Saturday, October 29, 2005

Meanwhile, in North Country...



One of the best movies of the year, with the greatest cast of film actors ever assembled. North Country should be shown in film classes as an example of superb screen acting. I emphasize the word "acting." This is not a film of grandstanding, or epic performances, or whatever. It is, simply, a film brimming with pitch-perfect work in every role, no matter how small. And it all fuels the most moving courtroom scene in memory.

The cast: Jillian Armenante, Sean Bean, James Cada, Thomas Curtis, Linda Emond, Woody Harrelson, Amber Heard, Richard Jenkins, Michelle Monaghan, Frances McDormand, Elle Peterson, Jeremy Renner, Rusty Schwimmer, Sissy Spacek, Charlize Theron, and the ensemble members who give the film a bristling texture.

3 comments:

c said...

cool blog. i love sean bean and have heard great things about this film. i hope to get to see it this week. and your above post on the magazines - interesting contrast. one mag is an entertainment mag, though, and one is a news mag. also, perhaps meryl did a better job controlling how she allowed herself to be portrayed. not disagreeing with you, just wondering cause i do not know that much about charlize in general. though meryl was never the sex symbol charlize is. anyway, peace.

J.J. said...

You may be right that Meryl kept a tighter grip on her image. I'd imagine that would've been easier 30 years ago, though. Dissection of stars has always been common practice, but its never been more thorough and ruthless than today.

c said...

agreed. the tabloids are out of control, and the mainstream media (whatever that means) is just as bad. i still haven't seen this movie!