Were I the only who kind of fell for Balk in this movie. She seemed sweet and innocent, which is kind of cool when she was portraying a prostitue :). She seemed to be part of the story, and she didn't slow anything down.
Anwar, on the other hand, I fell tired of. She was too nice and too pretty, and really din't have anything to do with the story. Everytime she was on the story kind of died...
Very true...But Fairuza Bulk have so many levels in her acting, and Gabrielle Anwar has only one...her beauty, which is nature's gift, not acting.
I don't truly dislike her, but she is more a model, and less an actress...Fairuza have the look and the acting skills, and she presented all, not only here, but in the rest of her roles. So I say, great job done here and a big plus for her, but Anwar earned more then one minus, at least from mine point of view.
I never thought of Anwar to be a model, she more looks like the girl next door, pretty, but nothing wild. But I do believe her problem at that time was that she was typecasted as the pretty innocent girl. Balk had some roles with more bite in them.
It can be a downside to be too pretty.
Absolutely- but I think this is a point the movie was trying to make.
We see in the movie that Jimmy was trying to rise above his "station" in life- go legitimate, have a respectable business, be socially acceptable, etc. And his crush and pusuit of Dagney was a continuation of that- his vision of having a classy, "society" girl to complete the picture.
But Balk's character has so much more life force, perhaps imperfectly, but obviously more heart and soul- saying that society's concept of acceptability is hollow, an empty shell of satisfaction. (Remember the movie "Some Kind of Wonderful"?)
That the true test of a person's character has nothing to do with the level of their social status, or seeming physical perfection- it's about unwavering loyalty, and a heart of unconditional acceptance.
I think that's why Dagney is seen as so one-dimensional- because she is. (notice that the moment that Jimmy is out of the picture- she's back with her former fiancee)
I always thought that Anwar was supposed to be Garcia's big love. That is what the movie (for me at least) tries to suggest. I didn't see any commentary on todays society.
It just seemed strange that someone as colorfull as Garcia/Jimmy could fall for someone as boring and simple as Dagney. I get that he goes over to her and talk to her, because she is pretty (where Balk is attractive), but once she talks he should have walked away thinking "boring"
One of the keys to Jimmy's character is that he doesn't want to be a "gangster" any more. He's tired of it and wants to be a citizen. A pretty girlfriend from the "straight" world would complete the new life he's trying to live. As far as her nature is concerned, well, I think Jimmy's ok with a little boring at this point in his life.
"At present nothing is possible except to extend the area of sanity little by little."