I recently watched Anna Karenina and Side Effects. What do these two films have in common? Jude Law. Law
is a good actor, and someone who I enjoy watching onscreen. He’s a talented
actor, who understands how to build a character, has great presence on screen,
and has a history of great work. Law has two Oscar nominations (The Talented Mr. Ripley, 2000, and Cold Mountain, 2003), along with showcase
performances in Road to Perdition,
Closer, and Hugo. So why am I
taking Jude Law’s agent to task? Because that’s just about all the good movies
that Law is in.
As of typing this in
2013, Law has 49 credits on IMDB, and most of the films that he’s in are
average at best. Like I said, Law is a good actor, which is why I writing this.
In both of his recent films Law was easily the best part. I found myself
rooting for him, even though I don’t think I was supposed to, why? BECAUSE HE
WAS FAR MORE COMPELLING THEN ANYTHING ELSE ON THE SCREEN! I think a personal
note to my good friend Jude will help explain what this week’s Nerd 5 will
consist of.
Dear Jude, (Hey Jude…)
As
you know, I am a big fan of your work. I have been by your side and supported
you since we were both struggling actors on in Lewisham borough of London. I
promise we will make our lifelong dream of doing a two-man version of The Rocky Horror Show on The West End a
reality (your Dr. Frank-N-Furter is simply astounding). But in order to make
this happen, Jude, you have to start picking better films to be in. Jude, fire
your agent. He keeps bringing you these terrible projects, and yes, you are a
shining star in them, but it’s time for you to finally win the big awards and
make your mark in good movies! I say these things a long personal friend Jude.
Please find your way into better films so that I can enjoy your career again.
Your
BFF Forever
Josh
And now 5 films to show
why Jude Law needs a better agent...
5. Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows (2011) – The sequel to 2009’s Sherlock Holmes finds itself on familiar, tired, and overdone
ground. Game of Shadows gives us more
of the same banter, sequences, and quips that we’ve seen in better versions of
the Sherlock tale (these films suffer very much in comparison to the amazing
BBC series Sherlock). I get it Jude: everyone
needs a franchise. Something to make a ton of money with so that they can go on
to make more personal projects. But please – no more of these. We’ve seen it.
Let’s move on.
4. All The King’s Men (2006) – Okay, So we’re actually
TRYING with this one. With an outstanding cast including Sean Penn, Kate
Winslet, Anthony Hopkins, Mark Ruffalo, Patricia Clarkson, James Gandolfini,
and Law himself, a strong writer in Stephen Zaillian (Moneyball, Schindler’s List, Gangs of New York) making a rare move
into directing, and solid buzz before its release, All the King’s Men looked like a winner. I was even willing to put
aside that this is a remake of a 1949 Oscar Winner for Best Picture (a film
that still holds up and has no need to be remade). Then the 2006 version of All the King’s Men came out in theatres,
and it was all downhill from there. I hate to put all the blame for this bad
film on a single person, but most falls on its writer/director. All the King’s Men moves at a snail’s
pace, lacks sufficient exposition for its characters motivation, hints at a
bigger political problem of the time rather than tackling it head on, and
(speaking specifically to Law) gives us a promising start before collapsing
into an ethical dilemma that seems terribly forced. Just watch the original and
skip this one.
3. Side Effects (2013) – Let’s jump into Law’s most recent film. Sometimes
you hear about an actor really wanting to work with a specific director, and
Steven Soderbergh is a director that people want to work with. But Jude… buddy…
you’ve done it before. Remember 2011’s Contagion?
What? No?… me neither. So there must have been another reason why Law made this
film. Can he just be really attracted to roles about good dudes who get dragged
down a path of darkness and are forced to make a very grey ethical choice? I am
starting to think that he is. In Side
Effects and Anna Karenina this is
the type of character he plays, and the third character on this list that fall squarely
into the same category. Actors get put into types by Hollywood; I very much
hope he finds a way to break this type soon.
2. The Holiday (2006) – There are good
romantic comedies, they DO exist. They just don’t star Cameron Diaz. The Holiday is a tale of two movies,
half of it is very enjoyable and the other half is a slog through clichéland. Kate
Winslet and Jack Black do a good job of showing how an unlikely pair of actors
can have great chemistry, have fun on set, and make a small love story work to
perfection. But poor Law is saddled with Diaz. We can’t always pick our
co-stars and not every film we make needs to be a heavy drama. I give Law an A
for effort, but you can only do so much when you’re a one man team trying to
tell a love story.
1. Alfie (2004) – well,
hopefully we’ve learned our lesson. STOP REMAKING GOOD FILMS! Alife is a remake of 1966 Academy Award
nominated film and Law takes on the lead role of Alfie, who was originally
played by Michael Caine (the role which gave him his first Academy Award
nomination). It’s a lot to live up to. 2004’s version of Alife couldn’t feel more dated. It plays as a snap shot to the turn
of the millennium, dealing with issues and problems of the day whereas the ’66
version of the film (while still feeling very 60’s) deals with problems that
resonates all the way through to today. I am assuming this is why the producers
thought it would be a good idea to remake this film. Alife fails to capture the heart, the struggles, and the pain of
the character while also managing to strip the story down to its broadest form.
Again: I have to say, just watch original. Then join me in calling for Mr. Law
to find his way into better films, because he sorely deserves them.
thanks for the fun read!
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