Review of Martha, Inc.: The Story of Martha Stewart (2003) by Kenny N — 10 Aug 2015

This exploitative, semi-true, but ultimately incredibly fun TV movie of the week does for Martha Stewart what "Mommie Dearest" did for Joan Crawford: revealed that, beneath the happy, gentle veneer lurked a savage, villainous she-beast with a dangerous mind ready to destroy anyone who got in her way.

The domestic goddess is played to perfection by one of my personal favorite actresses. She goes from bourgeois TV hostess and perfect party planner to venomous diva who had to claw and fight her way to the top and isn't about ready to get knocked off by anyone (including family) or anything (including the law) with great ease.

I'm well aware that great creative liberties were taken with Miss Stewart's story in order to make a juicy biopic. But that only matter to the viewer if the viewer cares very deeply about the subject of said biopic.

I don't, so I found this easy to enjoy. I laughed at a lot of things, but never at Martha: when Cybill turns on the rage machine (like when there's *gasp!* an uneven thread count in the non-cotton Kmart sheets, a scene that so echoes Faye Dunaway's "no more wire hangars" scene I can't help but thinking it was intentional), you want to back up a few inches from the TV, lest you suffer her wrath as well.

Overall a riotous depiction of ambition turned to greed turned to crime, and it's all true! (Well...a fair bit of it, anyway.).