Hard to oversell what a slam-bang lineup 1997's Lead Actor was, is. One of those years where any one of them could win and it wouldn't be the wrong choice. The one that did win? A great choice!:
The nominees, as ranked by me:
Showing posts with label Dustin Hoffman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dustin Hoffman. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Wednesday, September 4, 2019
The 1969 Retro Hollmann Awards, Part One
Day One of my awards for the best of 1969. For further context, check out the full list of nominees and my Top Ten. With the exception of the first category, all are presented in the order they appeared at the corresponding Academy Awards ceremony.
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
2. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie; 3. Z; 4. Hello, Dolly!; 5. If....
Difficult to name a best in show for Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice - so I won't! The central four are terrific - including one of my favorite performances given by Natalie Wood - perfectly in sync with their characters' shared history, fantasies, morals. The ensemble surrounding them is just as perfect: Dyan Cannon's therapist, perfectly stone-faced, a challenge; Wood's tennis pro, young and handsome and willing and comically nervous; everyone at the retreat in the opening sequence, from guru to attendee, each on the wavelength that makes this film dryly funny without being condescending.
In second, Miss Brodie and her "gehls" in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. In third, Z's political pawns and opponents. In fourth, screwball perfection embodied by Hello, Dolly's ensemble. In fifth, the students and clueless adults of If.....
Score, Supporting Actor, and more, after the jump...
Best Ensemble
Difficult to name a best in show for Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice - so I won't! The central four are terrific - including one of my favorite performances given by Natalie Wood - perfectly in sync with their characters' shared history, fantasies, morals. The ensemble surrounding them is just as perfect: Dyan Cannon's therapist, perfectly stone-faced, a challenge; Wood's tennis pro, young and handsome and willing and comically nervous; everyone at the retreat in the opening sequence, from guru to attendee, each on the wavelength that makes this film dryly funny without being condescending.
In second, Miss Brodie and her "gehls" in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. In third, Z's political pawns and opponents. In fourth, screwball perfection embodied by Hello, Dolly's ensemble. In fifth, the students and clueless adults of If.....
Score, Supporting Actor, and more, after the jump...
Tuesday, August 6, 2019
Day Two: Best Actor, 1969
What a difference 50 years makes, huh?
In 1969, all these men were stars, nigh untouchable - the newcomer was Jon Voight, winner of the Most Promising Male Golden Globe. The rest were legends, heartthrobs, cover stars, and even though they each courted their fair share of controversy, their status was unquestionable. Members of the public may object to the politics of one, the treatment of women by another, but we shrugged and said, "That's Hollywood!"
Fast forward 50 years. Voight, who finally won an Oscar for the anti-war film Coming Home, is a divisive figure politically, and while he currently enjoys a regular job on Ray Donovan, it's hard to imagine him being embraced again by the Academy. In 2017, Dustin Hoffman was accused of sexual misconduct by seven different women whose experiences crossed decades. John Wayne, who had plenty of critics during his lifetime, was recently blasted on social media for racist and white supremacist opinions he gave during a 1971 Playboy interview. Richard Burton comes off reasonably well, if mostly best-known for being Mr. Liz Taylor, while Peter O'Toole...actually, I think we're good with Peter O'Toole - I think it helps that both men's main troubles were rooted in their alcoholism, and each sobered up.
The point being, our perceptions of people and the standards to which we hold our stars have changed significantly since The Duke was crowned king - or at least, people are more careful about who they publicly praise. Yesterday's idols are today's unmentionables. That's what I see when I take a look at this lineup: either dead, canceled, or both.
But have the performances held up? Let's take a look!
In 1969, all these men were stars, nigh untouchable - the newcomer was Jon Voight, winner of the Most Promising Male Golden Globe. The rest were legends, heartthrobs, cover stars, and even though they each courted their fair share of controversy, their status was unquestionable. Members of the public may object to the politics of one, the treatment of women by another, but we shrugged and said, "That's Hollywood!"
Fast forward 50 years. Voight, who finally won an Oscar for the anti-war film Coming Home, is a divisive figure politically, and while he currently enjoys a regular job on Ray Donovan, it's hard to imagine him being embraced again by the Academy. In 2017, Dustin Hoffman was accused of sexual misconduct by seven different women whose experiences crossed decades. John Wayne, who had plenty of critics during his lifetime, was recently blasted on social media for racist and white supremacist opinions he gave during a 1971 Playboy interview. Richard Burton comes off reasonably well, if mostly best-known for being Mr. Liz Taylor, while Peter O'Toole...actually, I think we're good with Peter O'Toole - I think it helps that both men's main troubles were rooted in their alcoholism, and each sobered up.
The point being, our perceptions of people and the standards to which we hold our stars have changed significantly since The Duke was crowned king - or at least, people are more careful about who they publicly praise. Yesterday's idols are today's unmentionables. That's what I see when I take a look at this lineup: either dead, canceled, or both.
But have the performances held up? Let's take a look!
Friday, March 2, 2018
The 1982 Retro Hollmann Awards, Part Two
Yesterday, Victor/Victoria and Poltergeist led the pack with two wins each out of the nine categories. Today, we conclude our trip back to 1982. Again, check out the 1982 Retro Hollmann Awards Nominations and Top Ten for more context.
Now - on with the show!
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
David Bretherton / Nicholas Eliopoulos / Walt Hannemann / Pembroke J. Herring / Jack Hofstra
2. Tootsie; 3. The Road Warrior; 4. The Long Good Friday; 5. Edo Porn
Everything hits at the right time in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas: every dance step, musical sting, double entendre. It takes its time for "Hard Candy Christmas" and the date night between Mona and Ed Earl, then ramps up the energy for "The Aggie Song", "Little Bitty Pissant Country Place" and the encounter between Ed Earl and Melvin P. Thorpe. Not a wasted moment.
In second, the laughs and confusion of Tootsie. In third, the high-speed action of The Road Warrior. In fourth, the violence of The Long Good Friday. In fifth, the erotic exuberance of Edo Porn.
Now - on with the show!
Best Editing
The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
David Bretherton / Nicholas Eliopoulos / Walt Hannemann / Pembroke J. Herring / Jack Hofstra
Everything hits at the right time in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas: every dance step, musical sting, double entendre. It takes its time for "Hard Candy Christmas" and the date night between Mona and Ed Earl, then ramps up the energy for "The Aggie Song", "Little Bitty Pissant Country Place" and the encounter between Ed Earl and Melvin P. Thorpe. Not a wasted moment.
In second, the laughs and confusion of Tootsie. In third, the high-speed action of The Road Warrior. In fourth, the violence of The Long Good Friday. In fifth, the erotic exuberance of Edo Porn.
Friday, February 16, 2018
Ben and the Other Four Gentlemen: Actor, 1982
And now we come to Best Actor.
The Biopic: This man existed, and this actor nailed it. Ben Kingsley as Gandhi in Gandhi, Gary Oldman as Churchill in Darkest Hour.
The Breakdown: His performance is a slow burn as he realizes the shit he's got into - and it's satisfying to him lash out near the end. Jack Lemmon in Missing, Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out.
The Transformation: Trust me when I say you've never seen him like this. Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie, Denzel Washington in Roman J. Israel, Esq.
The Legend: Whether he wins or loses, he's a respected thesp who gets nominated often. Peter O'Toole in My Favorite Year, Daniel Day-Lewis in Phantom Thread.
The Guy Who Only Needs a Single, Uninterrupted Take of Something to Make Critics and Audiences Fall All Over Themselves in Exultation: Paul Newman giving good speech in The Verdict, Timothée Chalamet staring at a fireplace in Call Me By Your Name.
And it looks like this year, as in 1982, the Biopic will reign triumphant. But who knows? We'll find out soon enough - until then, let's take a look at the 1982 performances after the jump!
The Biopic: This man existed, and this actor nailed it. Ben Kingsley as Gandhi in Gandhi, Gary Oldman as Churchill in Darkest Hour.
The Breakdown: His performance is a slow burn as he realizes the shit he's got into - and it's satisfying to him lash out near the end. Jack Lemmon in Missing, Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out.
The Transformation: Trust me when I say you've never seen him like this. Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie, Denzel Washington in Roman J. Israel, Esq.
The Legend: Whether he wins or loses, he's a respected thesp who gets nominated often. Peter O'Toole in My Favorite Year, Daniel Day-Lewis in Phantom Thread.
The Guy Who Only Needs a Single, Uninterrupted Take of Something to Make Critics and Audiences Fall All Over Themselves in Exultation: Paul Newman giving good speech in The Verdict, Timothée Chalamet staring at a fireplace in Call Me By Your Name.
And it looks like this year, as in 1982, the Biopic will reign triumphant. But who knows? We'll find out soon enough - until then, let's take a look at the 1982 performances after the jump!
Monday, May 2, 2011
The Men In Charge: Best Actor, 1974
Let us begin with the men.
1974 was dominated by male-centric films, whether focusing on an ensemble of Hollywood stars saving the women and children from disaster (Earthquake, The Towering Inferno), a mafia don and the saga of his sons (The Godfather: Part II), a vengeful father (Death Wish), or a parody of the classic Hollywood cowboy (Blazing Saddles). It was also dominated by a slew of classics and cult flicks -- how many times have The Godfather: Part II, Young Frankenstein and Chinatown appeared on "best of film" lists? These are movies we have memorized before we even see them, and they needed someone with balls in charge. In the case of these five films, quite literally.
Check out the other performances and you'll see actors headlining a murder mystery with a morally ambiguous ending, a warts-and-all biopic with a sad ending, a cynical noir with a pessimistic ending, and a crime epic with a exhaustingly tragic ending. Then there's this film, a light-hearted road movie centering on an octagenarian going cross-country with his cat after his New York apartment is demolished. I'll get into what I feel about the movie itself when I cover its screenplay nomination, but let me preface my take on Carney's performance with these words: I just don't like this movie. It means well, but as a whole I just don't care for it.
Not that Carney is the issue. I think he's quite capable in the role of Harry, subtly underplaying it most of the time so that his outbursts of real emotion are all the more effective. When I think about what I like about Harry and Tonto, I think about his forcing a Greyhound bus to stop because his cat needs to pee. Or his tearful exit after identifying a body at the morgue. Or, my favorite scene, his visit to a nursing home that ends in a dance with an old flame. That moment is just beautiful enough to make me like the film and performance a little more. In the end, though, I don't think the role is challenging, and I don't think Carney's performance is either.
Agatha Christie once stated that she could never write her popular detective Hercule Poirot for the stage because he was too over-the-top. In close-up the role is just as jarring as Christie expected. Heavily made-up and speaking with a gruff accent, it's hard to believe this is Albert Finney. He gets Poirot's watchfulness, ego, and amusement, in ways both subtle and not very subtle at all. The challenge, of course, is to make an interesting character out of someone who is conducting interviews for two hours, and Finney rises to the occasion. He's soothing here, accusatory there; Poirot adapts to the occasion spontaneously.
This also makes Poirot pretty inscrutable. When David Suchet went from righteous anger to soothing calm in the television version, you could chart that progress. Finney's Poirot, on the other hand, is a cartoon, yelling at inappropriate moments and muttering Shirley Temple tunes under his breath. His individual interviews are great, and he nails that final ten-minute monologue, but the performance rests on the mannerisms.
Is there a more perfect marriage of actor and role? Hoffman, as we've seen, is a notorious improviser who never plays the same scene twice. Lenny Bruce, according to Albert Goldman, was a notorious improviser "whose ideal was to walk out there like Charlie Parker, take that mike in his hand like a horn and blow, blow, blow everything that came into his head just as it came into his head with nothing censored, nothing translated, nothing mediated". Bring the two together and you get a performance that just sizzles.
I don't know how to express my love for this performance. Never before have I seen Hoffman this hilarious, vulnerable, adorable, maddening and charming. His nerdy exuberance when romancing Honey is infectious; his single-minded obsession with his obscenity trials is frustrating. His performance makes the disparate images of the responsible father and the drug-abuser just different parts of the same man. I really just want to show you the movie and yell, "SEE? LOOK AT THIS!" every scene. But that would be annoying, so I won't.
I imagine it must be difficult to play a gumshoe, since your role is either to react or offer exposition. Yet it's not hard to see why Nicholson was the frontrunner this year. Of course, Robert Towne's screenplay and Roman Polanski's direction lay enough groundwork for Nicholson to work with, but it takes a special kind of actor to make the private dick effective. I'm not talking charm, I'm talking smarm, and Nicholson has it. It's a sleazy job -- and that defense at the barbershop seems to be more for his benefit than his neighbor's -- but dammit he's good at it.
Perhaps the strongest element of his performance is his incredulity. Jake Gittes can usually weasel his way into anything, but this case, taking him from a simple case of adultery into a conspiracy within the Los Angeles County Water Department, manages to catch him off guard at every turn. He trusts the wrong people, follows the wrong leads, accuses the wrong culprit. Gittes is as human as you or I, a man whose past hurts inform his present relationships. He's vulgar, quick-witted, suspicious...really, there are few I'd rather spend two hours watching. Indeed, this was one of the few movies that I never took my eyes off of once, and Nicholson's performance is a HUGE part of the fascination.
Pacino ups his game from the original. There's no trace of the Michael Corleone who once assured Diane Keaton, "That's my family, Kay, that's not me." Michael is calculating and cold-blooded. The man calmly orders the assassination of Hyman Roth, gives his brother the kiss of death, and manipulates the witnesses of a grand jury investigation. He rages at his wife and his consigliere -- powerful moments, indeed, for they go against his usually controlled demeanor. It's fascinating to see a man so changed, yet refusing to acknowledge that his relationships have. The aforementioned argument with Kay is rightfully legendary, and that final shot of Michael sitting alone after "settling business" haunts me still, a full two months since I saw the movie.
------------------------
Oscar chose Art Carney, but if I had to choose between these five, the Oscar goes to...
1974 was dominated by male-centric films, whether focusing on an ensemble of Hollywood stars saving the women and children from disaster (Earthquake, The Towering Inferno), a mafia don and the saga of his sons (The Godfather: Part II), a vengeful father (Death Wish), or a parody of the classic Hollywood cowboy (Blazing Saddles). It was also dominated by a slew of classics and cult flicks -- how many times have The Godfather: Part II, Young Frankenstein and Chinatown appeared on "best of film" lists? These are movies we have memorized before we even see them, and they needed someone with balls in charge. In the case of these five films, quite literally.
Art Carney in Harry and Tonto
**
Check out the other performances and you'll see actors headlining a murder mystery with a morally ambiguous ending, a warts-and-all biopic with a sad ending, a cynical noir with a pessimistic ending, and a crime epic with a exhaustingly tragic ending. Then there's this film, a light-hearted road movie centering on an octagenarian going cross-country with his cat after his New York apartment is demolished. I'll get into what I feel about the movie itself when I cover its screenplay nomination, but let me preface my take on Carney's performance with these words: I just don't like this movie. It means well, but as a whole I just don't care for it.
Not that Carney is the issue. I think he's quite capable in the role of Harry, subtly underplaying it most of the time so that his outbursts of real emotion are all the more effective. When I think about what I like about Harry and Tonto, I think about his forcing a Greyhound bus to stop because his cat needs to pee. Or his tearful exit after identifying a body at the morgue. Or, my favorite scene, his visit to a nursing home that ends in a dance with an old flame. That moment is just beautiful enough to make me like the film and performance a little more. In the end, though, I don't think the role is challenging, and I don't think Carney's performance is either.
Albert Finney in Murder on the Orient Express
***
Agatha Christie once stated that she could never write her popular detective Hercule Poirot for the stage because he was too over-the-top. In close-up the role is just as jarring as Christie expected. Heavily made-up and speaking with a gruff accent, it's hard to believe this is Albert Finney. He gets Poirot's watchfulness, ego, and amusement, in ways both subtle and not very subtle at all. The challenge, of course, is to make an interesting character out of someone who is conducting interviews for two hours, and Finney rises to the occasion. He's soothing here, accusatory there; Poirot adapts to the occasion spontaneously.
This also makes Poirot pretty inscrutable. When David Suchet went from righteous anger to soothing calm in the television version, you could chart that progress. Finney's Poirot, on the other hand, is a cartoon, yelling at inappropriate moments and muttering Shirley Temple tunes under his breath. His individual interviews are great, and he nails that final ten-minute monologue, but the performance rests on the mannerisms.
Dustin Hoffman in Lenny
*****
Is there a more perfect marriage of actor and role? Hoffman, as we've seen, is a notorious improviser who never plays the same scene twice. Lenny Bruce, according to Albert Goldman, was a notorious improviser "whose ideal was to walk out there like Charlie Parker, take that mike in his hand like a horn and blow, blow, blow everything that came into his head just as it came into his head with nothing censored, nothing translated, nothing mediated". Bring the two together and you get a performance that just sizzles.
I don't know how to express my love for this performance. Never before have I seen Hoffman this hilarious, vulnerable, adorable, maddening and charming. His nerdy exuberance when romancing Honey is infectious; his single-minded obsession with his obscenity trials is frustrating. His performance makes the disparate images of the responsible father and the drug-abuser just different parts of the same man. I really just want to show you the movie and yell, "SEE? LOOK AT THIS!" every scene. But that would be annoying, so I won't.
Jack Nicholson in Chinatown
*****
I imagine it must be difficult to play a gumshoe, since your role is either to react or offer exposition. Yet it's not hard to see why Nicholson was the frontrunner this year. Of course, Robert Towne's screenplay and Roman Polanski's direction lay enough groundwork for Nicholson to work with, but it takes a special kind of actor to make the private dick effective. I'm not talking charm, I'm talking smarm, and Nicholson has it. It's a sleazy job -- and that defense at the barbershop seems to be more for his benefit than his neighbor's -- but dammit he's good at it.
Perhaps the strongest element of his performance is his incredulity. Jake Gittes can usually weasel his way into anything, but this case, taking him from a simple case of adultery into a conspiracy within the Los Angeles County Water Department, manages to catch him off guard at every turn. He trusts the wrong people, follows the wrong leads, accuses the wrong culprit. Gittes is as human as you or I, a man whose past hurts inform his present relationships. He's vulgar, quick-witted, suspicious...really, there are few I'd rather spend two hours watching. Indeed, this was one of the few movies that I never took my eyes off of once, and Nicholson's performance is a HUGE part of the fascination.
Al Pacino in The Godfather: Part II
****
Pacino ups his game from the original. There's no trace of the Michael Corleone who once assured Diane Keaton, "That's my family, Kay, that's not me." Michael is calculating and cold-blooded. The man calmly orders the assassination of Hyman Roth, gives his brother the kiss of death, and manipulates the witnesses of a grand jury investigation. He rages at his wife and his consigliere -- powerful moments, indeed, for they go against his usually controlled demeanor. It's fascinating to see a man so changed, yet refusing to acknowledge that his relationships have. The aforementioned argument with Kay is rightfully legendary, and that final shot of Michael sitting alone after "settling business" haunts me still, a full two months since I saw the movie.
------------------------
Oscar chose Art Carney, but if I had to choose between these five, the Oscar goes to...
DUSTIN HOFFMAN
in
LENNY
a magnetic performance, beautiful and ugly, triumphant and tragic
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Rufio! Rufio! Ru! Fi! Oooooooo!
I felt like a Glenn Close movie tonight, so I went through her filmography to see what was readily available. Of course, the only thing we had on hand was Steven Spielberg's Hook, the 1993 adventure film in which Glenn cameos as a male pirate executed by the titular captain. Now, I'd never seen Hook before, but it came highly recommended by all of my friends. Everyone my age chants "Rufio! Rufio! Ru! Fi! Oooooo!" My girlfriend refuses to believe Maggie Smith would be a perfect Mrs. Danvers because, to her, she will always be Grandmother Wendy. My friend Kurtis used to blast the score during drives. It is a film much beloved by my generation, and while I was aware of its less esteemed status in the critical world, I know only too well that they sometimes mistake a masterpiece for a mistake. So we loaded up the Instant Watch on our Netflix, and I watched Hook for the first time, curious and a little excited.
Well...it's not a terrible movie, at least. But it's not very good, either.
Now, it starts out interestingly enough. Peter Banning (Robin Williams) is a serious workaholic who neglects his beautiful English wife (Caroline Goodall) and two children (Charlie Korsmo, Amber Scott). They go to England so that he may speak at a dedication ceremony for the old woman who took him in as a child, Grandmother Wendy (Maggie Smith, who you should know is my favorite actor ever), and while there, Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman) kidnaps the children. Peter Banning must travel back to Never-Neverland and remember that he is, in fact, Peter Pan. Now this is an intriguing concept, because while Peter's conflict is an inability to grow up, here he needs to find his childlike wonder. And I think that's a beautiful theme to explore, for too often is the easy enchantment of youth looked down on cynically as naive and foolish. It's also perfect fodder for a filmmaker, for surely filmmakers like Spielberg, Zemeckis and Cameron have never lost the awed imaginings of their youth. That balance between adulthood and childhood, of the importance of a parent to be both responsible and fun-loving, that should be bread and butter for Spielberg!
Then there's the little plot points that are oh so intriguing. Hook using Peter's neglect to get his son to join up with the Pirates is deliciously evil! To see that develop would be a masterwork indeed, especially if we do get to see young Jack actually stand by Hook's side. Oh, and Julia Roberts embodying that mischievous pixie Tinkerbell, young and fun-loving, but old enough to feel love for the Boy Who Never Grew Up But Actually Did And He's Now Robin Williams. To finally explore the complications of that relationship is something I've been waiting for! And both these elements are addressed quite beautifully within the film...
...before being immediately dropped within a scene. True, the plot with Hook and Jack is an important subplot, but we never really believe the clock-smashing is anything more than momentary anger, and he never seems to warm to the idea of lording it over Never-Neverland. Maybe that's the point, but there should at least be some tension, some conflict in that story. The Tinkerbell subplot is handled within two scenes, the rest of the work accomplished by a brilliant Julia Roberts, who seems to be the only adult besides Smith who knows what movie she's in. Only they balance pathos with humor appropriately, and they never make a scene all about them. The writers and director have given them the more adult themes to work with, and they deliver them without ever losing the kids.
Smith is especially deft at this, as we see in the scene where she introduces a still-young Pan to her granddaughter. It's a beautiful moment as she realizes, with some sadness in her eyes, that she is giving her granddaughter the one thing she could never have, and offering Peter a life he never realized he wanted. Of course, this is undercut by the sheer illogic of it all: if children never age in Never-Neverland, why then does Peter grow to be thirteen? Is it that the kids only grow up to thirteen? But then why do some of the younger Lost Boys in Never-Neverland know and remember the Peter Pan of old? If a movie can't obey it's own rules...why should I give a darn?
The problem, really, is that the movie insists on being a kid's movie. All those serious, thought-provoking moments are undercut by food fights, name-calling contests, a training montage (!), fat jokes, etc., etc., etc. Some awful kid-acting by the Lost Boys is only highlighted by the always brilliant Charlie Korsmo (I've seen three of his six movies, and he's always the best thing in them) and the underused Amber Scott. Which reminds me: what the hell happened to Amber Scott's character? She disappears for a good chunk of the movie, and then we see her imprisoned with other children during the final battle. Also, WHO THE FUCK ARE THOSE OTHER CHILDREN? Also, why does no one care when one of the central characters is killed off? Oh, it's mentioned once, but it's glossed over so quickly that it might as well have never happened. And oh my God, couldn't someone yell "cut" or "stick to the script" during the scenes where Dustin Hoffman and Bob Hoskins were obviously improvising? I missed half of what they said, and for what? So they can show me they're good at riffing? I don't blame Hoskins, but Hoffman, who is notorious for getting his costars to play these little games with him. And after all is said and done, it's these little diversions that cause the film to clock in at 2 hours and 22 minutes, which is at least two rolling fat kids too long in my book.
Yes, there are so, so, so many problems with Hook. Obviously, the majority of them regard tone and script, and possibly editing. But what it gets right, it gets so right. Again, the performances of Korsmo, Scott, Roberts and Smith are stellar, along with Caroline Goodall and Robin Williams, who actually makes a great Peter Pan. It's not his fault that once this adult male dons the tights once more, it looks more creepy than heroic. He's doing a bang-up job! Hoffman is great mostly, if only he didn't insist on the riffing. John Williams' score suggests a more magical film than the one I saw. Production design is superb, and I'm sure each viewing offers more to see, more little in-jokes to spot. And the costumes and the makeup, and the FX were amazing for the time, and technically it's all very well and good. Oh, and I would be a liar if I dared to even suggest that I won't be chanting "bangarang" and "Rufio! Rufio! Ru! Fi! Oooooo!" the rest of my life. But that script...if only someone had figured out what to do with the story.
In the end? I'm glad I finally saw it, but I don't think anyone could really love this movie apart from a childhood nostalgia.
Oh, and I didn't much care for that Glenn Close cameo. Like, what was the point?
Well...it's not a terrible movie, at least. But it's not very good, either.
Now, it starts out interestingly enough. Peter Banning (Robin Williams) is a serious workaholic who neglects his beautiful English wife (Caroline Goodall) and two children (Charlie Korsmo, Amber Scott). They go to England so that he may speak at a dedication ceremony for the old woman who took him in as a child, Grandmother Wendy (Maggie Smith, who you should know is my favorite actor ever), and while there, Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman) kidnaps the children. Peter Banning must travel back to Never-Neverland and remember that he is, in fact, Peter Pan. Now this is an intriguing concept, because while Peter's conflict is an inability to grow up, here he needs to find his childlike wonder. And I think that's a beautiful theme to explore, for too often is the easy enchantment of youth looked down on cynically as naive and foolish. It's also perfect fodder for a filmmaker, for surely filmmakers like Spielberg, Zemeckis and Cameron have never lost the awed imaginings of their youth. That balance between adulthood and childhood, of the importance of a parent to be both responsible and fun-loving, that should be bread and butter for Spielberg!
Then there's the little plot points that are oh so intriguing. Hook using Peter's neglect to get his son to join up with the Pirates is deliciously evil! To see that develop would be a masterwork indeed, especially if we do get to see young Jack actually stand by Hook's side. Oh, and Julia Roberts embodying that mischievous pixie Tinkerbell, young and fun-loving, but old enough to feel love for the Boy Who Never Grew Up But Actually Did And He's Now Robin Williams. To finally explore the complications of that relationship is something I've been waiting for! And both these elements are addressed quite beautifully within the film...
...before being immediately dropped within a scene. True, the plot with Hook and Jack is an important subplot, but we never really believe the clock-smashing is anything more than momentary anger, and he never seems to warm to the idea of lording it over Never-Neverland. Maybe that's the point, but there should at least be some tension, some conflict in that story. The Tinkerbell subplot is handled within two scenes, the rest of the work accomplished by a brilliant Julia Roberts, who seems to be the only adult besides Smith who knows what movie she's in. Only they balance pathos with humor appropriately, and they never make a scene all about them. The writers and director have given them the more adult themes to work with, and they deliver them without ever losing the kids.
Smith is especially deft at this, as we see in the scene where she introduces a still-young Pan to her granddaughter. It's a beautiful moment as she realizes, with some sadness in her eyes, that she is giving her granddaughter the one thing she could never have, and offering Peter a life he never realized he wanted. Of course, this is undercut by the sheer illogic of it all: if children never age in Never-Neverland, why then does Peter grow to be thirteen? Is it that the kids only grow up to thirteen? But then why do some of the younger Lost Boys in Never-Neverland know and remember the Peter Pan of old? If a movie can't obey it's own rules...why should I give a darn?
The problem, really, is that the movie insists on being a kid's movie. All those serious, thought-provoking moments are undercut by food fights, name-calling contests, a training montage (!), fat jokes, etc., etc., etc. Some awful kid-acting by the Lost Boys is only highlighted by the always brilliant Charlie Korsmo (I've seen three of his six movies, and he's always the best thing in them) and the underused Amber Scott. Which reminds me: what the hell happened to Amber Scott's character? She disappears for a good chunk of the movie, and then we see her imprisoned with other children during the final battle. Also, WHO THE FUCK ARE THOSE OTHER CHILDREN? Also, why does no one care when one of the central characters is killed off? Oh, it's mentioned once, but it's glossed over so quickly that it might as well have never happened. And oh my God, couldn't someone yell "cut" or "stick to the script" during the scenes where Dustin Hoffman and Bob Hoskins were obviously improvising? I missed half of what they said, and for what? So they can show me they're good at riffing? I don't blame Hoskins, but Hoffman, who is notorious for getting his costars to play these little games with him. And after all is said and done, it's these little diversions that cause the film to clock in at 2 hours and 22 minutes, which is at least two rolling fat kids too long in my book.
Yes, there are so, so, so many problems with Hook. Obviously, the majority of them regard tone and script, and possibly editing. But what it gets right, it gets so right. Again, the performances of Korsmo, Scott, Roberts and Smith are stellar, along with Caroline Goodall and Robin Williams, who actually makes a great Peter Pan. It's not his fault that once this adult male dons the tights once more, it looks more creepy than heroic. He's doing a bang-up job! Hoffman is great mostly, if only he didn't insist on the riffing. John Williams' score suggests a more magical film than the one I saw. Production design is superb, and I'm sure each viewing offers more to see, more little in-jokes to spot. And the costumes and the makeup, and the FX were amazing for the time, and technically it's all very well and good. Oh, and I would be a liar if I dared to even suggest that I won't be chanting "bangarang" and "Rufio! Rufio! Ru! Fi! Oooooo!" the rest of my life. But that script...if only someone had figured out what to do with the story.
In the end? I'm glad I finally saw it, but I don't think anyone could really love this movie apart from a childhood nostalgia.
Oh, and I didn't much care for that Glenn Close cameo. Like, what was the point?
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Casting Coup: Death on the Nile
With the success of Murder on the Orient Express in 1974, it was inevitable that EMI and Paramount would find another Agatha Christie whodunit to adapt. It was 1978 that gave audiences another all-star mystery, another exotic locale, another corpse in a stateroom.
Death on the Nile was the second in a series of films featuring super sleuth Hercule Poirot. Albert Finney, nominated for the role in Orient Express, declined to take part in the follow-up, citing hot costume that would become overbearing in "the roasting afternoon sun." Peter Ustinov, a two-time Oscar Winner for Best Supporting Actor, came on board in his stead, and it stuck: Ustinov would play the role in two more films and three made-for-TV movies. Along for the ride were four Academy Award Winners (Bette Davis, George Kennedy, David Niven, Maggie Smith), two nominees (Angela Lansbury, Jack Warden), Mia Farrow, Olivia Hussey, and future Bond Girl Lois Chiles. Even the director had Oscar attached to his name, having directed the Academy Award-winning 1974 disaster epic The Towering Inferno: John Guillermin, fresh off the King Kong remake.
Death on the Nile is most certainly not Murder on the Orient Express. It has none of the glamor of that earlier production. It does not have the Lumet Touch. And while Murder boasted a cast of immortals, who the hell remembers Simon MacCorkindale? Yet Death on the Nile is an enjoyable romp on its own, with fantastic turns from Davis, Smith and Lansbury -- who all shared a dressing room; a rousing score from Nino Rota -- who far surpasses Richard Rodney Bennett's work on Murder; and exquisite costumes from Anthony Powell.
Indeed, it is Powell alone who found himself honored by the most revered nude figure in the history of the whole human race. Although BAFTA nominated Smith, Lansbury and Ustinov, the Oscars gave the film but one nomination: Costume Design. Fortunately, it didn't need any other noms. Powell was victorious, winning the Oscar for designs Bette Davis herself deemed "superb".
Personally, I adore the movie. Davis and Smith have great chemistry, and the screenplay by Anthony Shaffer expertly pares down the narrative while remaining true to the source material. And again, that score.
What I do miss from the film are a number of the supporting characters from the novel. There are six other characters in the book that did not make it to this version, three of whom had a larger impact on the original story than two of the characters retained here. The 2004 television movie starring David Suchet brought the three back, but deleted Maggie Smith's character; a travesty.
In this Casting Coup, I envision a perfect adaptation that retains all nineteen characters. It, too, is a cast of well-knowns, for I believe whole-heartedly in the "who's who in whodunit". And so, ladies and gents, I do give you the victim, the suspects, the sleuths, and the rest of Death on the Nile:
Interested Party
THE HON. JOANNA SOUTHWOOD
Who is She: A posh friend of Linnet's. Joanna is spoiled and a snob. She is close friends with her cousin Tim, but cares more for herself than anyone else. She does not go to Egypt, but her actions in England have curious effects on the rest of the cast.
My Choice:
Christina Cole (Casino Royale, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day)
In the BBC's Jane Eyre, Cole portrayed the snob Blanche Ingram. In Miss Pettigrew, Cole portrayed the bitch Charlotte Warren. In What a Girl Wants, Cole portrayed the snobby bitch Clarissa Payne. See a pattern?
The Victim
LINNET RIDGEWAY
Who is She: An American heiress living in England. Linnet has always gotten everything she's ever wanted, but she never seems to be aware of it. She purchases Wode Hall without blinking; she waves away marriage proposals from dukes like they were nothing; and she marries her best friend's fiancee because "it was inevitable". With that chip on her shoulder, it is small wonder that Linnet is found dead in her cabin from a gunshot wound to the head.
Originally played by:
Lois Chiles (The Great Gatsby, Moonraker)
My Choice:
Jessica Biel (Ulee's Gold, Easy Virtue)
So, I recently found out that Biel is actually a pretty solid actress. Linnet needs to be played by an actress "so beautiful it'd put a lump in your throat", and has a backbone. Biel has played strong women a number of times; indeed, her failures come when she is cast as eye candy alone. I understand, but Biel could humanize Linnet in a way Chiles never thought to. I mean, really: if I don't like the victim, who cares whodunit?
The Passengers
MRS. ALLERTON
Who is She: Widowed mother of Tim, she is absolutely devoted to her son. Fearing that he may become a Mama's Boy, though, she frequently pushes him towards eligible young women...as long as they aren't his nasty cousin, Joanna Southwood. Mrs. Allerton takes a shine to Poirot.
My Choice: Academy Award Nominee for Best Actress (Tom & Viv) and Best Supporting Actress (Damage), BAFTA Award Winner for Best Supporting Actress (Damage), Golden Globe Winner for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy (Enchanted April), Indie Spirit Nominee for Best Supporting Female (The Apostle), SAG Award Nominee for Best Ensemble (The Hours)
Miranda Richardson (Southland Tales, The Young Victoria)
Is it odd that I automatically associate her with middle class middle age? That's not a knock on her, I merely mean that she excels at portraying the kind of woman I grew up with, though I suppose it's not the type of role most common for her. Mrs. Allerton is a comic figure with surprisingly brilliant yet logical flashes of insight. Richardson could that.
TIM ALLERTON
Who is He: Cousin to Joanna, son of Mrs., Tim is one of those bored young men. A childhood illness kept him indoors most of his life, causing him to look at his mother as his closest companion. Indeed, they are more friends than mother-and-son. Her companionship is all he requires or desires, until he sets eyes on the "more than quite" Rosalie Otterbourne.
My Choice:
Rupert Friend (Pride & Prejudice, Cheri)
One of the most talented newcomers working today. Friend can play bored, scheming, charming, boyish, wealthy, whatever. And, truth be told, his pale skin does rather help with the whole "sick as a child" thing.
DR. LUDWIG BESSNER
Who is He: An Austrian physician who slurps his soup. In the film, he ran a clinic that Linnet denounced in the press. In the novel, the two are strangers, but he does provide two suspects with air-tight alibis.
Originally played by: Academy Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actor (Shampoo, Heaven Can Wait), BAFTA Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actor (Shampoo)
Jack Warden (Bullets Over Broadway, Mighty Aphrodite)
My Choice: SAG Award Winner for Best Ensemble (Inglourious Basterds)
Sylvester Groth (My Fuhrer, The Reader)
LOUISE BOURGET
Who is She: Linnet's French maid. It is she who discovers the body, who realizes the pearls are missing, who has no alibi for the night of the murder...
Originally played by:
Jane Birkin (Evil Under the Sun, The Last September)
My Choice:
Ludivine Sagnier (Peter Pan, Moliere)
MISS BOWERS
Who is She: Nurse to Marie Van Schuyler. In the film, she spars regularly with the old woman. In the novel, she is more patient and understanding. Like Dr. Bessner, she is able to provide an alibi for two suspects the night of the murder...but what about her own?
Originally played by: Academy Award Winner for Best Actress (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie) and Best Supporting Actress (California Suite), BAFTA Award Winner for Best Actress (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, A Private Function, A Room with a View, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne) and Best Supporting Actress (Tea with Mussolini), Golden Globe Winner for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy (California Suite) and Best Supporting Actress (A Room with a View), SAG Award Winner for Best Ensemble (Gosford Park)
Maggie Smith (Evil Under the Sun, Becoming Jane)
My Choice:
Cherry Jones (Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Amelia)
Jones is a comfort to me. In the original novel, Bowers was much more of a caregiver, though she had some wit in her. Jones, an under-appreciated actress, is pretty handy with the witticisms, but to me she always exudes warmth, first and foremost. Clearly, I never saw her in Doubt.
JACQUELINE DE BELLEFORT
Who is She: Linnet's best friend. Jackie comes from an Anglo-American family that fell on hard times. Engaged to Simon Doyle, she introduces him to her best friend, Linnet Ridgeway, in hopes of securing him a job as her land agent. Instead, Linnet marries him, and Jackie has a breakdown, following the couple as they honeymoon all over the globe. Her doings the night of the murder are of great interest indeed...
Originally played by: BAFTA Award Nominee for Best Actress (John and Mary/Rosemary's Baby/Secret Ceremony, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Hannah and Her Sisters), Golden Globe Nominee for Best Actress in a Drama (Rosemary's Baby) and Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy (John and Mary, Broadway Danny Rose, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Alice)
Happy 65th Birthday: Mia Farrow (A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, The Omen)
My Choice:
Romola Garai (Vanity Fair, Atonement)
I've been a fan since Vanity Fair. Garai is one of those great, unassuming actresses who you rarely remember because she plays her part so perfectly. She can even plain it up, like in Atonement, which is fine for Jackie -- she should be cute, after all, but Linnet must remain beautifuller. It's a juicy role for any actress, and one I feel Garai has earned.
SIMON DOYLE
Who is He: Jackie's fiance, then Linnet's husband. Simon is "handsome, boyish...utterly adorable". Simon does not care to read fine print, nor is he too sensitive to remark that Jackie was "too fond" of him. There is no doubting the passion between him and Linnet, though.
Originally played by:
Simon MacCorkindale (Jaws 3-D, Wing Commander)
My Choice: SAG Award Winner for Best Ensemble (Inglourious Basterds)
Michael Fassbender (Hunger, 300)
Handsome, boyish, utterly adorable. The best male actor in Inglourious Basterds. The kind of guy you could see kissing you then marrying your best friend. And you'd still love him, like Jackie still somehow loves Simon. I like this Fassbender chap.
JIM FANTHORP
Who is He: A representative for Linnet's English solicitors. He fears that her American representation is crooked. He hears a gunshot the night of the murder...though not necessaarily the fatal one.
My Choice:
Martin Freeman (The Good Night, Hot Fuzz)
Fanthorp appears unassuming, but is actually rather clever, secretive, and strong-willed. I feel we've seen Freeman play those gentle chaps that come through when the chips are down enough times that we can rely on him for such a role.
FERGUSON
Who is He: A dedicated Communist. He sees Linnet's death as a blessing, viewing the rich to be parasites who ought to be offed. He spends much of his time with Cornelia. In the film, he is a combination of Ferguson, Fanthorp, and Allerton.
Originally played by:
Jon Finch (Sunday Bloody Sunday, Frenzy)
My Choice:
Toby Kebbell (Control, RockNRolla)
I've only seen him in Control, but I remember him playing a rude, outspoken, screamingly funny manager of Joy Division. He's great in that movie. Playing Ferguson requires our believing you have balls; Kebbell acts like he's got balls.
ROSALIE OTTERBOURNE
Who is She: The much put-upon daughter of Salome Otterbourne. Though she is quite a pretty girl, she appears "sullen and bad-tempered". She is actually very unhappy, and hides under a veil of sarcasm and bitter wit. Yet she often shows a tender sweetness, and people seem drawn to her: Poirot, Jackie,and especially Tim Allerton.
Originally played by:
Olivia Hussey (Romeo & Juliet, Black Christmas)
My Choice: Academy Award/BAFTA Award/Golden Globe/SAG Award/Hollmann Award Nominee for Best Actress [in a Drama] and SAG Award Nominee for Best Ensemble (An Education)
Carey Mulligan (Pride & Prejudice, Marple: The Sittaford Mystery)
Mulligan can do this, one of the more complicated roles of the piece. Rosalie must be frank and bitter, yet also vulnerable and kind. Mulligan has proven herself able to shade her characters with great complexity, even in work as dismissable as Marple: The Sittaford Mystery. Besides, like Rosalie, Mulligan is "more than quite."
SALOME OTTERBOURNE
Who is She: A failed romance novelist. She thinks no one reads her books because they can not handle the sex. In reality, she is a rather awful writer, whose obsession with success and dependency on alcohol ruin the relationship between her and her daughter. At first, she seems like one of those hilarious drunks brought in for comic relief, but as the film progresses, she becomes more pitiable.
Originally played by: Academy Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actress (Gaslight, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Manchurian Candidate), BAFTA Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actress (Death on the Nile), Golden Globe Winner for Best Supporting Actress (The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Manchurian Candidate)
Angela Lansbury (The Harvey Girls, Beauty and the Beast)
My Choice: Academy Award/SAG Award Winner for Best Actress (Dead Man Walking), BAFTA Award Winner for Best Actress (The Client), Golden Globe Nominee for Best Actress in a Drama (White Palace, Thelma & Louise, Lorenzo's Oil, Dead Man Walking, Stepmom), Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy (Bull Durham) and Best Supporting Actress (Igby Goes Down), Hollmann Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actress (In the Valley of Elah, Speed Racer)
Susan Sarandon (Enchanted, The Lovely Bones)
ANDREW PENNINGTON
Who is He: Linnet's American lawyer. A close friend of Linnet's father, Pennington arrives in Egypt by coincidence, and just so happens to have some contracts for Linnet to sign. Unbeknownst to her, the money Pennington is in charge of has been slowly dwindling...
Originally played by: Academy Award Winner for Best Supporting Actor (Cool Hand Luke), Golden Globe Nominee for Best Supporting Actor (Cool Hand Luke, Airport)
George Kennedy (Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Earthquake)
My Choice: Academy Award Winner for Best Actor (Kramer vs. Kramer, Rain Man), BAFTA Award Winner for Best Actor (John and Mary/Midnight Cowboy, Tootsie), Golden Globe Winner for Best Actor in a Drama (Kramer vs. Kramer, Rain Man) and Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy (Tootsie), SAG Award Nominee for Best Actor (Wag the Dog) and Best Ensemble (Finding Neverland)
Dustin Hoffman (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Last Chance Harvey)
SIGNOR GUIDO RICHETTI
Who is He: A hot-tempered Italian passenger who keeps to himself.
My Choice:
Giuseppe Cederna (The Family, Nine)
CORNELIA ROBSON
Who is She: A young relative of Miss Van Schuyler's who is leaving New York for the first time in her life. Cornelia is open to new experiences and believes that there is good in everyone. Sometimes, her politeness leads to uncomfortable situations, like when she sits quietly ask a drunken Jackie tells her the tale of Simon and Linnet's betrayal. Cornelia is fascinated by archaeology, something she shares with Dr. Bessner.
My Choice:
Kelli Garner (Dreamland, Taking Woodstock)
MARIE VAN SCHUYLER
Who is She: A wealthy bitch. Van Schuyler is vicious, a liar, a snob. She values her mink stole, loves pearls, and treats everyone like her servants. A reptilian woman who no one likes; she hates them right back.
Originally played by: Academy Award Winner for Best Actress (Dangerous, Jezebel), BAFTA Award Nominee for Best Foreign Actress (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?), Golden Globe Nominee for Best Actress in a Drama (All About Eve, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?) and Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy (Pocketful of Miracles)
Bette Davis (Now, Voyager, Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte)
My Choice: Academy Award Winner for Best Actress (Terms of Endearment), BAFTA Award Winner for Best Foreign Actress (Ask Any Girl, The Apartment), Golden Globe Winner for Best Actress in a Drama (Terms of Endearment, Madame Sousatzka) and Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy (The Apartment, Irma La Douce)
Shirley MacLaine (Being There, In Her Shoes)
Oh, how much fun could she have in this role?
The Sleuths
COLONEL JOHNNY RACE
Who is He: Secret Service agent and friend of Poirot. Race is on board hunting down a terrorist, but when murder joins the passenger list, he's more than willing to play Watson.
Originally played by: Academy Award Winner for Best Actor (Separate Tables), BAFTA Award Nominee for Best British Actor (Carrington V.C.), Golden Globe Winner for Best Actor in a Drama (Separate Tables) and Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy (The Moon is Blue)
David Niven (The Pink Panther, Casino Royale)
My Choice: Academy Award Nominee for Best Actor (Tom Jones, Murder on the Orient Express, The Dresser, Under the Volcano) and Best Supporting Actor (Erin Brockovich), BAFTA Award Nominee for Best British Actor (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Tom Jones), Best Actor (Gumshoe, Murder on the Orient Express, Shoot the Moon, The Dresser) and Best Supporting Actor (Erin Brockovich, Big Fish), Golden Globe Winner for Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy (Scrooge), SAG Award Winner for Best Supporting Actor (Erin Brockovich) and Best Ensemble (Traffic)
Albert Finney (Corpse Bride, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead)
Yes, yes, he's already been a Poirot. But he looks like a "colonel". It was either him or James Fox, and James Fox played this role in the TV movie, so it couldn't be him.
HERCULE POIROT
Who is He: The great Belgian detective, he just wanted a relaxing vacation down the river Nile. Instead, he gets a murder to solve.
Originally played by: Academy Award Winner for Best Supporting Actor (Topkapi, Spartacus), BAFTA Award Nominee for Best Actor (Death on the Nile) and Best British Screenplay (Billy Budd), DGA Award Nominee for Best Director (Romanoff and Juliet, Billy Budd), Golden Globe Winner for Best Supporting Actor (Quo Vadis), WGA Award Nominee for Best American Comedy (Hot Millions) and Best Written American Drama (Billy Budd)
Peter Ustinov (The Great Muppet Caper, Appointment with Death)
My Choice: BAFTA Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actor (Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone)
Robbie Coltrane (The World is Not Enough, The Brothers Bloom)
Superb with accents, whether they be Russian or, appropriately enough, Belgian. A fine actor, whose rotundity works for Poirot. He may be tall, but so was Poirot. It's not about the height, it's about whether or not he fits the role. And he can do this.
Death on the Nile was the second in a series of films featuring super sleuth Hercule Poirot. Albert Finney, nominated for the role in Orient Express, declined to take part in the follow-up, citing hot costume that would become overbearing in "the roasting afternoon sun." Peter Ustinov, a two-time Oscar Winner for Best Supporting Actor, came on board in his stead, and it stuck: Ustinov would play the role in two more films and three made-for-TV movies. Along for the ride were four Academy Award Winners (Bette Davis, George Kennedy, David Niven, Maggie Smith), two nominees (Angela Lansbury, Jack Warden), Mia Farrow, Olivia Hussey, and future Bond Girl Lois Chiles. Even the director had Oscar attached to his name, having directed the Academy Award-winning 1974 disaster epic The Towering Inferno: John Guillermin, fresh off the King Kong remake.
Death on the Nile is most certainly not Murder on the Orient Express. It has none of the glamor of that earlier production. It does not have the Lumet Touch. And while Murder boasted a cast of immortals, who the hell remembers Simon MacCorkindale? Yet Death on the Nile is an enjoyable romp on its own, with fantastic turns from Davis, Smith and Lansbury -- who all shared a dressing room; a rousing score from Nino Rota -- who far surpasses Richard Rodney Bennett's work on Murder; and exquisite costumes from Anthony Powell.
Indeed, it is Powell alone who found himself honored by the most revered nude figure in the history of the whole human race. Although BAFTA nominated Smith, Lansbury and Ustinov, the Oscars gave the film but one nomination: Costume Design. Fortunately, it didn't need any other noms. Powell was victorious, winning the Oscar for designs Bette Davis herself deemed "superb".
Personally, I adore the movie. Davis and Smith have great chemistry, and the screenplay by Anthony Shaffer expertly pares down the narrative while remaining true to the source material. And again, that score.
What I do miss from the film are a number of the supporting characters from the novel. There are six other characters in the book that did not make it to this version, three of whom had a larger impact on the original story than two of the characters retained here. The 2004 television movie starring David Suchet brought the three back, but deleted Maggie Smith's character; a travesty.
In this Casting Coup, I envision a perfect adaptation that retains all nineteen characters. It, too, is a cast of well-knowns, for I believe whole-heartedly in the "who's who in whodunit". And so, ladies and gents, I do give you the victim, the suspects, the sleuths, and the rest of Death on the Nile:
Interested Party
THE HON. JOANNA SOUTHWOOD
Who is She: A posh friend of Linnet's. Joanna is spoiled and a snob. She is close friends with her cousin Tim, but cares more for herself than anyone else. She does not go to Egypt, but her actions in England have curious effects on the rest of the cast.
My Choice:
Christina Cole (Casino Royale, Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day)
In the BBC's Jane Eyre, Cole portrayed the snob Blanche Ingram. In Miss Pettigrew, Cole portrayed the bitch Charlotte Warren. In What a Girl Wants, Cole portrayed the snobby bitch Clarissa Payne. See a pattern?
The Victim
LINNET RIDGEWAY
Who is She: An American heiress living in England. Linnet has always gotten everything she's ever wanted, but she never seems to be aware of it. She purchases Wode Hall without blinking; she waves away marriage proposals from dukes like they were nothing; and she marries her best friend's fiancee because "it was inevitable". With that chip on her shoulder, it is small wonder that Linnet is found dead in her cabin from a gunshot wound to the head.
Originally played by:
Lois Chiles (The Great Gatsby, Moonraker)
My Choice:
Jessica Biel (Ulee's Gold, Easy Virtue)
So, I recently found out that Biel is actually a pretty solid actress. Linnet needs to be played by an actress "so beautiful it'd put a lump in your throat", and has a backbone. Biel has played strong women a number of times; indeed, her failures come when she is cast as eye candy alone. I understand, but Biel could humanize Linnet in a way Chiles never thought to. I mean, really: if I don't like the victim, who cares whodunit?
The Passengers
MRS. ALLERTON
Who is She: Widowed mother of Tim, she is absolutely devoted to her son. Fearing that he may become a Mama's Boy, though, she frequently pushes him towards eligible young women...as long as they aren't his nasty cousin, Joanna Southwood. Mrs. Allerton takes a shine to Poirot.
My Choice: Academy Award Nominee for Best Actress (Tom & Viv) and Best Supporting Actress (Damage), BAFTA Award Winner for Best Supporting Actress (Damage), Golden Globe Winner for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy (Enchanted April), Indie Spirit Nominee for Best Supporting Female (The Apostle), SAG Award Nominee for Best Ensemble (The Hours)
Miranda Richardson (Southland Tales, The Young Victoria)
Is it odd that I automatically associate her with middle class middle age? That's not a knock on her, I merely mean that she excels at portraying the kind of woman I grew up with, though I suppose it's not the type of role most common for her. Mrs. Allerton is a comic figure with surprisingly brilliant yet logical flashes of insight. Richardson could that.
TIM ALLERTON
Who is He: Cousin to Joanna, son of Mrs., Tim is one of those bored young men. A childhood illness kept him indoors most of his life, causing him to look at his mother as his closest companion. Indeed, they are more friends than mother-and-son. Her companionship is all he requires or desires, until he sets eyes on the "more than quite" Rosalie Otterbourne.
My Choice:
Rupert Friend (Pride & Prejudice, Cheri)
One of the most talented newcomers working today. Friend can play bored, scheming, charming, boyish, wealthy, whatever. And, truth be told, his pale skin does rather help with the whole "sick as a child" thing.
DR. LUDWIG BESSNER
Who is He: An Austrian physician who slurps his soup. In the film, he ran a clinic that Linnet denounced in the press. In the novel, the two are strangers, but he does provide two suspects with air-tight alibis.
Originally played by: Academy Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actor (Shampoo, Heaven Can Wait), BAFTA Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actor (Shampoo)
Jack Warden (Bullets Over Broadway, Mighty Aphrodite)
My Choice: SAG Award Winner for Best Ensemble (Inglourious Basterds)
Sylvester Groth (My Fuhrer, The Reader)
LOUISE BOURGET
Who is She: Linnet's French maid. It is she who discovers the body, who realizes the pearls are missing, who has no alibi for the night of the murder...
Originally played by:
Jane Birkin (Evil Under the Sun, The Last September)
My Choice:
Ludivine Sagnier (Peter Pan, Moliere)
MISS BOWERS
Who is She: Nurse to Marie Van Schuyler. In the film, she spars regularly with the old woman. In the novel, she is more patient and understanding. Like Dr. Bessner, she is able to provide an alibi for two suspects the night of the murder...but what about her own?
Originally played by: Academy Award Winner for Best Actress (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie) and Best Supporting Actress (California Suite), BAFTA Award Winner for Best Actress (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, A Private Function, A Room with a View, The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne) and Best Supporting Actress (Tea with Mussolini), Golden Globe Winner for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy (California Suite) and Best Supporting Actress (A Room with a View), SAG Award Winner for Best Ensemble (Gosford Park)
Maggie Smith (Evil Under the Sun, Becoming Jane)
My Choice:
Cherry Jones (Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, Amelia)
Jones is a comfort to me. In the original novel, Bowers was much more of a caregiver, though she had some wit in her. Jones, an under-appreciated actress, is pretty handy with the witticisms, but to me she always exudes warmth, first and foremost. Clearly, I never saw her in Doubt.
JACQUELINE DE BELLEFORT
Who is She: Linnet's best friend. Jackie comes from an Anglo-American family that fell on hard times. Engaged to Simon Doyle, she introduces him to her best friend, Linnet Ridgeway, in hopes of securing him a job as her land agent. Instead, Linnet marries him, and Jackie has a breakdown, following the couple as they honeymoon all over the globe. Her doings the night of the murder are of great interest indeed...
Originally played by: BAFTA Award Nominee for Best Actress (John and Mary/Rosemary's Baby/Secret Ceremony, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Hannah and Her Sisters), Golden Globe Nominee for Best Actress in a Drama (Rosemary's Baby) and Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy (John and Mary, Broadway Danny Rose, The Purple Rose of Cairo, Alice)
Happy 65th Birthday: Mia Farrow (A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy, The Omen)
My Choice:
Romola Garai (Vanity Fair, Atonement)
I've been a fan since Vanity Fair. Garai is one of those great, unassuming actresses who you rarely remember because she plays her part so perfectly. She can even plain it up, like in Atonement, which is fine for Jackie -- she should be cute, after all, but Linnet must remain beautifuller. It's a juicy role for any actress, and one I feel Garai has earned.
SIMON DOYLE
Who is He: Jackie's fiance, then Linnet's husband. Simon is "handsome, boyish...utterly adorable". Simon does not care to read fine print, nor is he too sensitive to remark that Jackie was "too fond" of him. There is no doubting the passion between him and Linnet, though.
Originally played by:
Simon MacCorkindale (Jaws 3-D, Wing Commander)
My Choice: SAG Award Winner for Best Ensemble (Inglourious Basterds)
Michael Fassbender (Hunger, 300)
Handsome, boyish, utterly adorable. The best male actor in Inglourious Basterds. The kind of guy you could see kissing you then marrying your best friend. And you'd still love him, like Jackie still somehow loves Simon. I like this Fassbender chap.
JIM FANTHORP
Who is He: A representative for Linnet's English solicitors. He fears that her American representation is crooked. He hears a gunshot the night of the murder...though not necessaarily the fatal one.
My Choice:
Martin Freeman (The Good Night, Hot Fuzz)
Fanthorp appears unassuming, but is actually rather clever, secretive, and strong-willed. I feel we've seen Freeman play those gentle chaps that come through when the chips are down enough times that we can rely on him for such a role.
FERGUSON
Who is He: A dedicated Communist. He sees Linnet's death as a blessing, viewing the rich to be parasites who ought to be offed. He spends much of his time with Cornelia. In the film, he is a combination of Ferguson, Fanthorp, and Allerton.
Originally played by:
Jon Finch (Sunday Bloody Sunday, Frenzy)
My Choice:
Toby Kebbell (Control, RockNRolla)
I've only seen him in Control, but I remember him playing a rude, outspoken, screamingly funny manager of Joy Division. He's great in that movie. Playing Ferguson requires our believing you have balls; Kebbell acts like he's got balls.
ROSALIE OTTERBOURNE
Who is She: The much put-upon daughter of Salome Otterbourne. Though she is quite a pretty girl, she appears "sullen and bad-tempered". She is actually very unhappy, and hides under a veil of sarcasm and bitter wit. Yet she often shows a tender sweetness, and people seem drawn to her: Poirot, Jackie,and especially Tim Allerton.
Originally played by:
Olivia Hussey (Romeo & Juliet, Black Christmas)
My Choice: Academy Award/BAFTA Award/Golden Globe/SAG Award/Hollmann Award Nominee for Best Actress [in a Drama] and SAG Award Nominee for Best Ensemble (An Education)
Carey Mulligan (Pride & Prejudice, Marple: The Sittaford Mystery)
Mulligan can do this, one of the more complicated roles of the piece. Rosalie must be frank and bitter, yet also vulnerable and kind. Mulligan has proven herself able to shade her characters with great complexity, even in work as dismissable as Marple: The Sittaford Mystery. Besides, like Rosalie, Mulligan is "more than quite."
SALOME OTTERBOURNE
Who is She: A failed romance novelist. She thinks no one reads her books because they can not handle the sex. In reality, she is a rather awful writer, whose obsession with success and dependency on alcohol ruin the relationship between her and her daughter. At first, she seems like one of those hilarious drunks brought in for comic relief, but as the film progresses, she becomes more pitiable.
Originally played by: Academy Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actress (Gaslight, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Manchurian Candidate), BAFTA Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actress (Death on the Nile), Golden Globe Winner for Best Supporting Actress (The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Manchurian Candidate)
Angela Lansbury (The Harvey Girls, Beauty and the Beast)
My Choice: Academy Award/SAG Award Winner for Best Actress (Dead Man Walking), BAFTA Award Winner for Best Actress (The Client), Golden Globe Nominee for Best Actress in a Drama (White Palace, Thelma & Louise, Lorenzo's Oil, Dead Man Walking, Stepmom), Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy (Bull Durham) and Best Supporting Actress (Igby Goes Down), Hollmann Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actress (In the Valley of Elah, Speed Racer)
Susan Sarandon (Enchanted, The Lovely Bones)
ANDREW PENNINGTON
Who is He: Linnet's American lawyer. A close friend of Linnet's father, Pennington arrives in Egypt by coincidence, and just so happens to have some contracts for Linnet to sign. Unbeknownst to her, the money Pennington is in charge of has been slowly dwindling...
Originally played by: Academy Award Winner for Best Supporting Actor (Cool Hand Luke), Golden Globe Nominee for Best Supporting Actor (Cool Hand Luke, Airport)
George Kennedy (Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, Earthquake)
My Choice: Academy Award Winner for Best Actor (Kramer vs. Kramer, Rain Man), BAFTA Award Winner for Best Actor (John and Mary/Midnight Cowboy, Tootsie), Golden Globe Winner for Best Actor in a Drama (Kramer vs. Kramer, Rain Man) and Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy (Tootsie), SAG Award Nominee for Best Actor (Wag the Dog) and Best Ensemble (Finding Neverland)
Dustin Hoffman (Perfume: The Story of a Murderer, Last Chance Harvey)
SIGNOR GUIDO RICHETTI
Who is He: A hot-tempered Italian passenger who keeps to himself.
My Choice:
Giuseppe Cederna (The Family, Nine)
CORNELIA ROBSON
Who is She: A young relative of Miss Van Schuyler's who is leaving New York for the first time in her life. Cornelia is open to new experiences and believes that there is good in everyone. Sometimes, her politeness leads to uncomfortable situations, like when she sits quietly ask a drunken Jackie tells her the tale of Simon and Linnet's betrayal. Cornelia is fascinated by archaeology, something she shares with Dr. Bessner.
My Choice:
Kelli Garner (Dreamland, Taking Woodstock)
MARIE VAN SCHUYLER
Who is She: A wealthy bitch. Van Schuyler is vicious, a liar, a snob. She values her mink stole, loves pearls, and treats everyone like her servants. A reptilian woman who no one likes; she hates them right back.
Originally played by: Academy Award Winner for Best Actress (Dangerous, Jezebel), BAFTA Award Nominee for Best Foreign Actress (What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?), Golden Globe Nominee for Best Actress in a Drama (All About Eve, What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?) and Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy (Pocketful of Miracles)
Bette Davis (Now, Voyager, Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte)
My Choice: Academy Award Winner for Best Actress (Terms of Endearment), BAFTA Award Winner for Best Foreign Actress (Ask Any Girl, The Apartment), Golden Globe Winner for Best Actress in a Drama (Terms of Endearment, Madame Sousatzka) and Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy (The Apartment, Irma La Douce)
Shirley MacLaine (Being There, In Her Shoes)
Oh, how much fun could she have in this role?
The Sleuths
COLONEL JOHNNY RACE
Who is He: Secret Service agent and friend of Poirot. Race is on board hunting down a terrorist, but when murder joins the passenger list, he's more than willing to play Watson.
Originally played by: Academy Award Winner for Best Actor (Separate Tables), BAFTA Award Nominee for Best British Actor (Carrington V.C.), Golden Globe Winner for Best Actor in a Drama (Separate Tables) and Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy (The Moon is Blue)
David Niven (The Pink Panther, Casino Royale)
My Choice: Academy Award Nominee for Best Actor (Tom Jones, Murder on the Orient Express, The Dresser, Under the Volcano) and Best Supporting Actor (Erin Brockovich), BAFTA Award Nominee for Best British Actor (Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, Tom Jones), Best Actor (Gumshoe, Murder on the Orient Express, Shoot the Moon, The Dresser) and Best Supporting Actor (Erin Brockovich, Big Fish), Golden Globe Winner for Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy (Scrooge), SAG Award Winner for Best Supporting Actor (Erin Brockovich) and Best Ensemble (Traffic)
Albert Finney (Corpse Bride, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead)
Yes, yes, he's already been a Poirot. But he looks like a "colonel". It was either him or James Fox, and James Fox played this role in the TV movie, so it couldn't be him.
HERCULE POIROT
Who is He: The great Belgian detective, he just wanted a relaxing vacation down the river Nile. Instead, he gets a murder to solve.
Originally played by: Academy Award Winner for Best Supporting Actor (Topkapi, Spartacus), BAFTA Award Nominee for Best Actor (Death on the Nile) and Best British Screenplay (Billy Budd), DGA Award Nominee for Best Director (Romanoff and Juliet, Billy Budd), Golden Globe Winner for Best Supporting Actor (Quo Vadis), WGA Award Nominee for Best American Comedy (Hot Millions) and Best Written American Drama (Billy Budd)
Peter Ustinov (The Great Muppet Caper, Appointment with Death)
My Choice: BAFTA Award Nominee for Best Supporting Actor (Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone)
Robbie Coltrane (The World is Not Enough, The Brothers Bloom)
Superb with accents, whether they be Russian or, appropriately enough, Belgian. A fine actor, whose rotundity works for Poirot. He may be tall, but so was Poirot. It's not about the height, it's about whether or not he fits the role. And he can do this.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Casting Coup: The Day of the Locust
Summer vacation has begun for me and most of my fellow college students. This means more time to lolligag, less things to do (everything around here closes at 11), summer jobs, and summer reading. Of course, I don't actually have any assignments from the school, but my grandfather insisted I give some books of his choice a try.
He started me off with The Day of the Locust by Nathaneal West.
It's a Hollywood tale, and we know how much I love those! But it's also about inhumanity and anger, with Los Angeles becoming a place where people come to die. The characters scoot around in claustrophobic boredom, drinking and holding cock-fights. But nothing will deter the time of violence, the hour of brutality, the day...of the locust!
Duhn-duhn-DUUUUHHHHHNNNNN!
MRS. SCHWARTZEN
Who is She: A guest at one of the Hollywood parties who adores talking of smutty things. When intruding on a conversation some of the men are having, she is shocked and disappointed to find that they are talking shop, not sex. An outrageous, outlandish female.
My Choice: And who better to play an outrageous, outlandish female than....
Molly Shannon (Wet Hot American Summer, Osmosis Jones)
CALVIN
Who is He: One of the cowboys, he sits in front of the saddle store and pokes fun at Earle. And...that's about it.
My Choice: We haven't seen him play too many bright boys lately, but apparently he can do it.
Garrett Dillahunt (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, No Country for Old Men)
MARY DOVE
Who is She: A high-priced call girl who also happens to be a friend of Faye's.
My Choice: Why has no one played up the unconventional hotness yet?
Lizzy Caplan (Cloverfield, Mean Girls)
MS. JOSEPH
Who is She: The landlady at the Bernadine Hotel, she arranges for funerals and guilt-trips.
My Choice: She excels in these parts.
Margo Martindale (The Riches, that yogurt commercial where she plays a laundress)
MRS. AUDREY JENNING
Who is She: A former screen siren who lost her job with the talkies, she is now the Madam for the most expensive call girls in California. Catering only to the rich and privileged, she makes the deals in her mansion, though it is never used as a rendezvous spot. She also screens pornographic films there.
My Choice: A beauty with a voice the talkies wouldn't allow?
Fran Drescher (Life with Fran, The Nanny)
ABE KOSICH
Who is He: A hot-tempered dwarf, he acts as a bookie for anything and everything--horses, chickens, you name it. He drinks too much, though, and is subject to mood swings. Occasionally, he uses his head as a battering ram. It's funny.
My Choice: Oh, the dwarf pool is so small in Hollywood. Get it?
Jordan Prentice (In Bruges, Howard the Duck)
CLAUDE ESTEE
Who is He: A successful screenwriter, he has an odd sense of humor--such as the surprise at the bottom of his pool. He befriends Tod and takes part in the cock-fight, but knows enough to get out when he can.
My Choice:
Toby Jones (Ever After, The Mist)
MIGUEL
Who is He: A Mexican friend of Earle's. He doesn't speak much, but he does have tequila. He dances and sings, seduces women, trains roosters, holds cock-fights. He's a fun-and-games man.
My Choice: I'm thinking someone bad-ass.
Freddy Rodriguez (Bobby, Grindhouse)
EARLE
Who is He: A self-proclaimed cowboy, he limits his western ways to standing by mysteriously and sitting in front of the saddle store. Goes out to dinner broke, so someone else has to pick up the tab. A wee bit of a temper: thrice does he strike out at people, twice over a girl.
My Choice: God, I would love to see him parody the brooding.
Christian Bale (I...seriously? You know him)
HOMER SIMPSON
Who is He: Yes, that's his name. A quiet man who tries to remain celibate, he winds up living with Faye after falling for her. But no sex. You always got to be careful of those quiet types, and he's no exception.
My Choice: Good-looking enough to please Faye, yet awkward enough to be Homer.
Peter Sarsgaard (Jarhead, Rendition)
HARRY GREENER
Who is He: Father to Faye. A former vaudevillian, he can never break the habit of performing. Meets Homer while selling polish. A sickly man, he spends much of the book laid up in bed, reminiscing on old times.
My Choice: Established actor who can clown around.
Academy Award Winner Dustin Hoffman (Kramer vs. Kramer, Rain Man)
FAYE GREENER
Who is She: A beautiful blonde, she wants to break into show business. Trouble is, she's no good. Like her father, she is always putting on a performance, so it's hard to tell when she's being honest or not. Uses her looks to get what she wants.
My Choice: The only one I can think of for this role: beautiful, yet gritty. And a finer actress than given credit for.
Brittany Murphy (Little Black Book, Clueless)
TOD HACKETT
Who is He: An artist being trained in sketching costume and production designs. He falls for Faye, but she makes it clear that there will never be anything between them. Imagines Los Angeles as a wasteland whose inhabitants will one day burn it to the ground.
My Choice: Looks like the book's description, and golly could he play it.
Tobey Maguire (The Cider House Rules, Seabiscuit)
He started me off with The Day of the Locust by Nathaneal West.
It's a Hollywood tale, and we know how much I love those! But it's also about inhumanity and anger, with Los Angeles becoming a place where people come to die. The characters scoot around in claustrophobic boredom, drinking and holding cock-fights. But nothing will deter the time of violence, the hour of brutality, the day...of the locust!
Duhn-duhn-DUUUUHHHHHNNNNN!
MRS. SCHWARTZEN
Who is She: A guest at one of the Hollywood parties who adores talking of smutty things. When intruding on a conversation some of the men are having, she is shocked and disappointed to find that they are talking shop, not sex. An outrageous, outlandish female.
My Choice: And who better to play an outrageous, outlandish female than....
Molly Shannon (Wet Hot American Summer, Osmosis Jones)
CALVIN
Who is He: One of the cowboys, he sits in front of the saddle store and pokes fun at Earle. And...that's about it.
My Choice: We haven't seen him play too many bright boys lately, but apparently he can do it.
Garrett Dillahunt (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, No Country for Old Men)
MARY DOVE
Who is She: A high-priced call girl who also happens to be a friend of Faye's.
My Choice: Why has no one played up the unconventional hotness yet?
Lizzy Caplan (Cloverfield, Mean Girls)
MS. JOSEPH
Who is She: The landlady at the Bernadine Hotel, she arranges for funerals and guilt-trips.
My Choice: She excels in these parts.
Margo Martindale (The Riches, that yogurt commercial where she plays a laundress)
MRS. AUDREY JENNING
Who is She: A former screen siren who lost her job with the talkies, she is now the Madam for the most expensive call girls in California. Catering only to the rich and privileged, she makes the deals in her mansion, though it is never used as a rendezvous spot. She also screens pornographic films there.
My Choice: A beauty with a voice the talkies wouldn't allow?
Fran Drescher (Life with Fran, The Nanny)
ABE KOSICH
Who is He: A hot-tempered dwarf, he acts as a bookie for anything and everything--horses, chickens, you name it. He drinks too much, though, and is subject to mood swings. Occasionally, he uses his head as a battering ram. It's funny.
My Choice: Oh, the dwarf pool is so small in Hollywood. Get it?
Jordan Prentice (In Bruges, Howard the Duck)
CLAUDE ESTEE
Who is He: A successful screenwriter, he has an odd sense of humor--such as the surprise at the bottom of his pool. He befriends Tod and takes part in the cock-fight, but knows enough to get out when he can.
My Choice:
Toby Jones (Ever After, The Mist)
MIGUEL
Who is He: A Mexican friend of Earle's. He doesn't speak much, but he does have tequila. He dances and sings, seduces women, trains roosters, holds cock-fights. He's a fun-and-games man.
My Choice: I'm thinking someone bad-ass.
Freddy Rodriguez (Bobby, Grindhouse)
EARLE
Who is He: A self-proclaimed cowboy, he limits his western ways to standing by mysteriously and sitting in front of the saddle store. Goes out to dinner broke, so someone else has to pick up the tab. A wee bit of a temper: thrice does he strike out at people, twice over a girl.
My Choice: God, I would love to see him parody the brooding.
Christian Bale (I...seriously? You know him)
HOMER SIMPSON
Who is He: Yes, that's his name. A quiet man who tries to remain celibate, he winds up living with Faye after falling for her. But no sex. You always got to be careful of those quiet types, and he's no exception.
My Choice: Good-looking enough to please Faye, yet awkward enough to be Homer.
Peter Sarsgaard (Jarhead, Rendition)
HARRY GREENER
Who is He: Father to Faye. A former vaudevillian, he can never break the habit of performing. Meets Homer while selling polish. A sickly man, he spends much of the book laid up in bed, reminiscing on old times.
My Choice: Established actor who can clown around.
Academy Award Winner Dustin Hoffman (Kramer vs. Kramer, Rain Man)
FAYE GREENER
Who is She: A beautiful blonde, she wants to break into show business. Trouble is, she's no good. Like her father, she is always putting on a performance, so it's hard to tell when she's being honest or not. Uses her looks to get what she wants.
My Choice: The only one I can think of for this role: beautiful, yet gritty. And a finer actress than given credit for.
Brittany Murphy (Little Black Book, Clueless)
TOD HACKETT
Who is He: An artist being trained in sketching costume and production designs. He falls for Faye, but she makes it clear that there will never be anything between them. Imagines Los Angeles as a wasteland whose inhabitants will one day burn it to the ground.
My Choice: Looks like the book's description, and golly could he play it.
Tobey Maguire (The Cider House Rules, Seabiscuit)
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