Disappointment for a huge fan!

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Believe it, or not - Since her tragic death (at the age of 36) back in 1962 - Approximately 1000 books have been published on the life, the loves, the highs, and the lows of Marilyn Monroe.To this very day, Marilyn Monroe's phenomenal, manufactured screen-charisma has endured like no other Hollywood actor's of her (or any other) generation ever has.Through vintage footage, stills (as well as drawing on never-before-seen personal papers, diaries, and letters written by Monroe), this celebrity-documentary recaps Marilyn's life in a nutshell as contemporary actors discuss her prevailing appeal and recite (sometimes with too much embellishment) from her writings.Competently directed by Liz Garbus, "Love, Marilyn" is, most certainly, well-worth a view to all, regardless of whether one is a die-hard Marilyn Monroe fan, or not.

In the latest exhumation of tragic movie icon Marilyn Monroe we are given a sober rehashing of the erratic star's career with a cast of ever so sober and somber A listers quoting from her diary and playing the past. Long on pretense with nothing new to reveal it is strictly for Monroe fans who can do without the organ music.Dead half a century Monroe was basically a one note actress with an incredible charisma whose sex appeal packed them in the theatres. It had more to do with her curves than thespian turns however. In Love, Mariylyn Glenn Close, Marisa Tomei, Lindsay Lohan et all speak in hush, reverential, almost pained tone while doc director Liz Garbus serves up speculation with today's perspective resulting in the same metaphorical soup out of Monroe and her career that the print and celluloid media have been serving up since her death fifty years back. Same questions same answers.Between the testimonials and the crying out there are some rare archival moments that capture her remarkable appeal towards the end of her career driving George Cukor crazy as she deconstruct's on the set of her last film Something's Gotta Give. A stunning façade of bright eyed beauty and optimism imploding before your eyes, it says more in these brief moments than the entire doc and its heavy handed director posing and framing the patronizing prattle of it's actors delivered with spot on wake like melancholy inflection.

Love, Marilyn (2012) *** (out of 4) Nice documentary done on the fiftieth anniversary of the death of Marilyn Monroe. Through diary writings and other words written by the star, we hear these brought to life by various actors playing her as well as playing other people that surrounded the tragic star. A quick look at IMDb will show just how many familiar names were used to bring these words to life and I think for the most part the film is a success, although this technique doesn't quite work as well as I'm sure the producers were hoping. I will start off with the good and that's how the film pretty much starts from Marilyn's early days and leads right up to her death. We get to see everything in between including her personal life, her marriages, her film roles and of course her darker days. Throughout all of this one really gets a good idea of what frame of mind the actress was in whether it was her nerves getting the best of her or when everything came together and she managed to do some incredible work. I've read other reviews that have attacked the film for being too kind on Monroe but I guess this here will be based on the viewer and their opinion on the subject. One case is Monroe's final film, which Fox fired her from because she wasn't getting the work done. This documentary makes it seem that Fox was more to blame than anyone else. There's also the know issues Monroe had working with Lawrence Olivier but this film claims that Monroe was causing all these problems (not knowing lines, being late) not because she wanted to but because she was sticking it to the director for something rude he said to her. Either way, fans of Monroe should at least enjoy seeing the film clips and hearing some of these words that the legend wrote.

Writing a review is not usual for me, but after watching this film I felt compelled to offer an alternative take to what another reviewer has described as "fairly insufferable". That is a personal view, not particularly objective, or even fair, in my opinion. I believe anyone who has seen any to all of Marliyn's movies will appreciate the insights this movie provides into her private life. I found the readings from her journals particularly enlightening. The content of these journals was deeply personal and well articulated, and the dramatic readings by various actors only amplified this fact. I've seen other documentaries about MM, but in my opinion this film does the best job of demonstrating the dichotomy between her movie persona and her personal life. It reveals that behind the sex symbol was a thoughtful, intelligent woman who worked hard for everything she got, and who was plagued throughout her life by psychological demons. It is an evenhanded approach, neither castigating her for her faults, nor deifying her for what she accomplished. Highly recommended for all MM fans.