“Oh, Jude”

"I have an eye for talent."

I’m a big fan of Jude Law. That in itself feels like a gross understatement. Next to Ralph Fiennes he’s my favourite living actor. And it’s weird, I’m always wailing about consistency, but Jude doesn’t have an impeccable track record. Like any good actor he stars in less than in interesting projects I often wonder if Jude sincerely believes in the films he promotes – maybe he’s self deluded like Errol Flynn, remember his line in The Aviator “I have an eye for talent”, considering the times he's been great - you'd think so. Then, considering things like Sherlock Holmes, Repo Men, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus – not bloody likely.

                         

Oh, but I do love him – even if my worth as a fan is incredibly precarious when I consider the Jude Law films I haven’tI Heart Huckabees, which with its eclectic must be seen one day; or Breaking & Entering, which as a staunch Anthony Minghella fan I have no excuse for not seeing; or AI: Artificial Intelligence, which I’ve seen showing often but never bothered to watch. And yet, I’ve still got five performances of his that I especially love.

Jerome Eugene Morrow in Gattaca (1997) - REVIEWED

“If at first you don’t succeed...try, try again.”

What is it about Jude playing moguls of perfection? I like to remember this movie for Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, the former especially who's never revered as much as he ought to be, but Jude steals the show playing the perfect man, who's not so perfect. Jerome is a bit of a dick, okay a lot of a dick - but that's the thing about Jude, even when you hate him...you can't. Even though Niccol's Gattaca didn't take off as well as it should have, does anyone (besides me) remember it anymore?

Dickie Greenleaf in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) - REVIEWED

“Everybody should have one talent, what’s yours?”

And he moves from the somewhat sympathetic epitome of past perfection, to a full blown cad who's know for his (you guessed it) perfection. Dickie Greenleaf is still my favourite Jude performance...it's one of my favourite supporting performances period, he just has those line-readings down pat. And when he says everyone has one talent, you kind of think that his is playing perfect - and being a pretentious douchebag, that we still can't help wishing we were friends with.

                        

(Somewhere in between this he played another epitome of perfection in AI: Artificial Intelligence)

              

Harlen Maguire in Road to Perdition (2002)

“I’m something of a rarity.”

He's nowhere near perfection (inside or out) in Road to Perdition, for heaven sakes he takes photos of the dead - and forgive me if I can't help feeling a bit of necrophilia here. And yet he's sort of right, Jude is a bit of a rarity. When he's playing perfect, he seems made for it but he's absolutely disgusting in Road to Perdition, and not even in an over-the-top look-at-me way, it's as if he really was made for the role in an eerie way. I'll never understood why the performance, why the entire film actually, was shafted that year.

Inman in Cold Mountain (2003) - REVIEWED

“You are all that keeps me from sliding into some dark place.”

As it is, though, I do find something beautiful in the fact that Jude earned his two Oscar nominations (thus far) for Anthony Minghella projects. Truth be told, I might have given him the Oscar this year - it's so tough for me to choose between him and Sean Penn. He's every bit as awkward as you'd expect his hillbilly character to be. Inman is probably my favourite character of him, which is surprising since he's the most introverted. You don't expect him to be a good introvert, but the extroversion in Cold Mountain is left to Renee Zellweger and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Jude handles his role beautifully, though I admit I spent an undue amount of time waiting for him and Nicole to umm...get it on...and they were apart for sooooooo much of the movie. (I  demand a rematch.)

Dan in Closer (2004) - Performance REVIEW

“Deception is brutal, I’m not pretending otherwise.”

Is it because Dan is such a stealth meanie that this performance didn't catch on? Yeah, I'd have probably Oscar-ed him for this one too. He is my best-in-show, and I LOVE this movie. 2004 was supposed to be his year, he was downright impossible to avoid - I did love him in Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow, that one's delightful amidst all the madness and woefully underrated.

                          

The recent drought of any substantial Jude roles feels a bit like a broken promise, he's supposed to be getting more work by now. I'm hoping that Contagion and Hugo Cabret (with SCORSESE) take off, I'm a bit tired of waiting on this train to arrive. But, then again, it's Jude and his moments of perfection outweigh the current drought. I were to rank the five it'd be #5: Jerome, #4: Harlan, #3: Inman, #2: Dan and #1: Dickie.

                 

What's your favourite Jude moment?

“Lying’s the most fun a girl can have without taking her clothes off...”

“...but it’s usually better if you do.”

               

From Closer to Cold Mountain to Brothers to The Other Boleyn Girl: Natalie Portman

                                                     

Natalie Portman puzzles me. Not in the way that the cinematic appeal of, for example, Megan Fox, might confound; but in the sense that I’m never sure where I stand on her scope as an actress. It just so happened that the year I began taking a serious interest in cinema was the same year that Ms. Portman was making strides to be a “serious” actress in Mike Nichols’ Closer (or what I like to call, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf 2). When I say that find Portman’s performance in that much underrated film as the film’s least impressive, it’s not a slight at her because I think the entire quartet in the film is pretty brilliant. If I consider her Alice, though, it’s essentially encapsulates my issues with her. At her best she’s brilliant, it’s odd her strongest moments in the film are arguably the strongest of any actors, but her lowest points are also the worst – what she lacks is consistency.

Her general presence, off screen, seems so innocent it’s weird that it’s those moments of lightness in Alice that Portman doesn’t thrive in. My single favourite scene in the film is one where the quarter is on screen – in spurts, in their correct duos (Law/Roberts and Portman/Owen). They’re at Anna’s latest art showing and Larry and Alice stand at a photo of Alice. I’m always impressed at how tautly Portman manages to infuse Alice – who’s still a veritable mystery – with a striking sense of bravado while still managing to remain subtly pathetic. What’s weird is that that scene comes just before what’s probably her weakest scene, where she leaves Dan. It’s difficult to say that she’s performing poorly because Natalie, like Alice, is an enigma. I’m not sure if she’s deliberately playing the character inconsistently, or if it comes off as a possibility because Marber frames the play that way. In a way it doesn’t make sense that that’s the same girl who we met at the beginning that doesn’t eat fish because they piss where they live. (And, then again, maybe it does – sort of like a teenager trapped in a young adult’s body, but still with the emotional complexity of both.)

But still, Jude is the actor in the film she seems most comfortable with. I can’t help but think that that’s because of their history in Cold Mountain – I’ve waxed on about how impressive she is there – and that’s one of the reasons I think that she has the potential to be the consummate supporting actress*. She’s effective in small bits, but loses a bit of her intensity over time – although sometimes that works for her. I’m thinking of her work in Brothers last year which over time has turned into a performance I remember rather fondly from the year. I’m still partial to Alice, so I can’t call it her best performance – but it is the one that shows the most potential. It’s a sort of parallel with her Sara from Cold Mountain but expanded – but Sheridan is so intent on approaching Brothers with such a quiet tone that Natalie’s reticence ends up working brilliantly. Sort of like that final dinner-scene where her daughter is so vociferous about what Uncle Tommy and mommy have been doing, her reaction is almost a non-reaction in its quietness; and yet when you think back to her quiet nod of acceptance when she thought her husband had died it makes sense.

It’s the sort of serenity she thrives on which is why I’m not fond of her work in The Other Boleyn Girl. I find it difficult to compare her to her contemporary Scarlett Johansson just because they’re such polar opposites, and yet Scarlett is completely unlike her prototypical role as Mary Boleyn. Visually, Natalie is perfect for the role but I get that same feeling of doubt because she’s so very earnest in her linereadings I’m still wondering if she’s overselling it (or the character is), and I still have a palpably bitter taste in my mouth about that whole experience. (But neither she nor ScarJo is to blame, it’s a horrible film based on an even more horrible novel.) So, where I’m left at is essentially a place of uncertainty. I like Portman fine, and considering how she so often seems to slip through the cracks when people consider younger actresses I’m kind of glad to see her getting recognition for Black Swan*. I’d like to have more faith in her talent, even if the performance is as stupefying as the creditors infer I don’t think that’ll be enough. But, that’s not a slight at her. Portman’s sort of incomparable in how much of a slow burn she is – there’s loads of potential there...even if she’s still a mystery to me (just like Alice).

                                  

*This was written a few days ago, before I saw Black Swan, not that I’m revealing my thoughts on that one – yet.

(This is part of CS' feature from LAMB's Acting School focusing on Ms. Portman this month)

"I know it's vulgar to discuss the work at the opening of the work..."

"It's a lie. It's a bunch of sad strangers photographed beautifully, and all the glittering assholes who appreciate art say it's beautiful 'cause that's what they want to see. But the people in the photos are sad, and alone, but the pictures make the world seem beautiful. So the exhibition's reassuring, which makes it a lie, and everyone loves a big fat lie."