THE NOTORIOUS BETTIE PAGE — ** — Gretchen Mol, Lili Taylor, Jared Harris; rated R (nudity, violence, vulgarity, profanity).
The slender, bleached-blonde Gretchen Mol looks almost nothing like raven-haired, curvy Bettie Page, which makes her transformation into the mirror image of the infamous '50s pin-up model all the more incredible.
But Mol's assured, confident performance as Page — perhaps her best to date — is all that "The Notorious Bettie Page" has going for it. The film is a superficial biographical drama that reveals next to nothing new about its subject.
In this version of events, Tennessee beauty Page flees her home state after a sexual assault. But the aspiring actress is unable to find movie work because of her strong Southern accent, so she winds up becoming a model.
Opportunistic brother-and-sister photography team Irving and Paula Klaw (Chris Bauer and Lili Taylor) talk the naive Bettie into posing for some swimwear and underwear shots, which eventually turn into the bondage photos and simulated S&M imagery for which Page is still best known.
The film's least-developed and least-involving subplot deals with the '50s-era congressional investigation into bondage and fetish magazines, during which those who saw "Good Night, and Good Luck" may sense the irony of casting David Straithairn as an inquisitor.
Director Mary Harron ("American Psycho") and her photography teams shot the film in black and white — save for a couple of selected color sequences — to mimic the look of the magazines of the period.
That's pretty much her most memorable contribution to the production, aside from the wise casting of Mol. The talented Taylor and Jared Harris, both of whom worked with Harron on "I Shot Andy Warhol," are wasted in go-nowhere supporting roles.
"The Notorious Bettie Page" is rated R for full female nudity, sexual violence (including some suggestive bondage photos) and use of crude and sexually suggestive language (both slang terms and profanity). Running time: 90 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com