Once you see a great performance, you can't stop thinking about it. It's so much powerful and natural that you will never forget how flawless the performance was. It's only about capturing the character or being realistic. You have to enjoy the performance not just while you are waching the film, but also afterwards. Unfortunately, it is not Hawkins's case.
She plays Ginger, the younger sister of the leading character Jasmine (played by Cate Blanchett). They are not actual sisters, they were just raised by the same parents. The first problem I have, is that I just couldn't believe that these two ladies came from the same family. Jasmine is a snobbish lady that can't stop living in luxury, while Ginger is a simple-minded and very rational woman that only lives her life for a day. She doesn't live in delusions, but she still is a bit naive and she likes to enjoy herself. It is so improbable that these women would be raised by the same people that it's a hard thing to believe in. Therefore the actresses had twice as difficult thing to do, to persuade us that this is actually very random and ordinary situation.
They failed. Though the chemistry between the actresses is really good, I had a hard time believing that these two women spent their childhood together. They seem as if they had nothing to talk about. But they were raised together, they spent every single day together and now they just can't talk together? I just thought that Woody somehow overdrew their relationship.
All right, I have to admit that everything that is wrong with this film has something to do with the script or the directing. So we can't really blame the actors that the film doesn't work. I also have to admit that Hawkins is really trying to do her best to make her character at least endurable and she succeeded. I would never say she was bad. But her character is just so unwitting, that I doubt if Meryl Streep would do something with it. Sally is overacting sometimes and it seemed to me that her character was just a variation of her character in Happy-Go-Lucky, only less delusional and less happy.
At the end I must apologize to Sally. Maybe the problem is on my side, because I never liked her very much, so it might be just that her acting style doesn't fit me. But she somehow failed to fix the screenplay's script and though she is very much trying to, you will forget this performance a week after watching the film.
I'm so sad for this year's supporting actress lineup. There were so many perfect performances this year and they all were snubbed in favor of very unsatisfying performances given by Hawkins, or Nyong'o for example. The Academy is no longer what it used to be. Though the times of strong lineups (2000) aren't so long time ago, they seem to be gone forever...
The chances of winning an Oscar: There aren't any...
They failed. Though the chemistry between the actresses is really good, I had a hard time believing that these two women spent their childhood together. They seem as if they had nothing to talk about. But they were raised together, they spent every single day together and now they just can't talk together? I just thought that Woody somehow overdrew their relationship.
All right, I have to admit that everything that is wrong with this film has something to do with the script or the directing. So we can't really blame the actors that the film doesn't work. I also have to admit that Hawkins is really trying to do her best to make her character at least endurable and she succeeded. I would never say she was bad. But her character is just so unwitting, that I doubt if Meryl Streep would do something with it. Sally is overacting sometimes and it seemed to me that her character was just a variation of her character in Happy-Go-Lucky, only less delusional and less happy.
At the end I must apologize to Sally. Maybe the problem is on my side, because I never liked her very much, so it might be just that her acting style doesn't fit me. But she somehow failed to fix the screenplay's script and though she is very much trying to, you will forget this performance a week after watching the film.
I'm so sad for this year's supporting actress lineup. There were so many perfect performances this year and they all were snubbed in favor of very unsatisfying performances given by Hawkins, or Nyong'o for example. The Academy is no longer what it used to be. Though the times of strong lineups (2000) aren't so long time ago, they seem to be gone forever...
The chances of winning an Oscar: There aren't any...
I disagree: Although I do think the relationship between the sisters needed some development, I thought both Hawkins and Blanchett overcame it with the quality of their performances. I thought Hawkins was great, making her character a real loser, and also making us like her at the same time. I'm so glad she was nominated, but I'm sure you won't feel the same. This means that Nyong'o won't be fifth though.
ReplyDeleteCheck out my review of Blanchett!
I thought she was fine but she really did not leave much of an impression on me either.
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