Monday, June 20, 2005

WHAT CHANCE DOES GOTHAM HAVE, WHEN THE GOOD PEOPLE CAN'T ACT? I have previously noted the Stockard Channing Syndrome, named for our fictional FLOTUS's role in Grease, in which an actor's performance so clearly outclasses the rest of the movie that it's thrilling to watch.

But piggybacking off of Matt's post, it's clear that Batman Begins has the opposite problem: a one-note, dewy-eyed and garishly nippular performance from Katie Holmes which completely detracts from the rest of the dark, three-dimensional world which she inhabits. It's so bad, it really almost ruins the movie, because you can never believe in her as a dedicated crusader for justice or a compelling love interest. (And I truly believe I'd have said this even without the bizarre news of the past month-plus. It's that bad.)

The example I always use in describing this phenomenon is Keanu Reeves' turn as Don John in Kenneth Branagh's Much Ado About Nothing, in which a buoyant, all-star romcom cast is practically ruined by Keanu's inability to do Shakespeare any justice. You wince when he's on screen.

Surely, friends, you can think of other examples in which one bad apple spoils a perfectly good film.

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