Virginia Madsen in Anna Nicole

Anna Nicole, it should come of no surprise, is a Biopic about the life and ultimately tragic death of Anna Nicole Smith. It’s a TV movie made for the Lifetime Movie Network in 2013.

Agnes Brucker fills the shoes of Anna Nicole. The film follows her life from plain old Vicky Lynn Hogan from Houston in Texas through to the height of her fame as the Marilyn Monroe styled Playboy Pinup married to Howard Marshall (Martin Landau), an 89 year old Billionaire.

The marriage between Anna and Howard would last 14 months, Howard would die on Pneumonia leaving Anna his widow.

Anna would lose her only son, Daniel (Graham Patrick Martin), 20, just three days after the birth of her Daughter, Dannielynn on the 10th September 2006.

Less than six months later, Anna Nicole Smith would be found dead on February 8th, 2007.

Much, very much, has been written, filmed and discussed about Anna Nicole Smith, I don’t think I need to go over that again here. It’s well documented at this point. My own thoughts aside, it is without doubt a sad tale of fame and fortune gone wrong.

Virginia Madsen plays her Mother, Virgie Arthur. She’s not in the film a lot, making a brief appearance in the beginning, middle and end. You’d be forgiven for not even realising she was in it.
This is far from the Virginia we are used to seeing in movies, in a good way. Her “sex symbol” qualities gone behind rollers in her hair and an overweight body. In a good way, it’s acting, it’s just not often you get to see her like this. She does, as always being a certain something to the role that is unmistakably her.

The films Director, Mary Harron, would have nothing but praise for Virginia in how she handled the role;

“Virginia Madsen is a very beautiful woman. How can we, you know…Anna Nicole Smith’s mother does not look like Virginia Madsen, but we had a long conversation before she came on, about how she wanted to change her appearance. She wanted to do, I want to be careful how I say this…A character part. Virginia Madsen really went for it in this tough moment. You wouldn’t normally think of her playing this type of character, because she is playing against type. I think actors like that opportunity. Actors like that, because it allows them to show their range.”

The film, I think, is done well. It’s quite sympathetic towards Anna Nicole considering the way it could have gone. Watching her grow up in this movie it’s hard not to feel a little empathy towards her. It’s almost an uplifting ending the way it frames Anna’s death, almost a relief that she managed to escape the wreck of her life.

It’s a hard watch, but a good one. Obviously there are some things glossed over. I’ve already mentioned it seems sympathetic towards Anna, and, there is a lot you shouldn’t feel sorry for with Anna Nicole. She was no angel, but this movie glosses over a lot of that. It’s not a bad thing, and there is only so much you can do in one movie.

Worth a watch if you’ve only ever seen and or heard negative things about Anna, it might give you a different perspective on it all.

Availability:
Not hard to find at all. Pretty much freely available on DVD and lots of streaming services seem to carry it.

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