Grey Gardens

In this superior HBO-aired drama (nominated for 17 Emmy awards), Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore play Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale, respectively, both former Park Avenue debutantes turned impoverished recluses living in their once-grand manor, long since decayed into a ruin overrun with cats and raccoons. Because Edith and Edie were an aunt and first cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (Jeanne Tripplehorn), their situation became a national scandal when it came to light in a 1975 documentary (also called Grey Gardens) by Albert and David Maysles. Director Michael Sucsy here builds upon that earlier portrait, making the filmmakers minor characters and even recreating scenes from the documentary, while filling in the past with material from the Beales' lives before their withdrawal. Lange plays “Big Edie” as a fiercely stubborn woman whose attachment to her home becomes a trap, but it is Barrymore who really shines as Little Edie, moving from a vivacious young debutante determined to become a star to an aging spinster still dreaming of show business. “I'll have to have a clause in my contract that allows me to act in other movies,” she insists to the Maysles in a distinctive New England drawl. For all the offbeat humor of their quirky personalities and the sadness of their isolated and diminished lives, Sucsy creates an affectionate portrait of two real-life characters and their complicated relationship. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD extras include an audio commentary by producer-director Sucsy and producers Lucy Barzun Donnelly and Rachel Horovitz, as well as a retrospective featurette (12 min.). Bottom line: a decent extras package for a fine TV biopic.] (S. Axmaker)