MovieChat Forums > King Kong (1976) Discussion > I can't believe this is the same Jessica...

I can't believe this is the same Jessica Lange...

posted 11 years ago by ironsjocelyn
21 replies | jump to latest

Jessica Lange is one of the greatest actresses ever. She blew me away in AHS so I started watching her other movies. Blue Sky...holy crap she is amazzzing.

And then this.......wtf?

She's so cheesey. I know some people are saying that it's her character not her, but getting turned on when a gian ape is blowing on you? I hope that was the directors choice and not hers.

Watching this movie you would never think that she would someday become one of our greatest actresses. It's like if someone told me today that Miley Cyrus would someday become one of the world's greatest singers or actresses. I would say "buddy, you're smoking crack." I can just imagine being alive in the 70's and someone saying "you know that hot girl playing Kong's girlfriend? She's going to become one of America's greatest actresses." I would have punched that guy in the face.

Lange just gives so much depth and nuance to her roles (except this one). She's three dimensional. Every line is believable. Her facial expressions, her mannerisms, she just becomes her characters and gives them so much life.

In this movie it looks like Jenny McCarthy would be able to out-act her. I'm so glad someone gave her another chance after this movie and that she was able to have the career she had. She's awesome. I love her. But if I had been a casting agent and had seen her in King Kong I would have said "honey, you're pretty and all..but acting is just not for you. Maybe modeling. But you're not an actress. Sorry." I'm so glad she got a second chance.

But seriously, what was going on in her life? Had she had any experience acting before this? Was she a model who got hired for her looks? I just don't get it. The only good thing about her in this movie is that she looks amazingly hot.

Maybe she couldn't start acting until she started aging and realized her looks could only take her so far? Still, I couldn't imagine a porn actress getting old and then deciding to get serious about acting and turning into an actress of the caliber of Jessica Lange in her later years.

Nothing about this makes any sense to me. Anyone know a backstory or have a theory on how this happened? It's like if Jenna Jameson is someday going to turn into Dame Judy Dench. It makes no sense.

[–] BuddyLove63 11 years ago

I disagree completely. Lange completely convinces as the airhead Dwan who then gets a conscience. She even won a Golden Globe as best newcomer.

I know some people are saying that it's her character not her,

You've just answered your own question. It's the character you don't like. Lange plays the character well enough. She really does convince as a dizzy airhead, who then grows up somewhat.

Decent acting in my view.

[–] Randy-144 11 years ago

Whether it was a case of Jessica not being a good actor in this -- her first movie -- or the role not being demanding enough, she made the movie worth watching because of her shapely, well-toned legs.

[–] michaelexarkun 10 years ago

I can just imagine being alive in the 70's and someone saying "you know that hot girl playing Kong's girlfriend? She's going to become one of America's greatest actresses." I would have punched that guy in the face.

That taking it a bit too far, eh?

Jessica Lange, does a good turn playing a ditzy bimbo earth girl, but she definitely plays in better roles in later years.
And, she is hot as heck in KK.

[–] gray-leblanc 10 years ago

Dude, this was her first movie ... considering you feel she is one of the greatest living actresses, which she is, I would have assumed you would have cut her some slack (although she played the role exactly as intended by the director). There was a love story between she and Kong, as weird as it may seem to you.

[–] westal_sage 10 years ago

This film was a big production in its day. I love it. With John Barry's score, Rambaldi's effects, the great cast, etc. It beats the hell out of today's CGI crap, and actually tells a good story. You really just don't get that in movies much any more. But that's really hard to explain to people like you.

[–] phillipsdan83 10 years ago

Jessica Lange actually does pretty good for her first acting job ever. It's the script, not the actress, that made Dwan a bimbo. For the record, while Dino Kong is the least of the three versions of KING KONG, I'll still take it over that piece of lizard dung the 1998 GODZILLA.

[–] BuddyLove63 10 years ago

I don't think King Kong 1976 is lesser than King Kong 2005. It's about on a par. In some aspects it's poorer (Kong himself, the bad sets), but in a lot of other aspects it's superior (better casting, better script, pacing, editing, directing, music)

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] enfilmigult 10 years ago

It's so weird watching this movie and knowing what an excellent actress she really is. It's one of the oddest performances I've ever seen. It's not just that it's bad, it's inexplicable; a plain old bad actor would have been a lot more predictable. It's like the dumber her lines get, the less appropriate a tone of voice she decides to use saying them.

As for experience: none at all professionally, if I'm not mistaken, except working as a model and a mime. I presume she studied acting as well, but I dunno. After 'King Kong' it took a few years before any casting directors gave her another chance as you might imagine, ha ha.

[–] Buddy-Love63 10 years ago

What are you talking about? She does very well acting wise in this film. She totally convinces us she's a ditzy blonde who ends up with a conscience. She nails that last sequence.

It's the character you find weird, not the acting. Don't confuse the two. She plays the character well.

[–] 10 years ago

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[–] Kawada_Kira 9 years ago

I can just imagine being alive in the 70's and someone saying "you know that hot girl playing Kong's girlfriend? She's going to become one of America's greatest actresses." I would have punched that guy in the face.

Lol what? You would have punched him in the face? I could understand laughing in his face, but punching his face? For that? Damn, I hope I never come across you and accidentally step on your foot or something, or you might stab me. 

But anyway yeah, apart from her beauty she was probably the weakest part of this film, although I don't think that's entirely her fault. Her character was written in a really shallow way. She wasn't given much to work with, plus it was her first role. I like the King Kong story but let's be honest, it really is incredibly sexist (cue the conservatives channeling Rush Limbaugh and blowing a gasket over "feminazis" in 3... 2... 1...), and that's why she really couldn't have done much with this movie. She had to play the role they gave her, and it was a very shallow role. The character really just existed to be Kong's plaything and get rescued by a man. She was just an object in the whole thing. That's not Lange's fault.

The people, and the people alone, are the motive force in the making of history.
-Mao Zedong