I mean, the whole movie all I could think was why not someone WITH A PERSONALITY to act opposite the always engaging Topher and the surprisingly real Dennis Quaid? Scarlet just seemed so emotionless and...blah the whole time...like she was bored. She took me out of the love story, which should have been a huge boost in the movie. I wished they'd cast someone else.
shareI tend to agree with you. I normally enjoy Scarlet as an actor, but in this, she seemed lifeless and more like a fixture than a real person.
Even in the scene in which she was fighting with her father and he insulted her, it seemed like it went completely over her head. She was very cold and emotionless. I'm not sure whether it was poor direction or an unfortunate miss-cast, but there was so much more that could have been done with the part.
“The term 'serious actor' is kind of an oxymoron, isn't it? [Like] 'Republican party' [or] 'airplane food.'"
My best friend is IN LOVE with Scarlet, he absolutly adores her... and when I told him I rented the movie, he raved about her and how great she was (he had seen her act in other movies) However, when I watched... I thought "what does he see in her?" I didn't care for her performance in this movie, like everyone said, it sorta seemed lifeless or lost, something was missing. When I told him this, he forced me to watch a few of her other films, and she is really a good actress a lot of apeal... just something was off in this movie
shareYep as much I like Scarlett, she just looked completely bored in this film.
shareI liked her in this and in her other movies. She is a good even great actress because she gives her performences in a sutble way that is extremely different from other actresses today. I can't wait to see THE ISLAND to see her as an action star!
shareI agree with leighamc. I thought she seemed like a young woman on the brink of discoveries and a little uncertain who she was and where she was going. I actually thought it was one of her better performances because she did play it so restrained. Although, in thinking about it, it does seem a similar performance to her performance in "Translation." But I liked "In Good Company" better as "Lost in Translation" seemed a bit smug and precious to me.
shareyer it was how she was meant to play it because the character she was was like it.
share> I thought she seemed like a young woman on the brink of discoveries and a little uncertain who she was and where she was going.
Exactly.
I agree. And I loved the " I come from a functional family" bit. She was very restrained. But then I found her to be underplaying in Match Point as well.
shareI am not a huge fan of S.J. I don't dislike her or anything. I think she's a pretty good actress, but not one of my favourites. But this movie made me like her more. She played the part so well. Some say she didn't serve the love story well. The only love story in this movie was the dad and his wife. Alex was not in love with Carter. I don't even think Carter really loved her. He was empty and saw what Dan had with his wife, passion. Not the heaving bosom romance novel kind of passion, but the passion that fuels you more than twenty cups of coffee. Carter wants it so bad he is ready to marry the next girl he dates and hop in that foxhole, but Alex isn't there at all. So she's not the right one for him. She is a girl looking for fun and companionship. They do have a spark, but they are at different places in their lives. I don't blame Carter though. The guy just wants what he is missing, but he doesn't know what it is yet. He realizes he has to find out for himself and not go for the shortcut.
This movie was "awesome!"
*** SPOILER ALERT ****
This script for "In Good Company" was trying awfully hard at being unformulaic and overall I think succeeded. All the characters seem to jive with this and this kind of also hit's the film's main theme of the importance in life of trying to find your focus, the thing that makes you most passionate and human. Some people like Dan find it, many others do not -- some like Carter, take longer but finally get there.
Scarlet's character, Alex, wasn't the typical love interest that you normally see in the movies, nothing in the film is neat and tidy. Alex was reluctant, confused, unsure about her life, career, school and so forth much like Carter (and of course, total opposite to her dad the film's shining example of a self actualized man). So, she was kind of wishy washy as a character on just about everything, including and finally, her relationship with Carter (listen to Alexes dialogue carefully and you'll get this).
I think Scarlett Johansson played it perfectly and just the way the director wanted. She wasn't charismatic, personable and this was the right choice for the part (in a way, Johansson strong screen presence and beauty was all the was needed).
Also think, if Johansson played it with more life and interest in Carter, the script's ending wouldn't of worked, it would have made no sense that she ended the relationship and that they wouldn't be together in the end.
I do understand why some of her fans would not like her in this, but I think as usual, the girl nailed it (I'd be hard pressed to think of another actress that could have made that part work as well).
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Scarlett acting was perfect. She made Alex part sooo real and different. She played it in an unstereotyped way, unlike another teen actress would act. She wasn't trying to steal our attention. She just became, Alex.
shareAll of you are crazy Scarlett is gorgeous and a very talented actor.
She was great oppisite Topher.
What movie were you people watching anyway?
If it wasnt for her there would be no love story not to mention she displayed her emotions better than anyone else in that cast.
"I always tell the truth, even when I lie." - Tony Montana
I really liked her - it was only a supporting role; and it was meant to be a realistic one. While everything in the guys' lives goes crazy, she stays her ground.
shareI thought her character was really sweet. The way she would say "thanks" in an embarassed manner when Carter told her she was beautiful reminded me of the way my girlfriend responds when I tell her the same thing.
shareI think her character could have been much better. Scarlett did an OK job, but the character was a little . . . off. It would have been better if Alex had been a little more outgoing, strong, and independent, as to play off of Carter. Not that it brought down the entire movie, though; it was quite good.
shareJust making sure I wasn't the only one who thought she stunk.
"I'm sad. I need pancakes."
--Haley, age 3.
I sat through the whole movie asking myself, is this the Scarlett Johansson that everyone is talking about? I found her performance to be totally emotionless, and she delivered her lines like a robot. I feel the same way about Melanie Griffith and Kevin Costner, they all have that deadpan way of acting that seems like they are just reading lines like they would read a book.
shareIf you want a movie to judge her on then watch "Girl with a pearl earring". She was great in that. She was kinda awkward and emotionless in this movie.
"None of us are virgins, life has screwed us all."
Yes her personality was a bit lacking, but IT WAS SUPPOSED to be. She was an 18 year old who had been sheltered her whole life and left home to go to NYU and got involved with a 26 year old man.
I think everyone who is dissing the acting of Scarlet needs to know the biggest problem is not that of the CAST, but the CASTING itself which is no way Scarlet's gig. Scarlet should not have been playing an 18 year old, but she did and pulled it off as best as she could. Everyone is so caught up in the whole age thing it is just hard to convince the mass auidence that Scarlet is that young. Especially when her and Thopher put side by side seem like they would be a normal early/mid twenties couple. Unfortunatley they are not, he is 8 years her senior in the film, which is why this whole Scarlet did a bad job mentality is coming from, IMO.
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Am I the only person that thought she played this role as though she were mildly retarded? Her voice, mannerisms, ugghhh.
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