Amazon.com reviews for
"Intimate Portrait" Cindy Crawford (2001)

Intimate Portrait: Cindy Crawford (vhs):

Amazon.com video review: Lifetime's Intimate Portrait: Cindy Crawford takes the viewer on a whirlwind tour of its namesake model's life, using candid interview footage, numerous family and fashion photos, and other media and industry clips. Starting with a Chicago department-store brassiere ad at the age of 16, Crawford worked her way up the modeling ladder and debuted in New York as "baby Gia," a look-alike to the famous model Gia Carangi, who tragically died of a heroin overdose in her prime. Crawford shed that moniker in a flash, quickly setting a new standard of beauty when Vogue left her famous mole on its August 1996 cover (publications prior to this would have airbrushed out this "blemish"). Crawford comes across as being very directed--her days as her high school's class valedictorian set a standard of personal excellence that she continues to practice. Noteworthy is her discussion of her fortuitous rise to fame and how she manages her own media appearances and modeling gigs, understands her own commodification, and watches her image in the media. This documentary uses footage of the model's various professional and personal projects and interjects her discussion of how they shaped her life and career. Fans of fashion, supermodels, and Crawford will enjoy this insightful and interesting portrait. --Gilia Angell