I try very hard not to read film reviews by so called professionals.  Not to be cliché but those who can’t act, critique.  Therefore I was more than pleasantly surprised when I finally saw Factory Girl, a film chronicling the painfully short life of Edith Minturn Sedgwick.  

The name Edie brings to mind fashion, fabulousness, pop art, and of course Andy Warhol. Edie, played remarkably by Sienna Miller, comes alive on the screen.  Her interpretation of the style and mannerisms Edie was best known for was truly Oscar worthy.  Sienna was born to play this role and she does it with grace and ease worthy of the character.   

Andy Warhol portrayed by Guy Pierce comes off as always, the puppet master, the guru who made people famous, some for even longer than fifteen minutes.  Pierces interpretation at times startlingly real, as compared to actual footage, does not apologize for the troubled oddball artist, nor garner any sympathy for his “IT” girl.  

Hayden Christiansen portrays the fictionalized “Dylan” character with whom Edie was said to have had an affair.  His impersonation, as it really seemed he was doing one was unconvincing and his scenes with Sienna felt contrived and stylized.  Christiansen, aside from Shattered Glass, has yet to deliver as an actor at the level and caliber he has been placed. 

The film is colorful and lively, as Edie navigates New York City and the Factory.  What is haunting is the life Edie describes on the Ranch in Santa Barbara, and her insanely wealthy yet troubled family.  There is a hope when Edie tells her story, one that is never attained of happily ever after.  Instead we see real beauty, corrupted by dysfunctional family, alcohol and drug abuse, and the people who prey on those they covet. 

A well made film, with outstanding breakout performance for Sienna Miller.  A walk through time of decadence and debauchery that left NY and the counterculture permanently altered.

 Copyright ©2007 Veronica Romm