Anna Nicole (2013 TV Movie) User Reviews

Actually turned out to be rather nice...

[paul_haakonsen · 5/10 · 16 March 2014]

While I am not really overly familiar with the details about the life that Anna Nicole Smith was living, then I will say that the movie "Anna Nicole" actually managed to put together a rather nicely told story. But whether how true the movie is to the actual story of Anna Nicole Smith, I have no clue.

Agnes Bruckner really carried this movie nicely, and did a great job in portraying the iconic and legendary model Anna Nicole Smith.

No sense in going into details about the storyline here, as it is a filmed biography of sorts about Anna Nicole Smith.

Of course this movie is mostly appealing to those who were fan of Anna Nicole (or those who still are), but still, for someone impartial then it provided good enough entertainment, just don't expect to be blown away.

I will say that the performances were generally good all round, and people did contribute well to the movie and their respective characters.

Anna Nicole Smith's story is an interesting one, actually. How a person can go from being a person from a small place and end up being known world wide, but also showing the bad things that comes along with the burden of fame. For that, I think that the movie "Anna Nicole" deserves to be watched just once at least.

Mildly Entertaining

[cinemaniac2002 · 5/10 · 29 June 2013]

TV biopics rarely have the sort of depth that a feature has. I was looking forward to this one because I've always admired and enjoyed Director Mary Harron's work. But not even a really good cast and director could make this film any deeper than its subject matter. In all fairness, there wasn't that much to say without speculating -- which wasn't really the purpose of the film.

Fresh on the heels of the amazing HBO documentary called "Love, Marilyn," I was anxious to see how Anna Nicole's story would unfold, given that Marilyn Monroe was such an obvious inspiration for Anna Nicole. Certainly, if anyone in this century embodied sex appeal in some of the same ways as Marilyn, it would be Anna. However, unlike Marilyn - there was really never any attempt apparent that she took acting very seriously as Marilyn did.

I'd be interested to know how much Lifetime producers may have interfered with the production of Anna Nicole because that would be a sure indicator of a less than stellar production to follow.

I wasn't expecting all that much, given the subject matter - but I was at least expecting a more enlightening rendering of it. It's not bad enough not to see -- but it was nothing that merits seeing again, for sure.

In the Present She Saw the Future, In the Future she Saw the Past

[anacpcruz · 6/10 · 22 April 2020]

This film was not geniously architected, but it portrays Vicky/ Anna in a honorable way, and the viewer never see an obscene image from the beginning to the end of this piece. We all knew that Anna Nicole had a reputation to be a sex, drugs and rock & roll abuser, but, through the scenes it's well notorious the unconditional love that she had for her son, Daniel. He was always her light, the star that shine in her life. And it's factual too, that she did the best she could, the best that she had learned herself, since she was alone throughout her young adult life and motherhood. Yes, she was over the top, and not politically correct, but that character/ personality aggregated to her overwhelming appearance made her who she was: the desirable, yet suffering with inner trauma, 21st century Marylin Monroe. The director made an excellent job with this biography movie, showing more the personality, the human being, without focusing too much in the scandals and on the negative side of her life. Over all, I was expecting worse and have a slightly good surprise. And this goes into the light.

Well made TV movie

[amesmonde · 2 September 2013]

Following the rocky road and life a times of Playboy model and 'actress' Anna Nicole Smith up to her untimely death of 39.

Actress Agnes Bruckner delivers a fine portray of the larger than life troubled Anna Nicole/Vicky Lynn. While not being an Anna look-a-like Bruckner certainly captures Anna's spirit and persona, at times effectively laying down some of heart wrenching scenes. Although this a steppingstone presentation of her life, it covers the main highs and lows but leaves you with a lingering feeling that it's a little rushed.

The acting for the most part is impressive especially from Bruckner, Cary Elwes - Marshall's son, Virginia Madsen - Anna's mother and Martin Landau as billionaire J. Howard Marshall. American Psycho (2000) director Mary Harron keeps it interesting and fast paced. The prosthetic make-up effects of Anna's assets and weight gain are particularly notable.

The Anna's voice from the grave aspect, her younger self and Marilyn Monroe vision/dream additions scripted by Joe Batteer and John Rice keep the proceedings at times eerily compelling.

Its an especially well made for a TV movie and thankfully treats the departed with respect while at the same time being entertaining and highlighting the superficial world of celebrities. As an anti-drug movie look no further and to the producers credit ironically and in contrast to Anna's real life job offers it's certainly not a cheap cash-in.

Agnes Bruckner In Tepid TV Bio

[utgard14 · 4/10 · 31 October 2013]

Agnes Brucker is beautiful. More beautiful than Anna Nicole for sure. The prosthetic breasts they add on to her are actually quite good and convincing. I was pretty impressed by that. Agnes' performance here can be measured a couple of different ways: was it good on its own merits and does it pass the George C. Scott test? If you take out the "playing a real person" aspect, her performance was perfectly adequate for your average Lifetime drivel. But if you judge her by whether she accurately captured Anna Nicole, then no she did not. She seemed more often than not like a caricature. Not that Anna Nicole was anything deeper than what we saw. I highly doubt she was. Still, people are people and even the likes of the Kardashians or Anna Nicole Smith don't act off camera like they do on. So when you're portraying a person like that and you're playing them based solely on stuff you've seen on camera (including interviews), you're not going to have a fully formed idea of who they were.

Anyway, the movie is not very good. The gimmick where her older/younger self appears to her is cheesy and laugh-inducing. I think doing a bio for a woman famous for taking her clothes off is kind of hard to do on a network where you can't show nudity. Perhaps an R rated movie would have at least had more cheesecake to admire. Anyway, if you're a fan of Agnes Bruckner, check it out. She's in every scene and most of the time wearing very little.

I remember the tabloid headlines well, which made this surprisingly interesting

[juneebuggy · 5/10 · 28 January 2015]

Well I didn't hate this, it was pretty interesting actually, especially the early years of Anna before she became tabloid fodder. Anna Nicole Smith was one of those celebrities who was always all over the news and gossip mags, so that even if you didn't want to know, you knew exactly what she was up to. On that note this made watching "the story of her life" way more interesting because I remember the headlines.

Agnes Brucker does a decent job here portraying Smith who goes from small-town Texas teen to Playboy pinup to Guess model, including her marriage to an elderly oil tycoon, Hollywood excesses and tragic death at age 39.

Surprisingly this does not go into the media sh!t storm that followed after her death when everyone was laying claim to being the baby daddy.

Martin Landau is excellent as her older billionaire husband "Paw Paw" and the makeup people also did a great job with her ever changing weight, hairstyles and wardrobe. 08.13

Too short and only tells the headline story

[sekaninas · 4/10 · 2 July 2013]

This movie was way too short. It should have been a mini series to get a little depth. The movie itself clocks in at 1 hour and 25 minutes, which should give you a clue about the shortcuts and too fast storyline in the movie. You'd get a more in depth and fascinating glimpse into Anna Nicole's life by spending the equal amount of time looking up clips on youtube. The actors though did a good job with the weak script. Martin Landau as Howard Marshall is fantastic, and Virginia Madsen as Anna's mother is also very good. Agnes Bruckner does an acceptable job as Anna. Much better than Willa Ford did in the Anna Nicole Smith Story from 2007. The biggest problem i had with both movies were that it shows little consideration about her drug and alcohol problems, and basically just lets us think she did do drugs, pills and alcohol because they were available to her. That is usually not true for an addict. The movie also ends just a couple of minutes after her son dies in her hospital room. Anna lived 6 months after that, and to truly pay respect to the tragedy I think it should have shown more of her life during the last six months that she lived. There were also a lot of characters missing, like her assistant Kimmy and Hugh Hefner. Virginia Madsen said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight there were things they had to leave out to avoid lawsuits. If you want the story of Anna Nicole's life, this is the PG version. The truth was a lot more dramatic and troubling. But if you liked the woman, you probably will enjoy this movie a little bit at least. I think Lifetime should stop making these short biopics and maybe try a miniseries biopic instead. Also there is so much footage and so much information available, that they should even have thought about making a documentary instead. Anyways, it was watchable, but she deserved a lot more time and a lot more layered portrayel of her life. She is one of the most intriguing people that came out of showbiz in the 90's and will be remembered.

Agnes Bruckner was phenomenal!!!

[mrjasoncarr · 7/10 · 1 July 2013]

I personally loved the movie! I did notice a similarity to 'Norma Jean & Marilyn' with the talking to the older and younger self so I understood it. Agnes did a superb job!!! I have become a fan! And the haunting rendition of FAME by Amy Gerhartz was to die for. Too bad it wasn't used in the actual movie. The ending was so sad. I can't help but feel sorry for Anna. So many people used her in her life, even her own family. The only person she could truly rely on was Daniel and she was devastated to of lost him. It would of been nice if they did this as a Mini-Series instead of a 2 hour movie. All the actors were truly extraordinary and I definitely thought this movie was WAY better than LIZ & DICK, which was a flop.

Gentlemen Prefer Boobs

[wes-connors · 5/10 · 29 October 2013]

Pretty pre-teen Vicky Lynn is visited by her future self, in her mirror; she's bosomy blonde Agnes Bruckner (as Anna Nicole Smith). The tyke idolizes Marilyn Monroe while her parents holler, fight and drink. This apple will not fall far from the tree. When she becomes a teenager, our heroine stuffs her bra and becomes pregnant. After acquiring extra large breast implants, Ms. Smith is an exotic pole-dancing sensation. She poses for Playboy, meets wealthy octogenarian Martin Landau (as J. Howard Marshall) and soaks up whatever drugs are available. Alas, tragedy waits...

Anna Nicole Smith was a celebrity due to her looks and lifestyle. The comparison to Marilyn Monroe falls flat because Ms. Monroe was skilled at a craft we can (still) see and admire (although her own drug problems eventually hindered her work). Ms. Smith was not able to develop much of an artistic skill, though she may have had the potential. Smith's wretched TV program "The Anna Nicole Show" (2002–2004) featured the overweight star in obvious stages of alcoholism and drug abuse. This biographic TV movie covers that travesty, along with Smith's tabloid headlines...

Looking much like his counterpart, Adam Goldberg (as Howard K. Stern) plays the sleazy lawyer lover. Grown-up Graham Patrick Martin (as Danny) finds his own way out of mama's mess. Mary Harron orchestrates them well. Everyone here does a good job conveying the excess and incredible sadness in watching Smith waste her life away. Even worse is the heartbreaking story of her neglected son. However, there is nothing special about this celebrity's life. That could have been the point, but it isn't; instead, the subject is herein cheapened by false elevation and evaluation.

Anna Nicole (6/29/13) Mary Harron ~ Agnes Bruckner, Martin Landau, Adam Goldberg, Graham Patrick Martin

Rise & Fall

[refinedsugar · 7/10 · 8 September 2023]

This lady's journey in the fast lane had a mesmerizing effect on the public when you consider the interest in her life story has remained consistent with people over the years. There was a film done about her in 2007 then just this year Netflix put our their own documentary. I can't speak on those, but this Lifetime made-for-tv movie 'Anna Nicole' does a solid job without much compromise.

Working both for the folks who know the finer details and the crowd who only know the basics. From childhood to adult we see the good times, the bad and everything in between that made this woman who she was. The first 60 seconds itself is a montage of her success, the dizzying highs, celebrity factor and then abruptly her death. Showing her laying on a cold morgue slab the reality comes crashing home in an abrupt way.

Agnes Bruckner does a fantastic job not just physically, but emotionally as a women who buckled under the weight of her own poor choices and demons. Supported by known faces such as Virginia Madsen who plays ANS's mother, Martin Landau giving a balanced performance as J. Howard Marshall - the elderly man that changed her life in many ways. Then there's Cary Elwes as the man's son who tried to look out for his dads interests both before and after his death and Adam Goldberg portraying her overly devoted lawyer Howard K. Stern.

I appreciate how they got the little things right. Her fondness for Marilyn Monroe (an idea later trumped up by Playboy) and her undeniable love for her son Danny. They also don't shy away from the ugly details - her drug use, alcohol, excess partying - plus her lust for money, shabby treatment of Mr. Marshall isn't glossed over. Then there's the major bullet points - getting implants as a stripper, the Guess gig, doing action films, reality tv show, weight gain, second baby, her son's death.

'Anna Nicole' is a finely made-for-tv movie that doesn't sacrifice much factually or emotionally delivering an entertaining 90 minute runtime on the not so forgotten lady. The only mistake you could make is thinking this tv made movie is lacking depth. Anna Nicole Smith's life story has no deeper layers. This is as good as it gets.

Simple, trashy soap...

[buiger · 3/10 · 29 September 2015]

I agree with most of the critics on this one. This was a very basic, shallow biography, by no means a serious attempt at telling a compelling true story. The movie offers no reasoning, no explanation into the happenings, there is no insight into the psyche of the main characters, the motivations driving them to do what they do.

On a more positive note, the sound and cinematography are pretty good, clear, very professional. Agnes Bruckner is well casted as Anna Nicole, albeit as mentioned above, lacking in 'depth'.

A pity really, because Anna Nicoles' life could have made for a really compelling movie, if someone had taken to making a film seriously. This way, it turned out to be just another trashy soap, soon to be forgotten.

Tragic Hurtful TRUE story

[TRussellMorris · 8/10 · 22 August 2020]

I was moved to write this review when seeing the "Front page" highlighted review where they put in their title "weak story". How disgusting to call the tragic lives and DEATHS of TWO human beings a "Weak story"...it wasn't a story. Did they stick to the headlines, yes, Just a TV movie, yes, could have went much deeper, of course. But this wasn't a script from some one's head.

This tragedy, Anna being a sort of icon or anti-icon among many cultural groups, always pained me right in the heart. And though I've seen me DVD of it several times I cannot help busting into tears during the funeral scene. Just the thought of it literally hurts. The movie itself deserved a decent budget real theatrical movie, or at least a cable one (HBO, Netflix, Showtime, something where they could have made it rated R and got serious with the WHOLE story) But this is all we have. Thankfully it is at least well acted mostly, and does stick to the facts, even if it is just the highlights. Anna of course, as a real person, was both sympathetic and not, most are torn, she did bring a lot of it on herself and as with many who gain fame or fortune, cannot seem to find happiness in THAT fact, and need more...usually drugs or booze or some other self destructive razor blade instead of being happy with what most of us would dream of getting the chance to enjoy. Danny of course was the even bigger tragedy, and has all the sympathy without question. Played remarkably by Caleb Barwick, who as the Tween Danny did a heart wrenching job as he tries to parent his own parent. Same with the late teen Danny. I don't think I'll ever be able to watch that funeral scene without some serious heartache and tears. She did a wonderful job in that scene, even though from real reports it was 10 times a worse hysterical breakdown than what she was allowed to deliver, not surprising since such a scene, if played as eye witnesses recount, would possibly cause real trauma, to both the actress (If anyone could manage to actually do it as it really was) and maybe even members of the audience too. (I know I don't think I could watch it without triggering a panic attack had it been as described by real life witnesses. The fact she lasted only 6 months afterwards before her own death is ZERO surprise. I'm not quite sure I would have lasted any longer myself.

In the end, the movie delves only deep enough to get the main points across and it does it well. Well enough to be in any persons collection if you are into dramatic movies. For some reason, though not in subject matter, it reminds me a lot of the 2 Dorothy Stratten movies, Star 80 and Death of a Centerfold. I think it's the overall tragedy aspect rather than similar stories, especially since they are about a murder as opposed to drugs, but they "feel" the same in real world substance. Given a larger budget, better handling (than lifetime), and another 40 minutes to go deeper it would have been , and deserves, an A-list movie as the substance needed (Story) is there and should be told in full.

Not enough

[ms_unappreciated · 5/10 · 28 June 2021]

So much was left out. When i first saw it on and saw that brief moment when she met her daughter's father. That should've have been longer. There is no detail about their relationship cuz clearly it was more then a one time thing otherwise the custody battle after her death wouldn't have happened. Her weight loss journey wasn't documented enough, hell her weight gain wasn't talked about. Absolutely no details of the court case was really given. And that's all public records.

Biography films just isn't for lifetime.

Nice Direction and Performances but Weak Story

[Michael_Elliott · 29 June 2013]

Anna Nicole (2013)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Made-for-TV movie from Lifetime about the life of Anna Nicole Smith (Agnes Bruckner) who we see as a young single mother to her marriage to billionaire J. Howard Marshall (Martin Landau) and of course through her troubled drug use. ANNA NICOLE is nicely directed by Mary Harron and it features some good performances but in the end there are just way too many problems for it to work as well as it needed to. For starters, the film seems pretty rushed trying to fit all of Smith's story into a 90-minute running time as we bounce around quite a bit and the film never really seems to focus on anything. Another problem are a few gimmicks that are used throughout the picture including a really silly one where the young Smith sees a "future" version of herself. At the same time, the older Smith seeing a "younger" version of herself has no impact either. I'd also say that the movie doesn't work with the silly narration, which is coming from the dead Smith looking back over her life. With that said, Bruckner does a nice job in the lead role even though she never really looks or acts like the real person. For the most part I thought she did a good job at showing a troubled person. Landau easily steals the picture as the elderly man who falls in love with the stripper he meets and Cary Elwes is also good as his son. Adam Goldberg does a nice job in the role of Howard K. Stern and Virginia Madsen is good as Smith's mother, although the screenplay really doesn't do many favors for the character. Harron does a nice job at keeping the film moving at a good pace but there's just too many issues with the screenplay for this to be a complete winner. It also doesn't help that Smith isn't all that sympathetic. Still, for a made-for-TV film this here isn't too bad as a quick time killer.

Terrible

[k_lilley · 1/10 · 10 February 2021]

Who wrote this? Its so bad Taken bits of her life and added rubbish to it. Awful Common on Hollywood. You can do better than this That poor actress who played her im sure could of done so much better if there was a good script I hope someone does another film about her because if people believe think this is good they need to look in to her life and see who she really was. Anna Nicole Smith would hate this!

This was actually the worst.

[buenoschiches · 1/10 · 14 April 2014]

*****SPOILERS***** (only not really if you know ANYTHING about her.)

Granted, TV movies aren't much to begin with- but this was one of the worst I've ever seen. It literally seemed like someone read her Wikipedia page and tried to make a movie out of it.

A) It's been done before. Please let her just rest in peace already. B) The acting was horrible. C) It really had nothing to do with who she was as a person. I didn't learn anything new about her or what she really went through in her lifetime. It took the things that we already knew and put them into a crappy TV movie with no real depth or creativity.

The whole movie was a checklist. This happened, okay, then this happened, alright, then this happened, sure, then this happened-

Boring. I literally could have Googled all of that and saved myself two hours of precious time. I don't mine Agnes Bruckner in general, but this was horrible.

Also, the future self "Vicky Lynnnnnnnnnnnnn" Marilyn Monroe wanna be ghost/mirage that keeps appearing- the worst.

Too slow, some terrible casting

[hollywoodshack · 3/10 · 19 September 2017]

The most irritable thing about this movie is the miscasting of Martin Landau to play J Marshall Smith, the aged southern millionaire who married Anna. He's supposed to look old, but his makeup is overdone to look like he's a vampire alien from space! And Mr. Smith was a Texan gentleman, really hard to imagine Landau playing anyone from the South or any accent like it. Only a few minutes covered a larger period of time where Anna Nicole retreated from the spotlight to live with her husband, long enough to see a horse ranch and eat popcorn while a football game was on TV. The long fantasy pauses were irritating, too, with the ghost of Marlyn Monroe or future Anna haunting her. It's too bad one of the premium cable networks couldn't have produced it to allow a little nudity just to make the constant boozing and pill dropping a little more bearable. I think The Anna Nicole Smith Story with Willa Ford did much more to humanize the characters.

A sad reminder

[BandSAboutMovies · 4/10 · 13 January 2019]

How did Mary Harron go from movies like I Shot Andy Warhol, American Psycho and The Notorious Bettie Page to find herself making this movie? She's currently making an adaption of Legs McNeil's Please Kill Me, but seriously, how the hell did this happen?

My friend Jim asked me the other day, "Why do you waste time watching such horrible movies when there are so many great movies out there?" I figure that there's gold in all that crap. But I wasn't finding it here.

Throughout this movie, Anna sees her past and future selves as she lives her crazy life. And this thing is packed with stars! I mean, in my world Martin Landau was a pretty big name and here he's playing Anna's ancient daddy figure, J. Howard Marshall. Adam Goldberg has been in a ton of things and here, he's in a borderline comedy playing Howard K. Stern. And is that Cary Elwes as E. Pierce Marshall? Yep. It is. Virginia Madsen is in this too.

That said, this is never sure if it wants to descend into parody. And it always portrays Anna in the best possible light no matter how bad the decisions she makes. The real story of Anna Nicole feels like the zeitgeist embracing and discarding a living and breathing human being who wanted so badly to feel that spotlight and would do anything to claw her way back. Watching her E! show now feels harrowing, not funny or fun.

The life of when tragedy happened

[Irishchatter · 8/10 · 5 June 2015]

OK Agnes Bruckner may not have looked like the real Anna Nicole Smith but I'll tell ya, she did the accent and her attitude just perfect. She looked really sexy and stunning. I say if Anna Nicole was alive today, she would've been so proud of her. Although it had a tragic ending.

The movie gave us a great brief on what Anna Nicole's life was about. Her relationship with her mother, her stardom, her children, her husbands and her childhood was in such great order that I applaud for the people behind the scenes to have included all those in the film. Although I would've liked to have seen a actor playing Hugh Hefner or even himself on this because he was the one that created playboy and created Anna Nicole among others. It was kinda disappointing to be honest.

I'm so glad this film made Anna Nicole's name out there like she's a human being after all. RIP Anna 💟💔

Well done - funny, touching, bizarre and tragic

[phd_travel · 8/10 · 29 April 2014]

This is a well made sympathetic and thorough biopic. It's often hilarious, touching, bizarre and tragic as only the crazy life of Anna Nicole could be. Lifetime did a good job putting together the stranger than fiction life story showing the audience what they needed to see without being overly exploitative.

The cast performs well. Agnes Bruckner doesn't look that much like Anna, she is a bit more intelligent looking and not so bombshell like but she acts well and she evokes sympathy for the character. Virginia Madsen as Anna's mother is good. Martin Landau is terrific as Howard Marshall. He really acts like a frail elderly man smitten.

Could have shown a bit about the paternity battle for Anna's daughter at the end.

Self destructive and sad true life story of a beauty gone off on the wrong track.

[blanbrn · 8/10 · 2 July 2013]

Once again Lifetime does another terrific job on a real life movie this time the real life story of former Playboy pinup and playmate Anne Nicole Smith is told in a tragic and wicked way that shows life is sad. And it's true this beauty had her real life destroyed one by one with drugs, good times, money and one night stands. I growing up in the 90's remember the big chested Anne Nicole in Playboy and commercials and even some film work, and by watching this movie it shed more light on how she came to a tragic end. Starting with her early days as a small town Texas girl it's a rocky start with Anne being in a single home and quickly she becomes a single mother forced to work her way up to a stripper in Houston, Texas. Still images are in Anne's head of seeing Marilyn Monroe as Ms. Smith wants to be another Playboy playmate. Well then it's on to breast implants, before the magazine cover shoot and commercial deal. And after being named playmate of the year it's the love duo with the two Howard's one an old rich oil tycoon the other a rich power hungry attorney. Along the way this well chested beauty is sexy wearing her colored bras, yet her downfall is to much of a fun time with party time and her abuse of prescription drugs! And one after one night stand finally leads to another child that a little girl with a photo guy named Larry. Thru it all from rehab to crazy TV deals and courtroom drama ending with her son Danny's death the drugs and fame finally do Anne Nicole Smith in for a tragic death at age 39. Overall good tragic and sad TV movie of a beauty who's life had gone so wrong she went way off the track.