who's a better actress julia stiles or kirsten?
i think kirsten
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To me, the race for best actress in the film is between Gyllenhal (sp) and Julia Stiles, and to me Stiles in this winner. I'm surprised so many favor Dunst here, because all she does is play the bratty witch, and to me that doesn't require nearly much theatric refinement as Stiles' character. Remember, she's the one who carried what was arguably the climactic exchange of the film when she told Watson an unpleasant truth - that she thought housewives were "women of no depth, no intellect...the truth is *you* can't get past the stereotype."
If Stiles can't carry that scene, and that line in particular, Watson's character becomes nearly irrelevant. And the writer(s) had worked pretty darned hard to make Watson irrelevant and transparent throughout the whole film, which is why the film is ultimately so weak; the protagonist is so weak that we never become empathetic with her desire to change "conventional wisdom." Watson doesn't even know what *she* wants, so she can hardly be seen as the resolute alternative to sameness that will forever change the lives of her students. That's where this movie crashes and burns, and where Dead Poets soars.
Dunst's character is one dimensional, and finds herself to have been changed not by Watson, but by her own failed marriage. She didn't need Watson to learn that, and thus her only scene of relevance is her little screamfest with Gyllenhal (and telling off her mother at the end), and it's *Gyllenhal* that makes that scene work because she *knows* the truth, and knows Warren's anger isn't really directed at her. In fact, nearly *every* major "student" in MLS performs better than Dunst. In fact, the only reason Dunst's character exists is to embody the angry editorial writer - the strawman to be torn down at the film's end. She just ends up tearing down herself. And, to be fair, that's as much a fault of the writers as it is of Dunst's performance.
I do not intend to seem bent on ragging on Dunst, although I will admit to the belief that she is overrated. In her defense, she can only do so much with the material. That's why, to me, Stiles' and Gyllenhal's performances stand out so distinctly; they made their own silk purses out of sows' ears.
-intrepid