inexplicable leading ladies

[lmcjaho]

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Both.

I liked her in Taxi Driver, and that's about it. Haven't seen her in much else, but her wan laziness and talking like she has marbles under her tongue put me off her. I don't even know which airplane movie you mean.

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Thank you Blarg - you just put into words the feeling I get when listening to Foster... The "airplane" movie katy is referring to is Flightplan I believe...

[mattsey9]

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Cameron Diaz. I do not understand her at all and think her acting is marginal, at best.

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Seconded.

Imagine the horror if she and Ben Stiller made a movie together...what a godawful flick....

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There's a old soft-core S&M film that Diaz made before she was famous. It's unintentionally hilarious.

[TheDudeAbides]

Andie McDowell for me. I can't stand her voice or her look. Or her acting.

[revots33]

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Andie McDowell for me. I can't stand her voice or her look. Or her acting.

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Great choice, can't believe I didn't think of her immediately.

[MrMon]

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AM I the only one who can't STAND Julia Roberts? I think she is a crappy actress and not even close to as beautiful as everyone seems to think she is. I also get a distinct "mega-bitch in real life" vibe from her, although I have nothing but gut instinct to back this up.

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She was likable when she started, but it quickly became apparent she has very limited range. My wife does a great Julia Roberts joke where she imitates her in all her movies. She just names all the movies and then goes "Whaaaaaa!" at the top of her lungs, slightly different every time. That about sums up her range.

[MrMon]

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Sally Field-
She's really really good in the television series Brothers & Sisters. A strong character with great reactions and powerful delivery. I was completely taken by surprise. I tell everyone to watch this show.

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I've just started watching the show and it's definitely worth watching, although I want to Calita Flockheart's character to hit her with the line "Mom, stop complaining about The Man. You live in a $15 million house. You have a housekeeper, a gardener, a pool guy. You hire caterers rather than cook for your friends for a party. You employ undoubtedly illegal aliens at the minimum wage or worse in your family business. You ARE The Man!"

[MrMon]

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Okay, here's an odd duck - Sally Field.

How is it that Sally Field has managed to be a leading lady for 40 years? Don't get me wrong, she's good and all, but if you looked at all the actresses around in 1965, who would have picked Gidget to still be around 42 years later? She's not a raving beauty by anyone's standard, but she has managed to remain cute and everyone's little sister or favorite aunt all this time. Decent actress, but not really considered the top of the game at any time, despite 2 Oscars. She just keeps rolling along.

My guess is, she's got a great work ethic, is easy to work with on the set, takes care of herself, and has a great sense of what will work for her. That gets her lots of offers where the more beautiful but troublesome divas get passed over. Those wanting a long Hollywood career would do well to study her.

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I think she has an extraordinary ability to be indentified with as the common woman. Her turns in Norma Rae and Not Without My Daughter were deeply affecting. She also got surprisingly sexy in her day, like in Pumping Iron. But still kept the cuteness and basic likeability.

She's not classically beautiful or bust-out sexy, but many women like that, even if they act reasonably well, don't have that thing in them that makes you think they would be more than a curiosity as a friend(or maybe not a real friend at all). Fields' ability to get you to completely empathize with her makes her seem as real as your favorite sister.

I don't think she's overrated, and think she deserves her Oscars, too. I wish we had gotten to see a lot more of her. She didn't really put out too many movies.

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Oh, I agree completely. But it's not the sort of thing that you think of making a leading lady, at least not in America. That seems more like a British thing.

As far as movies go, she started out in TV, and for a long time, that was thought of as the lesser part of the business. Now, there's more crossover, but it was very difficult back in the day to do so. So that's probably why she's got a lot more TV than movie work.

[Blarg]

Yeah, I think the definition of leading lady has changed because the top ladies sometimes lead their own show these days in movies that don't require classically pretty leading ladies. There were ladies in the old days who did that too, but they were few. To be fair, they're few today as well.

But it's easier to think of a top female star having a movie made just about her regular life, rather than strictly as a romance, than it was before. I couldn't imagine a "slice of life" movie with a realistic woman being shot back in the 50's. I can see one now.

[TheDudeAbides]

On a slightly unrelated note - has anyone ever noticed that leading ladies practically didn't exist in movies from the 80's? Especially comedies. They would get a big name for the male role, but the women were virtually always nobodies.

[katyseagull]

I kind of liked this comedy from the 80s. Interesting choice for a lead actress.

Melanie Griffith in Working Girl