Martha, Inc.: The Story of Martha Stewart (2003) (TV)

Director:

Jason Ensler

Writers (WGA):

Christopher M. Byron (book)
Suzette Couture (teleplay)

Release Date:

19 May 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama

Plot Keywords:

Character Name In Title

Cast

Cybill Shepherd	...	Martha Stewart
Tim Matheson	...	Andy Stewart
Joanna Cassidy	...	Caroline Kass
Jude Ciccolella	...	Ed Kostyra
Dorie Barton	...	Young Martha Stewart
Seann Gallagher	...	Young Andy Stewart
Michelle Nolden	...	Norma Collier
Ross Petty
Sheila Brand
Rhonda McLean	...	Connie Maynard
Hollis McLaren	...	Big Martha
Raquel Duffy	...	Melissa Graham
Jeremy Akerman	...	Kmart CEO
Nigel Bennett	...	Rat Bastard (Time-Warner CEO)
Stan Carew	...	Sam Waksal

Also Known As:

Driven to Succeed (Australia) (cable TV title)
Martha Stewart - L'obcession du succès (Canada: French title)

MPAA:

Rated PG for language and some thematic elements.

Runtime:

USA:120 min (including commercials) | Canada:83 min

Country:

Canada | USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

Company:

Jaffe/Braunstein Films

Goofs:

Errors in geography: At the end of the movie, Martha stops by a marketplace off the highway back to Connecticut. In the hall of the marketplace, a Canadian flag can be seen flying from a pole, where you would otherwise expect an American flag to be.

Quotes:

Martha Stewart: I want cotton. I want three-hundred thread count minimum, or this face doesn't sell these sheets. Just because Kmart sells inexpensive products doesn't mean they can't be beautiful. That's why I'm here: not to sink to your level, but to raise you to mine.

Movie Connections:

References "Martha Stewart Living" (1991)

She wasn't perfect after all; Cybill Shepherd came close

As the movie opens, Martha Stewart is cheerfully entering the studio where her TV series is filmed, behaving exactly like the charming, sickeningly perfect Martha we all know. Then she gets angry because things aren't exactly as the should be. Once on camera, she returns to the familiar calm, serene personality--until something else goes wrong!

Then comes the scandal that ruined Martha's reputation in the eyes of many, but not all. I remember the scene on the CBS morning show going a little differently, but then I only saw a partial clip. It was a little more exciting and dramatic here.

Then we see flashbacks. I find it hard to believe Martha would have sabotaged a competitor as a young child, but not everything has to be the truth in movies such as these. Then we see the teenage Martha and we begin to understand why she turned out the way she did. Her father was also a perfectionist, and nothing was ever good enough for him. Meanwhile, Martha has a hard time making friends because of her need to be perfect and better than everyone else.

Martha goes to college and begins a modeling career, and she meets her future husband. We see the events that led to her becoming the icon she is today. In short, even when it finally happened, she was not content to be a suburban housewife. She saw the opportunity to make her housewife status into something much more, and she risked a friendship and her marriage to become famous.

I thought Cybill Shepherd did a wonderful job. She did the on-screen perfect Martha very nicely, even to the point of being almost satirical. She could be perky as well, but when she was, she seemed like Cybill. But she was mostly the determined, confident and generally intolerant Martha that we have never seen. And she did that quite nicely. When she had to make the big business deals herself, rather than depending on others, it was quite exciting to watch. The actors playing Martha's father (who was demanding but occasionally tender) and the teenage Martha (charming and actually adorable) also made quite an impression.

It wasn't pleasant, but this may very well have been the way it happened. As is true of many movies like this, it presented mostly the negative side, but there is only so much that can be done in two hours. I wasn't expecting nearly as much from her early years, but we needed to see that background. At least we got to see that Martha wasn't as perfect as we may have thought. A good job by everyone. Not a masterpiece, but a good TV-movie.