Worried about her many boyfriends, Maria arranges a date with Robert Wagner ( Michael Weatherly), an actor whom Natalie has adored since she was a child.

Natalie achieves stardom and becomes romantically involved with many Hollywood men. She focuses on Rebel, which is a great success. Fearful for her career, she does not report the crime. Simultaneously, she auditions for director Roy Tremaine (Andy Rodoreda) to please her mother he rapes her. Ray does not cast her initially, but her involvement in a car accident caused by Dennis Hopper (Jarrod Dean), changes his mind. In order to get the role, she allows herself to be seduced by director Nicholas Ray ( Robert Taylor). By the mid-1950s, she (Waddell) and her friend Margaret O'Brien (Sophie Mentis) decide that Natalie should play the female lead in Rebel Without a Cause opposite James Dean (Nick Carpenter). Heartbroken, Natalie severs all ties with her mother. Jimmy shoots himself in an unsuccessful suicide attempt. Afraid that Natalie will get pregnant, Maria manipulates Natalie into breaking up with Jimmy.

While in high school, 15-year-old Natalie falls in love with classmate Jimmy Williams ( Jason Smith), and starts to rebel against her mother. Natalie's wrist does not heal properly as a result. Fearing that her daughter will lose roles if she has it treated, Maria rejects medical help. While working on the set of The Green Promise, Natalie breaks her wrist. Three years later, teenaged Natalie ( Elizabeth Rice) is unable to prevent her neglected older sister, Olga (Leanne Simic), from leaving home. In 1946, Natalie is working on three films at a time, and is not allowed to enjoy spare time with her friends. Her mother dictates every career move, and gives her a new name: Natalie Wood. Her performance impresses the director, Irving Pichel ( John Noble), and a year later she reluctantly moves to Hollywood to start her career. She kills a butterfly in order to get Natasha to cry on cue. When a film is shooting in town, Maria arranges a role for Natasha. Her overbearing mother, Maria Gurdin ( Alice Krige), is obsessed with making her daughter a film star. Flashing back to 1943, five-year-old, then named Natasha ( Grace Fulton), grows up in a violent household in Santa Rosa, California. So, in point, I highly recommend this movie, but just be aware of what you're getting into.The film begins on Novemon Catalina Island, California, where 43-year-old Natalie Wood ( Justine Waddell) falls off her yacht, Splendour, and drowns. Still dealing with United Artists' financial baggage after their merger, the company all but took the film away from Trumbull after Wood's death-not to mention the studio's lack of support for Trumbull's plan to film the 'helmet' sequences in his ultra-realistic Showscan process. Also, in its favor, a great deal of the credit (or blame, as many would say) for the final result lies squarely with MGM/UA. Yes, 'Brainstorm' was only Douglas Trumbull's second film as a director, and some might argue that it was little better than 'Silent Running.' But, even despite all of that, the story is incredibly engaging, the visuals are striking (what else would you expect from the wizard responsible for '2001' and 'Blade Runner'?), James Horner's music is absolutely divine, and the film is quite enjoyable. Yes, it's not easy to accept Christoper Walken in a role of a semi-normal person. Yes, Louise Fletcher's death scene is overacted to the point of parody. First off, let's get a few things out of the way: Yes, 'Brainstorm' is marred by uneven acting and the death of its lead actress, Natalie Wood, under circumstances that to this day are still the stuff of speculation.

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