Wednesday, August 29, 2007

JuliWatch: Whom does she have to f*ck to get a good role in a good movie?

No, the answer is definitely not her director-husband Bart Freundlich, who cast her in the worst role of her career in 2005's Trust the Man, the nadir of her recent career slump.

We all know this, and everyone has blogged about it: Julianne Moore has been in an unforgivable rut since her desperate-housewife double bill in 2002 (Far from Heaven and The Hours). There was the seriously unfunny Laws of Attraction, the hysteri-a-thon of Freedomland and The Forgotten, the solipsistic aforementioned Trust the Man and the not-terribly-interesting cameo in Children of Men. She probably made a poopload of money, but was it really worth it? No. I don't care how nicely she's decorated her West Village townhouse. We (and she) deserve(s) better.

Next month we get Savage Grace. Early notices are disappointing, but I'm jazzed by her scenery-chewing in this clip. I just hope it works with the movie. The reason Moore used to be my favorite screen actor was her ability to modulate, to breathe with the film. Her performances in Far from Heaven and especially The End of the Affair are masterworks of restraint and total oneness with the camera. She hasn't jelled with a movie since. Here's hoping for a renaissance.

Tomorrow night I see my first movie at Telluride. What movie? It's a secret. Seriously. They don't tell us til we get there. It could be anything. What if it's Savage Grace? Eek.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

What reviews have you been seeing? Virtually everything our of Cannes was uber positive for Savage Grace. It's got GREAT buzz.

And Blindness looks to be amazing too.

J.J. said...

The Variety review, plus blogger mumblings. Didn't read anything else out of Cannes -- didn't even know it played there. I am hopeful.

The premise of Blindness is fascinating.

Looks like you're a serious Moore booster. I can respect that. I just hope she becomes a little choosier about her projects. And I wish I could borrow one of your Vertical Hour viewings for myself...

Anonymous said...

No great buzz in Savage Grace, I would say it got OK to passable reviews at best. I don't recall any review raving it or her performance, if I recall either Hollywood Reporter or Variety praised her performance in regards to just one scene, they were not particularly bowled over by her.

I hope she bounces back. Maybe she just got tired of having to be so emotional but then again she has failed in some oscarbait roles as well - Freedomland and even The Forgotten. If Julianne cries in a movie, ya know, she is oscarbaiting!