One Word - Extraordinary

Rating: 10/10 (23 April 2012)

Having not yet read the book, I have to say this film comes along at a time when cinema is starving for epic storytelling, and riveting characters. This daring depiction of a country gone "hungry", for food, for games, for entertainment, and for the blood of its young, is simply too familiar, too close to disturbingly similar developments in recent years right here in the good old USA. That chill you feel down your spine is your conscience telling you to pay attention, and thanks to the skills and vision of both writer Suzanne Collins and Director Gary Ross, we have little choice but to pay attention. Judging by how hungry I am to experience the next chapter in this saga of a depressingly bleak future, where human beings are trapped in a frightening world of extreme poverty and horrifying opulence, unchecked greed, and an insatiable appetite for gratuitous mind-numbing and violent entertainment, there is little doubt Director Gary Ross has created the first installment in what portends to be one of Hollywood's most successful franchises of inspired filmmaking. For all that, The Hunger Games would have certainly earned at least 7+ stars, but one unexpected and inspired choice lifts this movie into the rarefied air of masterpiece, worth every bit the 10 star rating I believe it deserves. I'm talking about the choice to cast young Louisville actress Jennifer Lawrence in the role of Katniss Everdeen. Ms. Lawrence delivers an incredibly delicate, searing, Oscar-worthy portrayal of the film's reluctant heroine, who is forced to survive on wits, skill, and ultimately an indomitable will in a world gone mad. Reminiscent of her equally mesmerizing work in The Poker House and her Oscar-nominated performance in last year's "Winter's Bone", Jennifer Lawrence literally becomes one of recent popular literature's most admired and loved heroines. What this young actress can convey in her face and eyes is absolutely spellbinding, and this performance deserves all the praise it's now receiving, aptly embodied in one word by her Hunger Games co-star, Donald Sutherland, who described it as "Extraordinary". After casting Jennifer in her new movie "Beaver", Director Jodie Foster said of then 19 year old Ms. Lawrence, ""It's like she has tragedy etched in her face ...she has that thing in her face that's like she has been through something, you know she's been through something." That quality, along with her ability to convince the viewer to buy into her character's story completely and want to know everything about her, establishes Jennifer Lawrence as a true star of the first order, whose performances compel us to watch, riveted by every moment she inhabits the screen. Director Gary Ross has said he would not have agreed to direct the Hunger Games had Jennifer Lawrence not been cast as Katniss. His reason? He said there was simply no other young actress who had the talent to pull it off so convincingly. Which is why I say - bring on the "rest of the story", Mr. Ross, Ms. Collins, and Ms. Lawrence. 18 months (till November 2013 when the next installment is scheduled for release), is an awfully long time to wait, but for Jennifer Lawrence and the team that created "The Hunger Games", I'll wait as long as it takes.