Saturday, October 25, 2008

Moving Beyond Old Offenses

Adam Riggio writes an open letter to Natalie Portman.

Natalie, I can finally forgive you for Star Wars: Episode Two. And Star Wars: Episode Three. Although the Saturday Night Live rap about how badass you were certainly helped. But really, that was more the basis for my forgiveness for Star Wars: Episode One. And in all fairness, your performances in V for Vendetta (which I thought was faithful in tone and ethics if not in the letter of its source material), Goya's Ghosts, The Darjeeling Limited, and My Blueberry Nights certainly went a long way to our reconciliation as actress and fan. This video sealed the deal, however, beyond all doubt.

Now I can safely go back to considering you one of the best actresses working in my generation. Even if you were a bit wooden in The Other Boleyn Girl. And to be honest, I'd rather forget that Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium ever existed. After all, I need to respect Dustin Hoffman too. Whenever a car cuts me off crossing the street, I still say, "I'm walkin' here!" in my best New York accent.

And I really hope next year's Brothers doesn't end up too sappy. It looks like the treacle level of the script might kill your performance. Please do another movie with Wong Kar Wai.

Fraternally yours, your fan;
Adam

1 comment:

drugpunk said...

I share your affection of Natalie Portman even though she can be underwhelming in some roles. I haven't seen Bluberry Nights due to the lackluster reviews, although working with Wong can't be a bad thing. You forgot to mention her penultimate role in the underappreciated Beautiful Girls from 1995. If you haven't seen it, do so. I love that movie and I love her character.