FeistyUpper If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

Dana An old-fashioned movie made with new-fashioned finesse.

Kathini I was quite excited to watch this documentary on Marilyn Monroe and was extremely disappointed, insulted almost. It's like they didn't trust the audience to be interested in Marilyn's story so they threw in some b-list celebrities to dramatically read excerpts from her journals. This results in awkward "readings" and terrible camera work superimposed over photos of Marilyn's writing. It was distracting and annoying and really subtracted from the content. This had the potential to be great but was destroyed by the odd approach of injecting "celebrities" to make the documentary more "interesting". I definitely do not suggest this film.

jjnxn-1 While it's interesting after a fashion to hear these actors read her journals and try to make them come alive, sometimes too empathetically, it becomes repetitive after a while. What could have added an extra needed dimension to this since they gathered such an amazing array of talent is to have these respected thespians, well except for Lohan, tell what value they found in Marilyn's work and what she meant to them. It would have added a more personal touch and since the actors involved are a broad spectrum of ages and techniques it would have shown how someone who was often dismissed as a lightweight had an impact on screen that bridged generations.Still this is worth seeing, if for nothing else the clips of Marilyn. Only a few are different from the ones that are usually shown but as always she glows with an interior light.

Johnny-113 This was a very good documentary. I learned a lot about MM and liked seeing old interviews with her and her friends and peers. The story, structure, music and editing were great and it was never dull. My only complaint is that I cringed many times, watching most of the actors read from Marilyn and others' letters and books. I felt that they emoted waaaaaay too much and were showing off. It felt like they agreed to recite the words or "act" for selfish reasons. It was over the top: especially Marisa Tormei, Uma Thurman and Adrian Brody. It called to much attention to the actors and was very distracting. It took me OUT of the film. The film was about MM not these actors. At the very least, the should have been offscreen, only supplying a voice over. I suppose the director's argument would be that they were trying to convey the emotions of the subjects who had written the books, poetry, etc, but it was embarrassing and self serving. I will not see the film again for this single reason. This is a documentary. I don't want to see Hollywood actors overacting.

cinemaniac2002 Rarely is the public ever allowed to see the private journals written by major movie stars or public figures who die tragically. In this film - Marilyn Monroe is exposed in ways that reveal who she truly was. A woman trying to figure out who she was, using acting as therapy. Having been abandoned as a child, she spent her life trying to receive the love and approval that she never got from her birth parents.One of the most stunning things about Marilyn is that she was poetic and far more articulate than anyone ever gave her credit for. Hearing her own words against the backdrop of the times shows her fragility in ways that have never been seen before. Told through archival and film clips, interviews with people she knew and film historians, actors provide dramatic readings of the materials written by both the actress and observers at that time. Some startling revelations also exonerate and vindicate her to a great degree. For instance, the many stories about her being late to the set and unable to perform can be explained by the fact that her acting process was different. As Actor's Studio coach Lee Strasberg said - she was one of the most sensitive and talented of any actor he ever worked with. That would explain, then, why Billy Wilder had such a time trying to give her explicitly technical direction. Not to mention, Laurence Olivier thoroughly insulted her as she out-performed him on camera.She was also dismayed by the fact that she was presented as so stupid that she wouldn't be able to tell that Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis were actually men in drag and not women. That whole comic story line was dependent upon her character's stupidity. Only the joke was on her. Her first marriage to Joe DiMaggio was fraught with turmoil due to the demands of her career. They divorced, but when she was lied to and locked away in a sanitarium without her knowledge and consent - it was DiMaggio who came to her rescue. Alarmed at how she had fallen in with people he felt exploited her, he asked her to remarry him on August 1, 1961, but she was found dead August 5. In fact, he loved her so much that he had red roses delivered three times each week to her grave site for two decades. An acquaintance of Marilyn said that it was during her time with Arthur Miller that she began using barbiturates to sleep. It isn't any wonder, given that Miller told the press that they were to marry before he even asked her. It was clear that he used her. First, to get out of his House Un-American Activities Commission debacle, then to get material, writing unflattering and malicious things about her in his journals. Then he rubbed salt in the wound by putting these details in The Misfits, forcing her to make fun of herself in cruel ways. Miller also wound up schtupping a photographer he met on the set - apparently right under Marilyn's nose. No wonder it was her last film. Drugs are a funny thing. If you're fragile, you get hooked - for a lifetime.But once Marilyn was rid of Miller, she was really looking to working with Lee Strasberg in her production company to create the kinds of projects that inspired her. That, and the fact that DiMaggio's son had spoken to her the night she died, saying she seemed just fine makes it apparent that she did not commit suicide. She was on a number of medications at the time so it was probably accidental. Her legendary romps with the Kennedy boys are the stuff of sordid tabloids, but it wasn't talked about until decades later. Marilyn was known to have a journal documenting her affairs and conversations. Before she died, rumors were circulating that she planned a press conference that following Monday. If that is the case, it would seem that the Kennedy boys, who had used and cast her aside would stand a lot to lose. Especially since Bobby Kennedy is said to have been at the scene before the coroner when Marilyn's body was found. Most likely, to destroy her latest journal. Who told him about it? Seems like maybe he already knew.And what better way to debase and invalidate someone than to insinuate that they were so unhappy that they killed themselves? It would certainly feed the male egos of the men who rejected her. But she got the last laugh, because her candle has been lit for half a century. Wherever she is, she must be smiling - especially now that her true voice has finally been heard -- for the first time ever.