Charlize is the bomb.

Rating: Null/10 (27 January 2004)

I'm not exactly sure what the motivation was behind the casting of Charlize Theron in this part. Was it a gimmick? Was it inspired by Nicole Kidman's defacing nose job in `The Hours'? Was it meant to garner a deeper consideration of the painfully beautiful Theron's other talents? I don't know, this just strikes me as weird, weird casting- perhaps unnecessary. The producers could have given one of the thousands of struggling, undiscovered actresses out there a shot. However, the fact remains that Charlize is simply wonderful in this movie. Her performance contains, as they teach us in acting class, multiple layers. She manages to exist in this role as both a somewhat non-realistic, grandiose drunken bad girl and also an insular woman filled with moments of self-realization and private emotion. This role is for the most part a firecracker whose audacity is hard to resist. Another film, `Boys Don't Cry', comes to mind in that Hilary Swank's performance was another big transformation for an actress however her sexually confused character was more subtle and elusive and thus more challenging to portray. Swank did a beautiful job.
Again like `Boys Don't Cry', much of the film could be described as a love story. Christina Ricci is quite adorable here and her character's quiet passive aggressiveness feels right on target. She gives an impressive performance keeping the viewer's attention all the time while competing with Theron's vivacious portrayal.
Charlize is awesome though. When I think about the black and white image of her walking down the runway in `Celebrity' and striking a pose that just stops your heart, I can't help but think Hollywood has gone crazy having her make this movie. Why take a gorgeous face like Charlize's and blotch it all up? Is it simply to prove that she can really act, that she's the real deal and her looks don't matter? Well, that's just a stupid idea. She's got nothing to prove. The whole movie system is messed up anyway since the advent of the independent film. You have the big studios dishing up tons of money for Lord of the Rings, special effects type movies where years ago they were making films like `Looking for Mr. Goodbar' and nobody really goes to the movies anymore for true cultural illumination. Does Hollywood really have to keep looking under rocks for story ideas?