Based on the life stories of the eccentric aunt and first cousin of Jackie Kennedy?? starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange?? GREY GARDENS tells the tender?? intimate story of an eccentric mother and daughter (both named Edith Bouvier Beale aka " and Little Edie"). They were raised as Park Avenue d?butantes but withdrew from New York society?? taking shelter at their Long Island summer home?? "ey Gardens ." As their wealth and contact with the outside world dwindled?? so did their grasp on reality. They were reintroduced to the world wh" international tabloids learned of a health department raid on their home?? and Jackie swooped in to save her relatives. Based on the lives that inspired the Maysles Brothers' classic documentary.
]]>Amazon.comIt's hard to imagine a feature film that could improve upon the classic 1975 Hamptons-gothic documentary Grey Gardens?? co-directed by Albert and David Maysles. Yet this Grey Gardens?? directed by Michael Sucsy for HBO Films?? captures not only the pathos and peculiarity of Edith Beale?? m?re et fille--aristocrats who were aunt and cousin to former first lady Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy--but it provides something deeper and richer: the background story of the glamorous Beale ladies?? and a glimpse at how they slid from gay 1930s high society to sharing rotting living quarters with litters of cats and raccoons.Drew Barrymore?? the Grey Gardens standout?? rises to the particular challenge of playing "die" Beale?? whose accent?? carriage?? and mannerisms have developed their own camp following over the years. Barrymore's performance is a revelation: she captures the weirdness of Edie?? but she knows what the documentary fans know--the reality of what Edie once had been?? and what she was becoming. Barrymore's performance is delicate and strong?? with a hint of sadness underneath the fading ing?nue's brave face. Jessica Lange plays "ie??"the mother who made more concrete choices to wall herself off from the outside world. Lange is excellent?? though Big Edi