Factory Girl was called by the Village Voice "Edie for Dummies." While not the first fictional attempt to show the Factory days of Warhol (see such films as The Doors and Basquiat), it presents what will become a standard historical (hysterical?) take on what happened there. Sienna Miller is okay as Edie, though where's the scar the real Edie had between her eyebrows? It showed that she was physically as well as psychologically damaged. I am also taken back by the way Dylan was treated, or should I say "Musician"? Edie's brother claims that Edie aborted Dylan's baby, but there's no evidence that's true. Her affair was with Bob Neuwirth. And when Edie did Ciao Manhattan, the rambling, horrifying audio tapes she made about her life mention no abortion. She did have an abortion when she was 20, long before any of this. Altogether, Factory Girl doesn't really tell us very much, but it does give us a picture of that life.

Andy Warhol even in passing remains enigmatic. Was he a pop art visionary or an artistic charlatan? Probably a little of both. If there wasn't some merit to his work we wouldn't still be talking about him or portraying him in films. What I found interesting about "Factory Girl" is that they contrast Warhol's artistry with that of a Dylanesque character and the result isn't flattering. One would almost think that the makers of "Factory Girl" are villifying Warhol and there may be an element of truth there. Thrown into the mix is socialite Edie Sedgwick whose physical beauty masks a wounded psyche. Sedgwick, along with Marilyn Monroe, served as a muse for Warhol until her chemical addiction made her dispensible. This film could very easily have fallen into self-parody if it weren't for some terrific performances by the film's leads. Guy Pearce is absolutely stupendous as Warhol capturing his weaknesses and contradictions for what amounts to an ultimately sensitive portrayal. He's equalled by Sienna Miller as Edie who injects poignancy to her ultimately doomed character. Hayden Christensen avoids cliche in his folksinger role which makes you wonder why Dylan wouldn't lend his name to the film even if his part in the proceedings is probably speculative. The Factory didn't produce much other than some drug habits. It's mere existence, though, continues to fascinate.

... to evaluate this film as a piece of cinema produced, directed, acted and marketed commercially. I'll have to give it:

5 stars for the acting of Guy Pearce in the role of Andy Warhol. Better than Hoffman as Capote, better than Penn as Milk. Warhol was the creepiest narcissist that ever lived, and Pearce captures every loathsome mannerism. More than that, he exposes Warhol's coy cruelty and voyeuristic sadism for what they were, an accidental confluence of lustrous perversity with perverse times.

4 stars for the acting of Sienna Miller as Edie Sedgwick--and everyone else except Hayden Christensen as Bob Dylan. Miller does well enough with Sedgwick's tragic weaknesses but gives little impression of what might have made such a person compelling and alluring.

3 stars for the sociological/historical portrayal of the Warhol "factory" and of the cultural scene in New York and America at large in the 1960s. The 24-7 bizarre goings-on, through which Warhol wafted like a lobotomized Intelligent Designer, are portrayed accurately, i.e. luridly, enough, but the sporadic efforts to give Warholia any broader context -- a few street scenes, a glance at events on TV -- are woefully insufficient. All that weirdness wasn't just drug-induced, much as it was drug-fueled. Is the lack of context automatically a flaw? I suppose not, but it made the sorry life of Edie Sedgwick seem trivial and banal. I'm not entirely impartial, however. I had a close friend, a college classmate, who was chewed up and destroyed - murdered, in fact - by the Warhol film 'industry'.

2 stars for the script, if there was one. The timing was never quite right. Some scenes seemed bloated, some were sketchy. Perhaps the effect was intentional, a sloppy improvisation approximating the cloying vacuity of Warhol's own films. But here's the rub: Hollywood can't simulate an independent film, just as money can't buy true squalor.

1 star for the acting of Hayden Christensen as Bob Dylan, not only because he didn't resemble Dylan in style or substance but also because he was dismally implausible as any kind of human being. Besides, the 'true story' aspect of this production was sacrificed opportunistically; it made a better marketing package to focus on Dylan as Edie's lover, but in fact no biggie occurred between them, according to mutual friends. One of Dylan's entourage was the real 'intruder' in the Warhol menage.

I had a choice of films... six or seven vampire flicks, and a slew of celebrity rise-and-falls all strung out on lines of drug abuse. I grabbed this one out of curiosity to see how Warhol would be depicted. I guess I got what I was looking for, but it wasn't either entertainment or insight.

Even if you know nothing about the real Edie Sedgwick, this film is a hokey, cornball embarrassment that is difficult to decide whether the writing or directing is worse. If you DO know anything about the real girl or the world she lived in, you'll know this film had NOTHING to do with the real Edie, Andy, their relationship, her relationship with anyone, or anything truthful whatsoever! Where Miller does her Cockney best to play the time bomb Edie, nearly everyone else in the cast has no idea what they're doing.

To wrap it up, they forgot the little scar on her nose which was crucial to her look and character having almost died in the accident which caused it, she never had an affair with Bob Dylan, and she did NOT get raped in Beauty number 2! Shame on Hickenlooper, Weinstein and nearly everyone involved.

I'm not sure Edie Sedgwick ever was well known beyond the confines of the New York underground art scene. If someone is truly a celebrity you really don't have to do your homework. It was said she was Andy Worhol's muse. More like his pigeon. She would do anything to be in his scene & was sucessful in that, becoming for a time, the "It" girl. She financed his Factory movie studio & collection of syncophants & oddball neurotics. She was rich & when she was broke & addicted, Warhol simply discarded her. She was breathtakingly beautiful as is Sienna Miller the actress who portrayed her. But that is a rather common commodity. If Edie had talent as an actress, we'll never know. Apparently she was the inspiration for the Warhol quote: "In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes." So she was. In the end she died like too many of the young, beautiful & stupid, by an overdose of heroin. So sad. Not very original, but dead nontheless.

tried to wtch it several times and it was just so blah

Although not quite as good as I've Seen All Good People or Yes's rendition of Every Little Thing, this Yes song is nonetheless quite good--with powerful instruments and good vocals.