When HBO’s film, Grey Gardens, came out on DVD last month, I was immediately drawn to the cover image.  I had never heard of the movie, nor did I realize that a 1975 Maysle brothers documentary existed of the same name (on which the HBO film is based).  After reading the premise, I was further intrigued.

Then, a hefty 10-year old boy at Borders’ checkout grabbed the movie, and said, “Mom, it’s out on video!” To which the mother said, “You’ve seen it a million times on HBO.” To which the child said, “But I want to own it so I can watch it over and over whenever I want!” To which I thought, Okay, if the story of two washed-up high society socialites living in a dilapidated mansion has entertained this mini-adult child THAT much, I have got to see this film.

But first, I watched the documentary, which I found compelling, tragic, and quite funny.  The premise is: Edith Bouvier Beale (79) and her 56-year old daughter by the same name (known as “Little Edie”) are living in an old mansion in East Hampton that is also home to more cats and raccoons than I could count.  The two women have the most complicated and interesting mother-daughter relationship I have ever seen.  Their tale is a love story, where the viewer never quite knows which woman is more pathetically dependent on the other.

In the documentary, the ladies had already been threatened by the health department to clean up or be forced out of their 28-room home.  Probably out of embarrassment, their niece and first cousin, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis, provided the funds necessary to revamp the mansion (though the finished product still looks extremely rough, if you ask me).

The 2009 HBO film, directed by Michael Sucsy, takes us to all of the places in the Beale’s life that the documentary does not (thank you, flashbacks!).  We get to see beautiful Little Edie (Drew Barrymore) in her prime, exploring New York City, dating a married man, and pursuing her dream of becoming a performer (plus, you do find out why she wears those silly head scarves).  And, perhaps most interestingly, we see Edith’s (Jessica Lange) tragic relationship with Little Edie’s father, Phelan.  The Maysles documentary plays a major role in this television movie adaption, and many scenes are exact copies from the original Grey Gardens. I imagine that seeing the documentary before the film is useful, but both are individually entertaining as well.

The film was nominated for 17 Emmys (which would have been Oscars had the film been theatrically released), so I expected big things from the flick’s leading ladies.  This was a very different role for Drew Barrymore.  I generally like her work and was glad to see her branching out.  Her acting seemed a bit forced at first, but she delivered an overall enchanting take on Little Edie.  Jessica Lange makes a great Edith, though the flashbacks cast her in such a selfish light that I found myself wanting to see just the real Edith from the documentary again.

The Beales are impossibly weak but surprisingly tough at the same time.  Though it briefly feels a bit “made for TV”, this film showcases a deeply moving and undeniably entertaining fragment of history that almost anyone could enjoy.

Also, IMDB plot keywords: Eccentric. Kitten. Filmmaking. Piano. Head scarf.

(Those are perfect).