Finally saw "The Winslow Boy" the other night. Am I
hallucinating or does Jeremy Northam bear a resemblance to Rock
Hudson? This is the second film I've seen him in recently (the
other being "An Ideal Husband") and I was struck by the
resemblance there too.
That being said, I found the dialogue stilted. It *sounded* like
a play. Sometimes there is too much dialogue & you want the
characters to shut up and *do* something. Also, I found Rebecca
Pidgeon's delivery annoying. By the end of the film, I would have
killed for some voice inflection on her part. Perhaps it was her
version of British ennui or something. It drove me nuts.
Nigel Hawthorne was wonderful as usual. He can really get across
a person's vulnerability without being pathetic.
"The Winslow Boy" certainly was an odd choice for David
Mamet -- far too genteel and mannered for him. I think it should
have been a Merchant/Ivory production.
Response:
26421. cllrdr - July 31, 1999 -
4:34 PM PT
" "The Winslow Boy" certainly was an odd choice
for David Mamet -- far too genteel and mannered for him. "
Well he's run out of cuss words I guess. And when your an
overpaid, overhyped hack who has written yourself out, turning to
the work of a superior writer is a good way of keeping yourself
on the market (in terms of "marketability" that
wexxford 1 understands better than anyone else in the Fray.)
Rattigan was a wonderful old queen who really knew how to write a
"well-made play" (eg. "Separate Tables"), and
was capable of recognizing genius when he saw it ( ie. his kind
and insightful words to Joe Orton when the latter was under
attack for the "immorality" of "Entertaining Mr.
Sloane.")
26428. judithathome - Aug. 1,
1999 - 12:33 PM PT
harper:
I thought Rebecca Pidgeon was awful in another Mamet film, The
Spanish Prisoner. I suppose being married to the director has its
perks, two of which might be: He listens to her advice on which
films to make and he takes her advice on who to cast in those
films.
