INDIE ACTRESSES IN BIG BUDGET FILMS

Posted by JOpinionated on March 22, 2006 in Film | 0 comments

Now I know why no one saw The Weather Man in theatres. It was just awful. Michael Caine and Nicolas Cage looked absolutely miserable onscreen, and the movie was disjointed and pointless. 

What on earth was Hope Davis (About Schmidt) doing in this film? When great indie actresses appear in big budget pictures, they always seem out of place and uncomfortable (i.e. Catherine Keener in The 40 Year Old Virgin and Parker Posey in You’ve Got Mail). And conversely, when less talented but more popular stars show up in independent films (like Jennifer Aniston in The Good Girl), the performances usually fall flat and seem to scream out ‘look at me, I’ve got range!”  Very few actresses achieve success and acclaim in both small and large scale movies, with the exception of women like Julianne Moore and Laura Linney. It will be interesting to see Maggie Glyllenhaal (Secretary) and Maria Bello in Oliver Stone’s controversial World Trade Center, which is scheduled to come out in August of this year.