Gretchen Mol carries The Notorious Bettie Page on her back -- and every other body part. With a wholesome gusto, she inhabits the role of a Tennessee woman who moved to New York and, there and in Florida, became the pin-up gal of the Fifties. She convinces us that Page brought the same wide-eyed innocence to posing in bondage stills and "acting" in S&M movies as she did to frolicking bare in the sun for nature-loving nudist films.
Despite the flimsy script by Guinevere Turner and director Mary Harron, Mol effortlessly sells their vision of a guileless, generous gal making her way through life by doing what she does best: having fun in front of the camera.
