Lee (#603)


The movie I went to see today wasn't worth driving in the rain to see but I sincerely hope it was better than another choice, entitled My Old Ass.  Regarding this movie based on a true story, I admit to never having heard of the central character nor did I recall seeing the famous photograph of her bathing in Adolph Hitler's bathtub.  The title character of the movie LEE is Lee Miller, a onetime model turned into a fashion photographer.  Played slovenly by Kate Winslet, she is depicted as a chain smoking. heavy drinking, morose, promiscuous woman living first in Paris, then in London where she is employed as a photographer for Vogue.  She eventually is able to work her way into photographing WWII on the front lines snd eventually ending up viewing the horror in the concentration camps.  We learn all this through flashbacks as she is being interviewed by a younger man.  I found the movie incredibly talky but with characters really saying nothing important or noteworthy. Frankly, I thought the movie was boring, and hardly anything happened during its almost two hours. I have the feeling that the movie was made to illuminate the acting ability of Winslet more than to reveal something significant about Ms. Miller.  It was directed by an award winning cinematographer who should stick to her former job, and there were other recognizable actors joining Winslet in this effort. At the end of the movie, there are some revelations which presumably account for why she behaves as she does.  You can judge that for yourself.  Critics (62%) were lukewarm in their thumbs up while 93% of audiences liked it.

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