When you find an artist who is good looking, you tend to be a little biased towards his or her art. It’s always nice to find someone you find absolutely amazingly good looking, inspiring, eloquent AND, to top it off, that person actually produces great art.
I have a couple such artists, and the one I am going to talk a little about is Anne Hathaway. In my humble opinion, she’s absolutely marvellous. She’s beautiful and talented and her taste in choosing movie roles that have propelled her into stardom has been brilliant. And it seems like her latest choice might be the one to send her into superstardom.
I’m very excited about this latest movie, Rachel getting married, which premiered at the Toronto Film festival on September 6th 2008 to rave reviews. It’s going to have a limited release in select theatres in the US on October 3rd, and I hope that means that some copies will filter up into Canadian theatres, too.
Those of you expecting to see Anne Hathaway in her usual beautiful, fashionable self like in Devil wears Prada and Princess Diaries are in for a little shock. In Rachel getting Married, Anne Hathaway is portraying a recovering drug addict, Kym, out for her sister Rachel’s wedding, which sticks her right back in the middle of family problems.
Andrea Baillie, tell us that “the film is at times difficult to watch as Kym, teeming with anger and guilt, chain-smokes and fidgets her way through the wedding weekend, obsessed by rivalries and perceived slights and haunted by a family tragedy. The character is decidedly unlikable and selfish, and yet Hathaway also manages to elicit exquisite moments of sympathy for Kym as well.”
Andrea Baillie continues on: “During one excruciating scene in the film, Kym stands to make a toast to her sister, choosing the moment to discuss her recovery program and attempt to make amends for her past behaviour. Hathaway, dressed in teetering black heels, skinny jeans and a purple top, calls the scene the “most fun she’s maybe ever had” in her career.”
Ramin Setoodeh, who very recently (as in, on the 20th) interviewed Anne Hathaway, tells us that it’s “a hard-edged, powerful performance that’s earning Hathaway Oscar buzz for the first time in her career”.
However Andrea Baillie tells us that “Hathaway, meanwhile, has shunned Oscar talk, saying only that playing Kym has had a profound impact on her. ‘This character has changed my life in a way,’ she says. ‘We all have warts … so often we feel compelled to pretend like we don’t … I think we can give each other more credit to be ourselves, and to be more accepting of each other.’”
I had heard about Anne Hathaway’s potential for an Oscar, and how she would have to break out of her mould as being the stereotypical Disney Princess, ugly duckling becomes beautiful girl. She does portray those well, but her potential seems to shine through those seemingly easy roles and I’m hoping that Rachel getting married truly is a reflection of her full potential.
I’ll let you know once I see the movie!
Until then, here is the preview of the movie. Enjoy!