if this film strike you ( a it do u and and apparently and others depart the theater ) a disappointingly thin and it may be because the subject herself be mildly disappointing . the film faithfully present u bettie page a she probably be represent a playful almost innocent from the rural south whose career a the pinup queen of the universe be for her just goofy and natural fun . her eventual moral qualm and religious conversion and sudden departure from nude and bondage modeling be biographically accurate and yet hard to understand give how untroubled she seem by her livelihood . there be many reason to see this film even so and not least of which be the amazing b and w noir cinematography of w. mott hopfel iii ( complete with old fashion wipe and dissolve ) and the 1950 faithful act of the cast under the direction of mary harron and pitch perfect performance by some of our most underrated supporting actor ( include chris bauer and lili taylor and sarah paulson and austin pendleton and dallas robert and victor slezak ) and not to mention the oscar worthy and technically difficult lead performance of gretchen mol . ms. mol do several scene fully naked and most others in amazing period lingerie and specialty costume ( gloriously assemble by costume designer john a. dunn ) and yet she astonishingly maintain bettie page unstudied pleasure in her lush body . to watch ms. mol a ms. page and an aspiring actress and progress through degree of progressively less bad audition and student act scene be to see a truly fine actress in complete control of her craft . the script do effectively bring u into 1950 america and where childhood sexual abuse and lawless abduction and rape and and the legal suppression of brand of pornography which today seem laughably tame and be a reality . 50 new york be evoke with seamlessly inter cut news reel footage . 50 miami come alive in super saturate and 16mm style color . the real bettie page seem to scamper and smile and pose before u and and yet the effect be curiously lightweight and barely lewd and not at all dangerous . how odd that bondage great icon should be so lacking in venom and and that this technically excellent biopic should have so little sting .