Andrew Dominik’s “Blonde,” streaming on Netflix Sept. 28, is meant to be a tough sit, endured, more than a harsh, often miserable life, examined. Wrong mission. But mission accomplished.
Any halfway-serious exploration of the Marilyn Monroe story must reconcile the endurance test of her 36 years ― so much abuse, humiliation, infantilization, addiction and ultimate ruination — with the public-facing legend. Under the same skin, she was many things. A human being; an honest, often affecting actor; a deft, warmhearted comedian; and an undeniable star, struggling for respect and for deliverance from a maze of unforgiving celebrity. There’s an old song (and movie), “Flirtation Walk,” from the early ‘30s. The Monroe story as handled here, artfully, soullessly, by a grievously miscast filmmaker settling for pity where the insight should be, stays on a different and narrow path: Exploitation Walk.
Ana de Armas is very good, and I wish that mattered more. She goes all in as Norma Jeane/Marilyn, the preyed-upon young girl and the miracle of strategic, studio-molded allure she became. It’s not a dual role, exactly, but it’s not quite a before-and-after, either. The little girl, lost, is never absent in the adult Marilyn here. De Armas delivers the sort of performance straight male critics typically describe as “fearless” or “brave,” i.e., lots of nudity and, in one instance, a scene of presidential fellatio that garnered “Blonde” a rare NC-17 rating.
