Tell a film buff that HBO is getting ready to air a new movie called “Grey Gardens,” and watch their smug expression as they try to one-up you and say, “That’s not new! That came out back in 1975!” Well, they’re half-right, anyway. There was a movie that came out in ’75 called “Grey Gardens.” That, however, was a documentary about Edith “Big Edie” Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter Edith “Little Edie” Bouvier Beale, the aunt and first cousin of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis. This “Grey Gardens” tackles much of the same material but offers up a fuller picture of their lives, and this time the parts of Little Edie and Big Edie are being played by Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange.
It’s funny how differently the two actresses reacted to the challenge of playing their characters. Lange was rather casual with her description of the experience; although she referred to it as “the most difficult role I’ve had in a long time,” she also said that it was good for her, describing it as “a fascinating exercise.” When listening to Barrymore talk about it, however, her desire to come through with nothing short of the performance of a lifetime was palpable.
