'Grey Gardens' Trailer Has Me Feeling Cautiously Optimistic

For what seems like years, Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange have been working on Grey Gardens, an HBO movie about Edith and Little Edie Beale,  the subjects of the 1973 documentary cult classic of the same name. I have loved almost every HBO film I've seen, finding them all extremely well cast and well executed.  Even so, I have to admit I cringed and gnashed my teeth when I heard about this one.

It wasn't that I was worried about HBO "ruining" a good movie. The 1973 documentary, which I adore with all of my heart (yet another fact that probably confirms I am actually a gay man trapped in a woman's body), is an entirely different kind of film than this biopic, which recreates scenes from the doc, but focuses far more on the decades leading up to it. No, my concern was with the casting of Drew Barrymore, who seems like a very sweet girl, but who is not exactly Meryl Streep, if you catch my drift.

The full-length trailer, however, has me feeling less apprehensive:

 

 

 

I didn't think she had the acting chops to pull off the transformation it required to play Little Edie Beale, but honestly, Drew Barrymore embodies the eccentric, sad woman I know from David Maysles' film. The amazing costume recreations certainly help, but the two minutes I've seen so far leave the impression that she really worked it out. She even seems to have dropped the lisp she's had since E.T. Perhaps there's something to be said for the influence of Jessica Lange, who portrays Big Edie.

Sadly, I do not have a subscription to HBO, so I will have to wait until it's released onto DVD, but I no longer dread this depiction of my beloved Big Edie and Little Edie.

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Comments

[KBO]

Jessica Lange looks creeeeeepily like Big Edie. The trailer really, really impressed me, because both actresses look and act uncannily like the Edies. Who knew Drew had it in her? This=teh awesome.

[Hilary]

Agreed all around. I am definitely looking fwd to this.

[jodifur]

Is this based on the musical?

[Snarky Amber]

Jodi,

it's the same subject material as the musical, but the HBO film isn't a musical. However, like the musical, it depicts a younger Big Edie and Little Edie as well as the older women in the 1973 documentary.

[amalah]

The promo spot came on the other day and I wasn't paying attention at first, but I SWEAR I thought I was watching a promo for the original. Drew and Jessica are, like, sooooo creepily spot on.

[Katie Kat]

WOW... that looks spectacular. I might have to get HBO for just one month to see it (I'm too impatient to wait for it on DVD!) Thanks Amber!