The Talking Fetus Gimmick and Ceaseless Brutality in ‘Blonde’ Ruin Its Potential
In the first few minutes of Andrew Dominik’s Blonde, a young Norma Jeane (not yet Marilyn Monroe) sits beside her manic mother as they drive up the Hollywood hills and into a blazing fire. For the rest of the two-hour and 46-minute film, we remain there, emotionally. The NC-17-rated film holds the audience hostage, as…