Factory", a warehouse space where Warhol worked on his multi-media projects and played host to a revolving door co-op of avant-garde artists, musicians, actors and hangers-on. Sedgwick fell from grace with Warhol and tragically died of a drug overdose at the age of 28.
  
  This is a pretty rich vein from which to mine a juicy biopic. The director is no stranger to this territory; his outstanding 2003 documentary about L.A. DJ/rock impresario Rodney Bingenheimer, "The Mayor of the Sunset Strip" basically deals with the same theme. So, is George Hickenlooper up to the task? Well,yes and no.
  
  Hickenlooper's affection for the subject at hand is evidenced in his canny visual replication of the 1960s underground art scene; he alternates grainy, b&w film footage with highly saturated 16mm color stock and utilizes a lot of hand-held cinema verite style shots, cleverly aping the look of Warhol's own experimental films. The fashion, the music, and the overall vibe of the era is well-captured here.
  
  So the film has a great look, but what about the narrative? Aye,there's the rub. The director's pastiche approach plays like the Cliff's Notes version of Warhol and Sedgwick's partnership. A lot of things are left unexplained; peripheral characters come and go without much exposition (it wasn't until the credits rolled that I learned tidbits like "Oh. THAT character was supposed to be Moe Tucker from the Velvet Underground. Coulda fooled me..."). Ironically, the 30 minute extra on the DVD,featuring recollections from friends and family. serves up much more insight into what made Sedgwick tick than the full length feature does.
  
  One cannot fault the actors. Sienna Miller does an admirable job portraying the arc of Edie's transition from innocent pixie to haggard junkie. Guy Pearce completely disappears into a spooky evocation of Warhol. It's not as easy as one might think to inhabit Warhol's deadpan persona; several actors have tried(David Bowie, Jared Harris and Crispin Glover) but generally end up doing little more than donning a white wig, affecting a blank stare and tossing out the rote catch phrases ("Umm, yeah. That's great." "Yeah, hi."). Even the usually wooden Hayden Christensen registers a pulse and gets with the program, doing a passable impression of Bob Dylan. Oh, I'm sorry-did I say `Bob Dylan'? I meant to say, `Billy Quinn' (as in "The Mighty Quinn"-get it?), referred to in the film only as a "folk singer"
  
  "Factory Girl" is perhaps not quite as dismal as many have led you to believe, but it is still not as good as one might have hoped (I guess we can call this a `mixed review', no?) Worth a peek on a slow night.
  
  
• An Edie That Never Was
  By A19552QR80XTOX on 2008-05-11
  I have been a huge fan of Edie Sedgwick for the last 14 years. I was very excited when I heard that a "real" studio was actually going to try to make a biopic about Edie. That is, until stories started surfacing about casting (Jimmy Fallon as the handsome poet, Gerard Malanga?!?) and reports that actual Factory cohorts thought the idea of the film itself was disgusting. Turns out, the old Factory crew was spot on. This movie couldn't be further from Edie's actual life. Having poured over Edie's classic biography (Edie: An American Girl), it's more than apparent that the filmmakers took "artistic liberties" to new heights. What they couldn't find to be true, they made up. Time lines don't make sense and people who weren't even that involved in Edie's life take center stage. Sienna Miller's portrayal of Edie is quite good. The only redeeming quality in the movie is Sienna's spot on impersonation of Edie. The girl did her research. Too bad the script wasn't as researched. My real problem with this movies lies with one (huge) thing, the Hayden Christensen character "Billy Quinn". The Quinn character is a thinly veiled Bob Dylan musician who tries to show Edie the shallowness of the Warhol Factory and ultimately becomes the thing that comes between Edie & Warhol. In real life, Edie was never actually involved with Dylan. I suppose the filmmakers thought that Edie having an affair with the notoriously private Dylan was much more interesting than the real life affair she had with the less famous Bob Neuwirth (Dylan's best friend at the time). Edie's real reason for leaving the Factory had more do to with her drug use and the fact that she felt she should try to shoot for real stardom. Instead, "Factory Girl" portrays Edie as a girl caught between two powerful men who has no idea who to choose. As flawed as Edie was, one thing is certain, she did what she wanted, when she wanted. Her decision to leave the Factory was her own and wasn't based on the affection of any man. The fact that the filmmakers sunk to such depths to get the story they wanted, no matter how untrue it was, is what is the most insulting. I'd rather no movie be made about Edie than the lies and fabrications that made up "Factory Girl".
  
  If you're interested in finding out more about Edie, don't rely on this movie. Instead, read the few books that cover her life and go on facts, not rumors or hearsay. Edie might have been a cultural footnote, but everyone deserves to have their story told in an honest way. "Factory Girl" fails on all fronts and only goes to show that as years go by, people think they can just reinvent history to suit them. The sad thing is, some of Edie's family (her widower & sole surviving brother) & friends actually participated in this fiasco (they can be seen giving interview on the end credits). That, in and of itself, actually lends some credibility to a movie than deserves none whatsoever.
  
  
• Best casting ever!!!
  By A3HNBLO0KIJVTS on 2007-07-30
  This movie is by far the best I have ever seen cast wise. Sienna Miller is unforgettable as Edie Sedgwick. Guy Pearce is the most perfect person for the role of Andy Warhol (IT IS THE BEST AND MOST UNIQUE ROLE I HAVE EVER SEEN HIM IN). Suprisingly, Hayden Christensen does a pretty good job as Bob Dylan. The characters are pulled off perfectly and work very well together to capture the life of this troubled woman.
  
  If you go into this movie knowing nothing of Warhol or Sedwick, that's ok. It explains it very well. As another reviewer said, it is not the full life of Edie Sedgwick. It is basicly her life when she meets and starts working with Andy Warhol, and then when she leaves him. If you know any of the history of her life, it is not very happy. With her depression and drug use, she really struggled through life. So the movie does get a little depressing towards the end of the film.
  
  I gave this movie four stars because of an awesome cast. Awesome acting. Awesome true story. But deducted a star due to the fact of the depression towards the end of the film.
  
  When it comes down to it, this movie is a must see and right on the line of renting and owning. I honestly cannot see myself renting this film again, but who knows. The directing was pretty good and I love that time period. I recommend this film to anyone who enjoys the 60's art craze or wants to know more about Sedgwick or Warhol.
  
  

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