Was Jessica Chastain really that spectacular?
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Alice2783 — 13 years ago(January 26, 2013 07:59 AM)
I thought she was great but I recognize there is a lot of subjectivity in assessing an actor's performance. You might want to check out her acting in
The Debt
(also in the espionage genre) to form a clearer opinion. -
Spartan_10 — 13 years ago(January 26, 2013 12:28 PM)
You mean Jennifer Ehle who couldn't pick an accent to stick with throughout the movie? Worst character of the film, for me any way. The accents got distracting and I just didn't buy into her character at all.
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LiteraryLegend — 13 years ago(January 27, 2013 03:33 PM)
"Was Jessica Chastain really that spectacular?"
Just saw this today. Based on all the hype, I expected a better performance from Chastain. It was good, but not so much Oscar worthy. We shall see. The film itself was a but dullmore like something for cable, not a film at the theater.
Yes, I'm back. So stop asking if it's me. -
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MayaZD30 — 13 years ago(January 27, 2013 06:42 PM)
Her role in The Help gave her full rein to express emotions. In this she does an outstanding job of suppressing emotions. (Not as easy to pull off as some might think). They're there all right, but they're under the surface, conveyed more subtly in eye and facial expressions, body posture and tone of voice.
As far as I'm concerned, Chastain did more than play the character; she inhabited her. -
ferrisb1-1 — 13 years ago(January 27, 2013 05:53 PM)
JC is a good actress, but this was a very dull and badly written role, IMO.
A lot of people say she is the driving force in the movie and while that is technically correct, she's not really acting compared to other performances this year. Maya is either pissed off, angry, distant, barking at her superiors, or trying to come off tough and failing miserably. That sounds like a lot of stuff to emote, but it really isn't. It's classic "one note" because all of those things are just variations on one, or two negative emotions.
In contrast, Dan (Jason Clarke) was an actual three dimensional character who did reprehenislble things, but
knew
he had to quit, or he was going to end up like the very people he was fighting against. Also, he has a real character arc because toward the end of the film even he questions whether or not the things he did (torture) actually led to reliable intel when he does NOT back Maya 100% in the meeting with the CIA Director.
I also agree this was a bad year for any real standout female performances Although, for raw emotional power, I would give it to Naomi Watts for "The Impossible" because she has to play a number of different people at different times in the movie, and portraying being injured is a lot harder than people believe. -
Eumenides_0 — 13 years ago(January 28, 2013 04:20 PM)
You need to watch
Amour
if you think there weren't stand-out female performances in 2012. Emmanuelle Riva, past her eighties, give a lesson in acting to all the young Lawrences and Chastains of this world.
I'm also anxious to watch
The Impossible,
the trailer nearly brings me to tears every time I watch it.
This world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel. -
Squeegee-Beckenheim — 13 years ago(January 28, 2013 04:50 PM)
Amour
was simply fantastic. Riva's performance is just extraordinary. I wish she received the attention she so rightly deserves.
The Impossible
All I have to say is that the real impossible is not crying
during
The Impossible. Watts gives a stellar performance though. At times it's very hard to watch.