Review of Factory Girl (2006) by Tyler J — 01 Feb 2008

The story of Andy Warhol and his entourage is a fascinating one. I feel that this movie didn't quite do it justice. Edie Sedgwick was interesting, sure... but I don't think she's worthy of outshining Warhol, Dylan or especially The Velvet Underground. Which made me wonder why they made a move about her in the first place. Guy Peirce was especially convincing as Andy. Not so sure about Hayden Christensen as Bob Dylan (but after seeing "I'm Not There", Dylan is more of an idea than a real person).

Lou Reed read the script and said it was "the worst piece of trash he'd ever read, written by a retard" or something to that effect. Which makes me think either this movie is horribly inaccurate or Reed is just biased. Either way it say much for the movie.

My wife came in towards the end and asked me what happened until that point, so I tried to sum it up for her. Edie moves to NY, Edie and Andy become BFF, Edie becomes a star, Edie hangs out with Bob, Andy gets jealous and Edie is hated by everyone and is an outcast. She asked why and honestly, I couldn't say. The motives weren't very clear.

So all in all, a nice attempt, but this isn't the definitive Warhol movie.