Film review: Love, Marilyn (12A)

Liz Garbus, 107mins

On the road to stardom: Marilyn Monroe in 'Love, Marilyn'

As Liz Garbus's excellent feature doc acknowledges, Marilyn Monroe's life story has been pored over more exhaustively than that of almost any other movie star.

Her own film combines archive footage with interviews and readings from contemporary actors. It offers a sympathetic, multi-layered view of Monroe.

There aren't many revelations here but revered writer Arthur Miller emerges in a surprisingly negative light. (He is revealed as using Monroe's status as all-American actress to protect himself during the anti-communist witch hunts.)

By contrast, another Monroe husband, baseball player Joe DiMaggio, a conservative figure who wanted Monroe to be a traditional wife and mother, is shown to have treated her with far more affection.