Bettie Page grew up in a conservative religious family in Tennessee and became a photo model sensation in 1950s New York. Bettie's legendary pin-up photos made her the target of a Senate investigation into pornography, and transformed her into an erotic icon who continues to enthrall fans to this day.
We can't always be sure what's archival and what's simulated because sometimes the filmmakers are trying to fool us. But their preoccupation with the manufacture of images keeps this exercise in exposure and concealment interesting.
– Jonathan Rosenbaum,
Chicago Reader,
6 May 2006
fresh:
... the movie's worth a look simply for Mol's career-boosting performance.
– Steve Murray,
Atlanta Journal-Constitution,
6 May 2006
fresh:
With her blue-black hair, Mol looks so much like Page that this could be a documentary, and her swings between modesty and exhibitionism are amazingly fluid.
– David Edelstein,
New York Magazine/Vulture,
12 May 2006
rotten:
In Mary Harron's film biography of the nude and naughty pin-up girl, Notorious is synonymous with 'joyless.'