Just got back from watching the truly awful Meek’s Cutoff. Don’t be fooled by the IMDb rating. Someone is obviously stuffing the ballot box. This is a monumentally bad movie. But aside from being a bad movie, it is a bleak movie, where no one finds redemption, there are no lighthearted moments, and the world looks like a horrible place.
This is yet another in a series of bleak, depressing movies for Michelle Williams. See also Blue Valentine, Wendy and Lucy, and for that matter, her part in Brokeback Mountain. That’s not to say they’re not good movies. Matter of fact, I think Brokeback Mountain is a truly great film. But the point is they’re all depressing, and all have a grim outlook on life.
It seems like some actors (and some directors) seem to think that a movie isn’t worthwhile unless it’s a complete downer. Some actors seem drawn to such scripts.
In the case of Michelle Williams, it’s a damn shame. I really like her as an actress. And there’s nothing wrong with taking a role in a bleak movie once in a while, but, damn, why build your whole career on it?
I know she’s capable of doing more optimistic films. She’s capable of doing comedy. SeeThe Baxter. But she really seems to have settled into the role of the put-upon heroine in a cruel world with no hope of redemption.
Thoughts? Any other actors who seem only to want to make depressing films? or directors who only make such movies?
You’re obviously completely entitled to your own opinion about the movie, but i think it’s disingenuous to suggest that its good ratings are merely the result of “someone…stuffing the ballot box.” It also has an 87% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, including an 89% rating from professional critics.
Again, that doesn’t mean you have to like the movie, but it does mean that there are plenty of people who honestly disagree with your assessment.
I’m seeing Meek’s Cutoff tomorrow night. I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time and it’s finally opened in Chicago. It looks fantastic and I trust the critics who like it.
As far as Michelle, there’s always Dick and The Baxter to watch for comic relief. She should do whatever she wants to do because she does it all well. She obviously has great taste in scripts, and her presence will usually bring much-needed attention to a project. She’ll probably do a comedy again at some point.
I wouldn’t be entertained by Michelle Williams if she tapped danced and spun plates; but that’s just me. I get your point though- she does seem to pick downer roles.
Not exactly what you’re asking, but Coilin Firth seems to play the same role time and again. That of a humorless, well, dickhead. Not that he isn’t a superb actor. He just always plays really unlikable characters. I’d begun to really hate him until I saw “A Single Man”. Still not exactly sunny due to the subject matter but I finally saw some humanity shine through. He more than redeemed himself in “The King’s Speech”.
Getting back to your actual question, have we seen Nicole Kidman be anything but a miserable bitch in the last decade? For that matter, does Angelina Jolie ever crack a smile at her own expense?
That’s funny - I think of him as tending to play a slightly bumbling, put-upon, good-hearted Englishman. Love Actually, Nanny McPhee, Bridget Jones, Girl With a Pearl Earring, Dorian Gray, the Importance of Being Earnest, etc etc. He even made Mr Darcy transparently likeable.
Well, I’m not going to help hijack my own thread. Start a Meek’s Cutoff thread after you’ve seen it, and I’ll be happy to bash it there. (Funny that you are so eager to defend it without actually having seen it.)
When I heard the summary and saw stills of Meek’s Cutoff, it sounded like a fake movie someone came up with to satirize ponderous, unwatchable Oscar bait. Something they might show a trailer for in Tropic Thunder 2.
Most of what Sean Penn has done in the past decade looks pretty bleak - Mystic River, The Assassination of Richard Nixon, 21 Grams, etc. I don’t think he’s cracked a smile at his own expense since he played Spicoli.
You’re the one who started the thread by bashing a movie. Am I not supposed to comment on it?
Oh god, I’d rather have a root canal. Even if it were my favorite movie of the year I have no plans to start any thread about Meek’s Cutoff and if you or someone else did I wouldn’t post in it. I’d try not to anyway. Might have to gnaw my own leg off, but I’ll try to refrain.
Uh, what? “Defend” it? It looks fantastic because I saw the previews and read the synopsis and then read about the true story it’s based on. The story looks interesting, a historical event I hadn’t heard about before. I like movies that send me to a time and place I wouldn’t have visited otherwise. I like Michelle Williams, I loved director Kelly Reichardt’s last movie Wendy and Lucy. Plus, as mhendo points out, it’s 87% at Rotten Tomatoes and a quick scan of the page tells me that critics I trust like it. So what the hell? Is there any reason I shouldn’t be excited to see it? Other than that some random guy on a message board didn’t like it?
Good example. Although even Mystic River isn’t as emotionally bleak as the movies Michelle Williams is making. There is at least some redemption in it. Kevin Bacon’s character saves his marriage. Sean Penn learns the cost of hasty vengeance. That’s all I ask of my depressing movies. The tiniest bit of growth, or some small spark of optimism.