Are you kidding me?! She was terrible! she totally did not belong in this movie!! she belongs in teen angst movies like Heathers and Reality Bites, those are tailor made for her. What the hell was Scorsese thinking??? This was a great film, but Ryder was one of the worst casting choices I've ever encountered in a movie. And she was actually nominated for an academy award to boot! WOW!!!
share[deleted]
[deleted]
I admire Winona Ryder but so many other actresses could have nuanced at least a little of the wiliness of May better than she - Cate Blanchette comes to mind, as does Julianne Moore, but Marty cast the role with a truly innocent face so that must have been what he had in mind and Winona filled that part of the character to perfection.
shareI think she was fine. But i can totally understand why someone wouldn't like her. As for the oscar, even for a supporting actress(i assume that's what she was nominated for) Winona was hardly in it. She mostly rides around in carriages and murmers to people at dinner parties.
share[deleted]
Well, she did bring the book to the attention of Martin Scorsese with the idea of turning it into a film (not sure if she actually owned the rights), so maybe he felt he owed her one. I, for one, didn't think she was bad at all, I doubt if any other actress her age could have pulled it off.
Yeah, they're dead, they're--all messed up.
I think she did a great job. Remember, she was portraying a woman of her age, at that time. Women were all but invisible; at least they had to work hard to give that impression. Her character was selfish and social climbing, but had to appear as though she didn't have a thought in her head. While appearing to not have a though in her head, she used her social graces and passive-aggressive wiles to get rid of her rival and keep her husband on a short leash. Unlike Ellen and Archer, she got the very life she wanted. That b!tch was ruthless.
May wanted to live that life and wasn't going to give it up. She had the power in that marriage and knew how to act and who to talk to, and what and when to tell Archer, to keep that power. That's why I hated her, but didn't blame her.
Winona was perfect for the role. Subtlety isn't a bad thing.
It is absolutely absurd to not see Winona's flawless work in this picture! And Scorsese offered the role to Ryder. She did not present the book to him. You are mistaken, she brought the Bram Stoker's Dracula script to Coppola the year before.
shareWinona was perfect for the role. Subtlety isn't a bad thing.
I think she did an excellent job. Whether she deserved a nomination, I'd have to see whoever else was in the running that year.
Ryder was superb. She was low key, precise in her motions, delicate, seemingly innocent and wide eyed. Yet there are nuances when she speaks at times. For example, when she tells Newland that she had told Ellen days before that she was pregnant, when she wasn't sure about that at the time. She says it so innocently, purely, like a child. But both know what she had intentionally done. Her words are deliberate and low key. Then she asks him,"I didn't do anything wrong, did I?" He then assures her she did not.
Another actress may have played the manipulation and scheming a little more forthrightly, but that's an acting choice. There's more than one way to play a role.
The SCRIPT'S words were deliberate, her delivery low-key. When it all comes down, we would know the cunning intent behind the words no matter how they were delivered, thanks to the well-written script and our own intuition. That said, Ryder did a fine job and thankfully didn't overdo it.
shareI was kind of surprised she was nominated as well (and that Michelle Pfeiffer was NOT nominated). This was not good work by her IMO. She has had some great performances but this was not one of them.
Oscar is just a popularity contest. "Ooooh, young actress takes a shot in a period piece and doesn't *beep* it up! OSCAR!"
Even if it means me taking a chubby, I will suck it up! - Tobias Funke
Winona is damn near unwatchable in this movie. It's a mix of underacting and overacting in every scene. I would LOVE to see Natalie Portman in the role. I think had she been alive at the time or working, the movie would be flawless. But since Winona is in it, the film is only a masterpiece!
shareI disagree. May's character is a tough role. She has to be lovely and have many charms, but through virtually all of the film be second string to Ellen's far greater charms, especially since we see her as Newland compares her to Ellen. I think Ryder carried that off very well.
shareHonestly, I don't see what the hype is all about either way. She was neither amazing nor terrible, just okay. While I don't think her performance merited an nomination, I do prefer her in this role ANY DAY over her stint as Jo March - talk about miscast! And yet, she was also nominated for that one....while Pfeiffer continues to go overlooked...:P It's as someone on the forum said, the Oscars tend to favor the ingenues. I don't put too much stock in their nominations and awards, they've flubbed it too many times.
shareI'm watching it now and think she is quite exceptional.
sharePfeiffer has been nominated twice. It's not the Academy's fault that she hasn't had an excellent role in forever. Well, maybe it's the people in the Academy who are in charge of hiring, but Pfeiffer seems to have had trouble getting back on track career-wise.
shareIn my view Wiona did fine, whether it was Oscar worthy is another question. At least she didn't disturb me and played her part--the innocent (not so) naive society girl--well. The total miscast imo was Michelle Pfeiffer. This woman belongs in a western as a bar maid or in an action movie or light comedy, but surely does she not posess the qualities required for the role of a sophisticated, free thinking, high society lady. Also putting Pfeiffer next to DDL is simply cruel. In comparison to his genius her shortcomings and limitations as an actress became even more obvious. They should have gotten someone like Helena B-C, Kate Winslet, or Emma Thompson for the role, someone with enough acting skills, personality, and substance to be a true partner for DDL.
I really have nothing against Michelle Pfeiffer, and can easily enjoy her in a comedy or action movie, but here she was clearly out of her range. It seemed partly as if DDL was acting against a wall, so little did she interact with him in the scenes.
You are being too hard on Pfeiffer. I do believe she made some odd decisions in how she played Ellen(that high pitched voice?--is it in the book?) but Pfeiffer has the chops to play dramas (see White Oleander, Fabulous Baker Boys, her small role in Scarface, Dangerous Liasons, and the deep end of the ocean).
She does Ellen a bit too self-involved in my opinion. Some people blame DDL for the lack of chemistry (due to his character being repressed and effete), but he stares at her with a very moving longing and sympathy. She is the one who seems charismatic but almost cold in her self-interest. Not to say I dislike Ellen or even entirely how she plays her but she doesn't always seem to sympathize much with Newland's plight (at times, she seems more concerned with May). She appreciates his help a great deal it seems, however. Maybe her problems are just too big to handle for her to entirely understand how he suffers. To her credit, she does offer to be his mistress but she seems to be doing so in a way that is intended to make him feel guilty.
"You are not only wrong. You are wrong at the top of your voice."
winona has always been one of those actresses people claim can act who actually can't act. jennifer lawrence, natalie dormer, natalie portman, michelle pfeiffer for that matter, and scarlett johansson are others. i saw her in girl interrupted the other day and she was the worst thing about it and that's a big deal coming from me since angelina jolie is another actress people claim can act who actually can't act.
winona is pretty though. she's much prettier than michelle pfeiffer and she does well in those teen angst movies. i really liked her in heathers and edward scissorhands
I ate this blonde Texan bitch.