MovieChat Forums > Beetlejuice (1988) Discussion > Love the movie, like Geena Davis but ...

Love the movie, like Geena Davis but ...

posted 2 years ago by snepts (11123)
11 replies | jump to latest

... am I the only one who thinks her line delivery is kind of amateurish?
This is such a good movie and certainly doesn't rely on Davis being convincing, but as soon as she says something, to me she sounds like a high school kid in her first role on stage.
She's pretty and all, she looks like she fits the role nicely, but my goodness, she can't seem to say anything and make it sound spontaneous.

Anyone else feel the same way?

Still love the movie.

[–] Otter (24464) 2 years ago

I disagree, I think she's a pretty good actress and she was good in this role.

[–] snepts (11123) 2 years ago

Cool. She doesn't seem to have any long speaking scenes, like she just says a short sentence and something else happens.
Just something in her voice sounds like she's reciting and not acting, but could just be me.

[–] Otter (24464) 2 years ago

Reactions to acting are subjective, there is no universal opinion of a performance. I just don't think your opinion is a common one.

[–] blindfolded (1618) 2 years ago

Nope, always enjoyed the performance.

[–] April-151-CT (10210) 2 years ago

I think she was fine. In fact she won an Oscar for her next movie that came out the same year.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7699) 2 years ago

I feel you miss the point of her character being bored. So she talks like she doesn't care about anything. That's not really a flaw.

[–] snepts (11123) 2 years ago

Fair point, and thanks for the comment.

[–] GreenGoblinsOck8 (7699) a year ago

I am so sorry. I thought you were talking about Winona Ryder because I often mix up her and Geena Davis. I don't think there was anything wrong with her performance. It seemed genuine to me.

[–] Lord Rake (4454) 2 years ago

I never noticed this before but I think you are right. It was really early in her career and I think Baldwin actually plays it so well that it compensates for her.

[–] Martoto (5024) 2 years ago

Both hers and Baldwin characters are meant to be a little bit goody two shoes, pollyannna, naive.

[–] HellFire (561) 3 months ago

I thought both Baldwin and Davis were perfectly cast. They even arguably had the most difficult roles.

The Deetz's are dysfunctional, and an actor can just basically take a role like Beetlejuice and be as theatrical and extreme as they want.

Adam and Barbara are just plain and ordinary, and a lot of the time are just responding to the bizarre things around them. Furthermore, they die just a few minutes into the film, so Baldwin and Davis didn't have much time to convince us that they're a happily married couple that we like and care about and I think they pulled it off.