Anne Bancroft Steals the Film
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Malice
scottsteaux63-735-780576 — 11 years ago(April 28, 2014 05:08 AM)
MALICE, like most films of its genre, is plot-heavy, has a lot of twists and turns (and as a result there are often holes in the plot; these things do not always stand up to intense scrutiny), and moves at a fast pace, so one might think a cameo or two interesting, but minimal in terms of impact.
MALICE has two cameos: George C Scott as the doctor who denied Jed the plum job he wanted, and Anne Bancroft as Tracy's mother, whom Andy thinks at the movie has been dead for twelve years.
Scott, as is usual, does his customary no-nonsense, direct, and genuinely flawless work, proving once again that he was one of the greats, no matter how small the part.
Then there's Bancroft. Known in Hollywood for being choosy about the roles she took, she clearly saw Tracy's mother as an actress's field day: a blowsy, boozy broad with a shady history of huckstering. There is little love lost between her and her daughter, and she gladly sells Tracy out for a bottle of single malt Scotch.
Bancroft is simply delicious in this role. She takes it and runs with it, and by the time her brief scene with Andy is over, she has virtually stolen the picture. Until you meet her she is just a twelve-years-dead character Tracy mentions in passing. But once you've seen her, everything that happens, everything that Andy does from that point on, is driven by her revelations about her daughter.
Not bad for a scene that lasted less than ten minutes.
Never mess with a middle-aged, Bipolar queen with AIDS and an attitude problem!
roflol >< -
EmmaPopell — 11 years ago(May 04, 2014 03:37 PM)
I also love Anne Bancroft in Luc Besson's "Point of No Return", with Bridget Fonda. She plays a buttoned-up etiquette teacher to spies in the making, and has to refine BFonda from a drug-addict to a cool confident killer. She is so good as her Teacher. (That movie introduced me to Nina Simone, believe it or not!)
Another one of my favorite films of Ms Bancroft's is "Home For The Holidays", directed by Jodi Foster and co-starring Holly Hunter, Dylan McDermott, Robert Downey Jr, Charles Durning, Claire Danes, and a hilarious part of the quirky (farting!) Aunt played by Geraldine Chaplin. Anne Bancroft plays the Mother of the family and she is funny and poignant at the same time.
I love her. She is great in every film she is in. And she was so beautiful, too! -
EmmaPopell — 11 years ago(July 07, 2014 02:57 PM)
HA That's great! My husband always says, " I got your (whatever it is) right here." and grabs his crotchfrom some old Jack Nicholson movie. lol. Me? I find myself using lines from O Brother Where Art Thou more than I should. And Fargo: "so ya think they might be 'cannacted'?"
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eliz7212-1 — 10 years ago(February 05, 2016 12:19 PM)
I can't believe how old this film is. It stands up so well. Alec Baldwin was gorgeous. Nicole Kidman was beautiful (and still is, I don't know how she does it), and to me, Anne Bancroft should have won an Oscar.
I mean they gave it to Shirley Jones for Elmer Gantry and her part was so small. I don't even know if Anne Bancroft was nominated but she sure should have been.
That was some movie!!!!