Casting of the Jung parents

Rating: 5/10 (25 January 2009)

I was so taken by the strange casting for George Jung's parents that I could hardly concentrate. Rachel Griffiths as Johnny Depp's mum??!! She's five years younger than him ! Ray Liotta is only ten or twelve years older than Depp. So why? The are both ( all) great actors, make up and costume are good and Rachel does a great American accent. But nothing can make her look like his mum -and in any case, why not cast an American actress of more or less right age . I don't understand it. I'm not saying they didn't do a great job, nor that actors alway have to be a within a strict age range for every part, but this seemed so odd that I thought there must be some arcane reason for the choice, but I couldn't see it. Can anyone enlighten me?