Natalie Wood: What Remains Behind

From the outset, this documentary, produced by Natalie Wood’s daughter, Natasha Gregson-Wagner, states its goal: to remind the world that Natalie Wood is more than her unfortunate and mysterious death. And for the most part, they succeed, if there are a few bumps along the way. I wasn’t a fan of how the doc got to her death at the 30 minute mark, then doubles back to her childhood to go over her life AGAIN, but in a different way. A more cohesive birth-to-death narrative would’ve felt better. Especially since the last 20-30 minutes of the doc … focuses on her death and the aftermath. For wanting to reframe the narrative, it’s an odd choice to linger on her death so much. Even odder, if understandable given the circumstances, is the movie almost scolding a viewer for doubting Robert Wagner’s version of events. Natasha outright says she’s bothered by people questioning her stepdad. Well, sorry, but when not everything adds up, questions will be asked. Beyond that, though, it’s a decent primer to a woman who really broke the mold in Hollywood, in many ways. She fought for equality, challenged the studio system and their draconian contracts, took time off to be a wife and mother, demanded to work with certain people, took bold roles because she could. It’s a nice story, if at times a little effusive. Problems in her life are viewed at a hundred miles an hour … but then again, this is meant to be a celebration of her, not an expose. If you’re expecting gory, lurid details, you’re in the wrong place All in all, a good, if weirdly designed, doc on a lost Hollywood icon. It made me interested in seeing some of her movies. That’s a success in my book.