Grey Gardens

I had heard the glowing reviews of this 2009 HBO film and was sorry I couldn't see it since I don't subscribe to HBO. So I was really pleased to find the DVD on the shelf at the video rental place recently. It's based on the 1975 documentary of the same name and focuses on the incredible, eccentric and fascinating two Edith Bouvier Phelans, mother and daughter, who lived together for many years in a slowly deteriorating mansion, Grey Gardens, in East Hampton, NY. They were the aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, and when the completely dilapidated and filthy state of the place was made public, she covered the costs for making it livable once again. This film goes farther than the highly praised documentary, though, in that it also has flashbacks to their much earlier lives when they lived in luxury and were immersed in high-end society. Both Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange give truly amazing performances. Many scenes of these baffling but endearing women and their relationship with life and each other remain vividly with me.