Warhol’s Woman; Sienna Miller Captures the Allure of Edie Sedgwick

By CHRISTOPHER SCHOBERT

"Factory Girl" has finally arrived in theaters, albeit on an unsettled tsunami of controversy, historical doubt and mostly negative reviews. I think that’s a perfect fit.

Should a movie about Edie Sedgwick, the late-’60s socialite and Andy Warhol superstar, be greeted with universal cheers and good vibes? I think not.

Like its subject, "Factory Girl" is a fascinating wreck, and the questions that have sprung up around it — Did star Sienna Miller and Hayden Christensen actually have sex on camera? Is Miller worth a damn as an actress, or merely a tabloid favorite? Will Bob Dylan sue? — only add to the fever dream of its story.

Sedgwick’s life falls squarely into multiple categories of cinematic cliche. She was a poor little rich girl, she was a bruised beauty who was taken advantage of from birth to death, and, like so many cultural icons before her, she was fully prepared to live fast and die young.

"I know I won’t live past 30," Sedgwick, played by Miller in a performance that is nothing less than extraordinary, announces at the film’s opening. (In reality, Sedgwick was dead at 28 from a drug overdose).

Miller has a lot to live up to here. Sedgwick is still lovingly recalled as a sweetly alluring force of nature, a "girl" whose smile and style dominated any crowd.

"One person in the ’60s really fascinated me more than anybody," Warhol once said.

This is the role Miller was born to play, and not just because of her almost unsettling resemblance to Sedgwick, but because, like Sedgwick, you cannot take your eyes off of her.

In George Hickenlooper’s film, one only has to enter Sedgwick’s orbit for a second before falling madly in love with her. And no one fell harder than Warhol, portrayed by "Memento’s" great Guy Pearce.

Pearce plays Andy as a subtly powerful but emotionally restrained wallflower, a man whose Factory provides an artistic refuge and haven for bruised souls like Sedgwick, whose father, the film tells us, was her first kiss.

Yet Hickenlooper and Pearce’s version of Warhol also sees him as jealous and almost obsessed with Sedgwick. I’m not sure how accurate this all is, but the presence of several Warhol associates in the credits gives this portrayal some credence.

What truly breaks up her friendship with Andy is her love of "Billy Quinn" — in reality, Dylan — whom the film mostly dubs the "rock star." He’s played by Anakin Skywalker himself, Christensen, and once the initial shock of Darth as Dylan wears off, one sees his performance is actually quite good.

Whether or not Dylan and Sedgwick ever were involved is still debated (she allegedly inspired Blonde on Blonde’s "Just Like a Woman"). In any event, watching fictional Warhol and fictional Dylan clash is a treat.

Clearly, you can quibble with "Factory Girl’s" verisimilitude, its purely skin-deep study of pop art, its script, which never truly pulls off Sedgwick’s progression from college cutie to drugged-out dishrag, and Hickenlooper’s directorial lapses, which rely too often on obvious crazy-’60s movie standards.

Miller’s performance, however, cannot be denied.

***

FACTORY GIRL

Review: 3 1/2 stars (Out of 4)STARRING: Sienna Miller, Guy Pearce, Hayden Christensen and Jimmy Fallon

DIRECTOR: George Hickenlooper

RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes

RATING: R for drug use, sexual content, nudity and language

THE LOWDOWN: Edie Sedgwick becomes a pop icon as part of Andy Warhol’s Factory, before burning out in drug haze.