Given that no one else has probably seen it, I won’t give away any important plot points…BUT…I will go on record with the following:
Helen Hunt is playing the same character she did in “As Good As it Gets” - which she plays beautifully.
I have never seen Kevin Spacy do anything that I was not completely happy to watch him do, and this is no exception.
That Haley kid is going to go far.
I would have given the film a solid “B”, and been quite impressed with the hard work that went into not being overly sentimental, or as much as possible given the subject matter…except for the END. I won’t say anymore except to say that it PISSED ME OFF royally, and was completely unnecessary. I was disgusted. the last 10 minutes yank the film down an entire grade to a “C”.
Oh, and Angie Dickenson is very, very good playing an old wino woman. 100% believable.
Stoidela, it appears as if you’ve fallen victim to one of the vBulletin quirks. Namely, disappearing text enclosed in quotes in topic titles when using the preview function. If you e-mail me with the missing text, I can replace it for you.
Thanks for the heads up on this movie. I now have something to use as ammunition against my wife for not going to see it.
For the record - I agree with your statements about Kevin Spacey; he’s one of my favorite actors.
Helen Hunt has never played any other character in any piece of work she’s ever done. Mad About You - As Good As It Gets - Twister - Waterdance I’ll even go as far back as Project X. I get the feeling the only reason she’s in show business is because she’s really good at remembering lines, she can only act with her eyebrows.
Haley Joel Osment - One Trick Pony. He was the perfect casting for Sixth Sense. Until there is an all Sixth Sense cable channel, he should just go back to school and stay off my movie screens.
Yeah, so I’m biased before even seeing the movie, but I don’t want to go and nobody’s going to make me. So there.
What he is, Jack, is not some Jonathan Lipnicki flavor of the month who can hit his mark, say his lines, and make a cute face for the video box. He’s a superbly talented actor who just happens not to have had his confirmation yet.
There is one brief scene in the trailer for Pay it Forward where he’s looking at the camera, pleading, “Do it for me, please,” with that trembling lip, raised eyebrow, shuddering, wheazy voice that was straight out of every scene in Sixth Sense.
I’m willing to cut him slack to see if he progresses, but if he’s going to rely on that same expression in every movie he does, then I don’t want to see it.
How in heaven’s name can you make sucha ridiculous judgment? The kid has done ONE major rule, how in hell do YOU know he’s a one trick pony? You may not like looking at him, you may not like his acting, but you have absolutely zero basis upon which to judge him as unable to expand beyond a particular character. Really.
But what you say about Helen Hunt… she’s no Meryl Streep, that’s certain. But she conveys real emotion to me. She makes me believe in her characters and makes me see, without hanging neon signs, their complicated mix of feelings and reactions.
Not every great (or even good) actor is about being a chameleon. Sometimes an actor is great just because they sell the emotional truth of whatever they are playing. Spencer Tracy. Katherine Hepburn. Many others, including Helen Hunt.
[QUOTE] Originally posted by Stoidela *
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[QUOTE
How in heaven’s name can you make sucha ridiculous judgment? The kid has done ONE major rule, how in hell do YOU know he’s a one trick pony*[/quote]
Obviously I don’t know he’s a one trick pony, but I’d lay money on it. As I said it’s a judgement I have made, based on an opinion which I hold, visa-vis what I have seen. I’ve weighed all the possibilities and it is my opinion, that his one expression ain’t going to last.
We’re going to have to disagree big-time on Helen. I’ve never seen any compelling emotion coming out of any of her characters. She always sounds to me like she’s reading cold.
There’s no way I’d ever put Helen Hunt in that company. No, being a chameleon is not a prerequisite for being a good actor, but variety has got to play a part. Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn I’ve always seen as embracing their characters and relaying honest emotion. Helen Hunt I’ve as seen as dredging up the same old character and the same old emotions, only with a different name and different lines.
I’ve seen him in TV roles, as well as Forrest Gump and Sixth Sense. On TV, he definitely wasn’t doing what you described, but he wasn’t sugar-coated, either. Let’s you and I check back after his voice changes and see if either of us has changed our opinion.
This movie is actually based on a book by the same title. I read the book just a month or so ago and was excited to see that a movie had been made from it–until I remembered how the book ended. So I decided not to see the movie in case it ended the same way, and Stoidela has just confirmed for me that once through the story is enough. The ending truly sucks. But everyone needs to either see the movie or read the book (thus avoiding any H.J.O. angst) at least once–it is a great story. And concept. Any sticklers for purity in book-to-screen transitions should not both read and view, however, for you will be vastly disappointed by the fact that the teacher in the book is not white. Which Kevin Spacey patently IS.
NOTE: The sucky part of the ending is not due to bad plot or writing, but a completely unexpected twist. Kinda elegant actually, when you step back from the story.
[superficial nitpick]I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I have no comment on how good or bad the acting/plot/script is. However, I’ve seen the commercials and I can’t stand the way Helen Hunt looks in the movie. She is a pretty enough girl, but all that fake-looking curly blonde hair is not a good look for her at all.[/superficial nitpick]
Deal.
I think I’ve not been really clear here. It’s not that I dislike the kid or think he’s a bad actor; I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. I was just giving an impression I had, and I tend to be pretty straightforward when describing my impressions.
I’m right on board with ya on that one.
Let’s just disagree and be done with it. Debating one’s opinions is treading on thin ice.
Is not the unexpected twist a case of bad plotting? Bad writing? It certainly was not an independent entity that imposed itself on the story…it was put there by a writer who did not have the imagination or guts to come up with something less manipulative and obvious. And there was nothing elegant about it, in my view. I thought it was clumsy and plain bad.
Don’t take any of that personally. Unlike Jack, I AM into debating opinion…what else is there to debate? Fact?
