There are several really good things about this TV biopic and a few not-so-good things. On the plus side, director Bogdanovich has given the standard approach a bit of a spin with snippets of interviews from actual people who knew the subject and inserts of photos and clips of the actual star to help move the story along. Also, Waddell (as Natalie Wood) gives a very strong performance in a challenging role. Almost (but not quite) matching her is Weatherly as the love of her life Robert Wagner. Both of these actors have obviously spent a great deal of time studying their subjects and perfecting their body language, mannerisms and voices (particularly Weatherly.) The film also has a generous running time to help keep the story from being rushed and hacked to death in order to squeeze it in to the usual two-hour TV-movie slot. On the negative side, Wood's mother has been presented like something out of a Hans Christian Anderson horror story. Her portrayal is so unrelentingly domineering and menacing that it borders on cartoonish and ridiculous....not balanced much at all. Also, the hair and make-up people have sorely let down Waddell's accomplished performance. Years go by and Waddell has the exact same length of hair and basic style, yet Wood was a chameleon with her hair and the pictures that are continuously flashed on the screen confirm this. Also, Wood ALWAYS, even swimming, had thick black eyeliner on her lower lids. Waddell is never made up this way. The eyes are all wrong throughout the movie. So this detracts somewhat from what could have been a downright eerie resemblance because she manages it several times anyway. More than once, it's hard to believe that it isn't Natalie Wood (and Robert Wagner) on the screen. Several other star impersonations crop up. Some are really pretty good (Marilyn Monroe, Warren Beatty, Sal Mineo, James Dean), others are completely, utterly WRONG (Joan Collins - Attention hair and make-up! - Her engagement picture to Warren Beatty is right in the middle of her autobiography. Look it up!) Enough decent moments occur in the film to warrant seeing it and there's a right-on portrayal of Wood's younger sister Lana (the actress bears a strong resemblance to the real lady.) After all is said and done, though, the audience has only learned a little of what made Wood tick and there's only fabrication about how she died.
Review of The Mystery of Natalie Wood
