Director: Ellen Kuras
Writers: Liz Hannah, Marion Hume, John Collee
Stars: Kate Winslet, Alexander Skarsgård, Andy Samberg
Synopsis: The story of American photographer Lee Miller, a fashion model who became an acclaimed war correspondent for Vogue magazine during World War II.
Well, we are back with the biopics. It never seems to end, does it? I’m not saying that you cannot make a good biographical film, but it seems to be more and more evasive over time. Could Lee be the exception? It certainly seems like a possibility given the background. A movie starring Kate Winslet about a model turned fashion photographer turned war journalist? And during WWII, when enemies were simple and straightforward? There was certainly a real chance that this would rise above its basic station.

But, alas, it was not to be. Lee suffers from all of the negatives that you think of when biopics come to mind. It errs from nearly the beginning. The script’s structure (from Liz Hannah, Marion Hume, John Collee) makes a fatal error of framing her story through an interview with her as a much older woman. So, there is a bit of a double whammy; a faulty framing device, paired with old age makeup. It’s not so much that it is poorly designed, it’s that it is wholly unnecessary. There are a myriad of ways that one could frame this story. The only positive is that it provides a way to show Lee Miller’s work in photographic form. Sadly, it also tries to add dramatic heft that lands with a distinct thud.
Given the director, it is not surprising that there are some visual choices that absolutely lift the film out of any doldrums that these choices create. This may be Ellen Kuras’s first narrative directorial effort, but she has been a standout cinematographer for years (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Summer of Sam, I Shot Andy Warhol), and she brings her obvious talent to Lee. Her choice to show us a view from inside Miller’s camera on numerous occasions always works and never overstays its welcome.
Additionally, the film’s production design, from Gemma Jackson, should be lauded. It constantly feels genuine, as if we have wandered into the late 1930s along with Lee. In moments when she travels into Nazi Germany, with her compatriot, Davey Scherman, there is a visceral reality to the swastika’s and the imagined stench of corpses on a stalled train. Unfortunately, these sequences (leading up to her most famous photo), feel a bit rushed because her life could fill about five films. And this is yet another standard biopic problem that Lee trips over; too much story, not enough time.

The performances are a bit of a mixed bag, but luckily Winslet is more than up to the task of portraying a complicated, strong woman who should be more of a household name. Samberg is shockingly capable in a dramatic role, but many of the other supporting characters leave much to be desired. Her main love interest, Roland Penrose (Alexander Skarsgård) starts off strong, just as their relationship does, but as he continues to take up space on the screen, and his accent slips into oblivion, we are practically begging Lee to move on and out.
Besides Davey, the most impactful and effective relationship is between Lee and Audrey Withers (Andrea Riseborough), her editor at Vogue Magazine. She is a lovely foil for Lee, as she both encourages her and gives a kind voice to the limitations that women face, even in female-focused industries. In a scene late in the movie, which gives Winslet a chance to finally have an explosive moment, it is Riseborough’s pleading that rings through her rage. It is a small but powerful evocation of the importance of Miller’s work from maybe her one true friend and confidant. Frankly, all of the other relationships, featuring known actors such as Noémie Merlant and Marion Cotillard seem to only exist for Lee to engage in frivolity and later, feel sadness about. These do not appear to be actual relationships or bear resemblance to real people. Again, the script tries to stuff everything into a two hour movie that would be better served to either limit itself or expand into some kind of limited miniseries.

Lee is not a bad movie, but it is an annoyingly middling one. It is a waste of a few good performances and of a visually gifted filmmaker. Kuras and Winslet clearly have passion for the story of Lee Miller, but a variety of missteps keep us all even further away from a difficult, interesting, important, and powerful woman.