'Blonde' director leans too heavily into his artistic vision for how to adapt Oates' novel | Movie review

Sep. 27—A New York Times review of Joyce Carol Oates' 2000 novel "Blonde" — a fact-meets-fiction portrayal of the life of Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe and a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 2001 — describes it as "fat, messy and fierce. It's part Gothic, part kaleidoscopic novel of ideas, part lurid celebrity potboiler, and it is seldom less than engrossing."

Almost all of that description could be used to describe the new film adaptation of "Blonde," which stars Ana de Armas and debuts on Netflix this week.

An exception would be the "engrossing" part.

Don't misunderstand. You have to be at least somewhat impressed by writer-director Andrew Dominik's vision for the film and his execution of that vision. The screen version of "Blonde" is a meditative, dreamy — sometimes downright nightmarish — and often surreal journey from the childhood of then Norma Jeane Baker in the 1930s to the death of Marilyn Monroe in 1962.

"Blonde" took talent.

That said, Dominik ("The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford") makes his points — that Norma Jean's volatile childhood caused significant lasting emotional damage and that Marilyn struggled to separate her public and private personas and allowed men to take advantage of her — early and often. He hammers the narrative's themes so frequently, in fact, that "Blonde" feels even longer than its beefy runtime of well more than two and a half hours.

Instead of pulling you in to experience the world from Marilyn's point of view, as Dominik intends, "Blonde" is an endeavor that often keeps you at arm's length. A mix of color and black-and-white and mostly presented in a boxy aspect ratio rather than in widescreen, it too often feels more like a film-school project than something meant to be experienced by all the folks who still have interest in the star of movies including "The Seven Year Itch," "Niagara" and, of course, "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."

Plus, "Blonde" is the rare high-profile film to earn an NC-17 rating for its significant sexual content. However, this isn't a movie primarily concerned with being sexy, so having, say, so much nudity feels rather pointless. ("Blonde" already has been released in select theaters, but considering most folks will stream it, perhaps the restrictive rating won't cost it a meaningful number of viewers.)

All the difficulty engaging with "Blonde" comes in spite of the impressive performance of de Armas. Sure, thanks to makeup and blond wigs, the rising actress looks convincingly Marilyn-esque, but her performance goes beyond that. For all of the character's fame and success professionally, you can't help but find this Marilyn to be a sympathetic figure.

On her way to being famous and even once she has achieved superstardom, Marilyn often is treated like a piece of meat by men. In fact, she notes as much as she is being delivered to a room where, arguably, the most powerful man in the world is lying in bed and talking on the phone. He continues to engage with the other person on the line while, at least somewhat aggressively, getting what he wants from her.

While ignoring her first marriage, to James Dougherty, "Blonde" takes us through a three-way, sexually charged relationship with Cass Chaplin (Xavier Samuel, "The Death and Life of Otto Bloom") and Eddy G. Robinson Jr. (Evan Williams, "Versailles"), the sons of Hollywood icons; her second marriage, to a controlling and abusive Joe DiMaggio (Bobby Cannavale, "Nine Perfect Strangers"), the retired New York Yankees icon; and a third, to Pulitzer-winning playwright Arthur Miller (Adrien Brody).

She is happy with these men, but only for a while, with some of them being painted more villainous than others. Miller, at least, is desperate to help Marilyn — to save what they had together — when her depression becomes all-consuming.

Brody, as he tends to be — as he is in the just-released comedy whodunit "See How They Run" — is very good. If the movie is ever sweet, it's when Arthur encounters Marilyn, who enchants him.

Julianne Nicholson ("The Outsider") also makes her mark as Gladys, Marilyn's highly unstable mother. Some of the most impactful scenes in "Blonde" take place in what could be considered its prologue, when Norma Jean is a child. And it's heartbreaking later, whenever Marilyn goes to visit Gladys.

Then there's the matter of the mystery father absent from Marilyn's life. She is desperate to meet him, to feel loved by him, and, thus, is beyond thrilled when she begins to receive letters from Dad. However, he is not quick to actually appear in her life, which wears on her.

Something that sticks with you after finishing "Blonde" are Dominik's repeated sequences in which Marilyn is surrounded by adoring fans. These are anything but pleasant, though, as the director focuses his camera on the salivating men, whom he puts in slow motion and makes monstrous. That's a fine enough choice, but he runs it into the ground.

Ultimately, yes, the film version of "Blonde" is fat, messy and, to a fault, fierce. Perhaps many a gentleman will prefer it, but as the fall season kicks into high gear, it may be tough to justify making time for it.

'Blonde'

When: Sept. 28.

Where: Netflix.

Rated: NC-17 for some sexual content.

Runtime: 2 hours, 46 minutes.

Stars (of four): 2.