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Reviews
The Deep Blue Sea (2011)
Weisz is phenomenal! Singlehandedly the best female acting performance in the last few years.
Overindulgent and somewhat stuffy romantic drama that is saved single handedly by the Oscar caliber performance of Rachel Weisz, who gives a very complex and realistic look at a women whose self destructing over her choices in life in post war Britain in the 1950's. Weisz so good that she brings a lot of life into a somewhat lifeless screenplay that is more into atmosphere than substance. Both of her leading men are fine and lent great support to the vibrant Weisz, who is keeping this film afloat almost by herself while the movie gets a bit claustrophobic towards its climax. The film does have some great moments ( The pub scene and the intimate moment between Weisz and leading man Tom Hiddleston while dancing) but that's more the credit to Weisz and the cast than the film itself. Rachel Weisz has always been one of the most gifted and versatile actresses working today, not being afraid to do different characters and being unlikeable and raw in the process. In this film, she gives in my opinion the best female acting performance in the last few years, giving a complex and rich performance with a character that could have easily been botch by even a great actress, especially with a screenplay that is more into itself than the audience watching the movie. Weisz proves in this movie that she's more than a great actress, she proves that she is one of the best actresses we ever had.
Her phenomenal performance alone is the real reason to see this movie.
The Lovely Bones (2009)
Despite the solid efforts made by Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci and Saoirse Roan, they still can't stop Peter Jackson from driving this film off a CGI Cliff.,
Peter Jackson's unhealthy obsession with CGI truly drives his film off a cliff in his poor adaptation of the novel "The Lovely Bones" Jackson forgoes the book's intelligence and intricate story and puts in an unhealthy obsession for the sensational that drives a wedged between his actors, who really are working with nothing and the viewer, who is left with a empty feeling after the film is over. The characters are nothing but objects for Jackson to manipulate in order to put in more CGI shots and their story is forfeited for a child like look into death, but with out the reality and complexity of the grieving process.
Rachel Weisz, who is one of the most gifted and versatile actresses working today is giving little to do while in the book, her character is the most complex of the entire novel. Despite this, Weisz does a great job, giving the movie more heart and complexity with the little that she's given to work with than what the film does for itself, making a small dent in the parade of mindless CGI that Jackson puts on screen. Mark Wahlberg faces the same problem, giving a good performance that has no support from the director. Susan Sarandon does as much as humanly possible by giving humanity to her striped down and degraded character, who in the book is much more than the comic relief that Jackson tries to puts on screen and Stanley Tucci manages to give a tight performance as the creepy neighbor despite Jackson's unhealthy obsession to make him the main character of the film. Tucci brings dignity and substance to this character, while Jackson tries to exploit him. Last and not least, Saoirse Ronan does wonders with her role, which also stripped bare from the novel. Her character in the book had a complex innocents that had many layers of conflict while in the film, she's basically held as a angel in Peter Jackson's mind. Jackson puts on rosy color glasses when he deals with the character of Susie and that's where he goes really wrong because he does not make her a real person, he makes her an unreal angel that was with out fault.
Peter Jackson not only hurts his own film but hurts the actors who made an effort to be faithful to the heart of the book as well, making this adaptation very painful to watch.