I just turned off after 30 minutes or so because of Cate Blanchett. Am I the only one who cant watch a movie with her in it? Im like so not liking her i cant explain. Being a big fan of Riddley Scott makes this even worse.
It seems everyone else loved her performance or what????
Let me say first that I LOVE Cate Blanchette, I think she's been amazing in many movies- especially Elizabeth. But I have to say that I wasn't in love with her in this movie. I don't know what it was... it kind of annoyed me how at the end she came riding out in what I'm assuming was Walter's armor... It never showed any scenes of her being able to use a sword or anything...? Just sort of popped out of nowhere that she was this woman warrior! Also the SO obvious wig was annoying and I found they down played her looks in the movie. There were some touching scenes with her and Robin- when she thanks him for planting the seed and the part where he carries her after the battle- but I was still sort of annoyed that she even turned up there. It was one of those stupid moves in a movie that just annoys you. I'm all for girl power and everything- but I think they could have shown a scene of her practicing a sword fight or something to make us believe she knew what she was doing.
shareBut that is a script error, and you can't really blame Blanchette for a lousy script, right?
Make love, not war! I've had enough of all the hate on these boards.
Ok it really seems that Im the only one who cant watch a movie with Cate Blanchett in it. I really wouldnt have cared if she can fight or not. Its just the worst acting EVER! And she plays the same role every time. Cant you guys see? She can only play 1 role. Herself.
shareYou're not the only one but definitely in the minority. I can only shake my head, no, you can't see. I guess we won't convince each other.
shareI am 100% with the OP. I can barely get through a film if she is in it. I am normally a big fan of Scott but this movie was a big dissapointment made worse by the casting of Blanchet. She almost ruined LOTR for me but fortunatelly her screen time is fairly small and I can fast forward the dvd. SHe is not attractive but more importantly her acting is aweful.
shareHaven't seen this movie yet but you are thoroughly wrong about her acting skills. She can run circles around most actresses.
Go watch something like Little Fish to get a taste of what good acting is.
I agree with shurbanm. She is a fine actress and a very pretty lady. I have several of her movies on dvd. I still watch (The Gift) and(The Missing)sometimes. I liked her in LOTR. Actually I'm kind of glad they didn't stick a girl in there 20 years younger than Russell Crowe the way they do in a lot of films today. I really like this movie and have the blu ray dvd. I also like the different take on the Robin Hood story. I would like to see a sequel to this.
shareShe is a very talented actor. Try to catch her in Heaven with Giovanni Ribisi. Excellent!
shareIf it makes you feel any better, my Mom doesn't really care for her. She says she is in too many things.
"Mr Corleone is a man who insists on hearing bad news at once."
Its just the worst acting EVER! And she plays the same role every time. Cant you guys see? She can only play 1 role. Herself.
What other movies have you seen her in?
>>>it kind of annoyed me how at the end she came riding out in what I'm assuming was Walter's armor... It never showed any scenes of her being able to use a sword or anything...? Just sort of popped out of nowhere that she was this woman warrior! Also the SO obvious wig was annoying and I found they down played her looks in the movie. There were some touching scenes with her and Robin- when she thanks him for planting the seed and the part where he carries her after the battle- but I was still sort of annoyed that she even turned up there. It was one of those stupid moves in a movie that just annoys you. I'm all for girl power and everything- but I think they could have shown a scene of her practicing a sword fight or something to make us believe she knew what she was doing. >>>>
I think from the very beginning it is clear that Marion has had to learn how to defend her home and family and belongings. Her father-in-law is old and blind, the servants seem somewhat inept in the field of defense. In the first scene of the movie Marion wakes up to defend the seed for planting and other goods in the barn - she has to wake up the snoozing servants and it is SHE who fires the flaming arrow at the fleeing lost boys - with good enough aim not to kill or hurt any of them but striking exactly where she wishes the arrow to be placed.
We see that the Sheriff is interested in Marion but again - she must defend herself. That first night Robin's men are in the tavern we see that the women far out-number the men - indeed, Marion tells the Friar that the majority of the men are gone and there is only women and children in Nottingham - and the orphans have all gone to the Greenwood. For 10 years it has been so in Nottingham.... so wouldn't it stand to reason that a strong woman like Marion would have learned how to defend "house and home" to any that would threaten?
When the French attack Nottingham, as soon as Marion escapes from the would-be rapist and climbs through the roof, she grabs a sword and you see her strike at some men as she makes her way to let her people out of the burning building.
Having said all this.... while I believe that we are shown ample enough times that Marion is capable of fighting - I thought it was rather stupid to have she and the boys come to fight the French. In real life they would all have been slaughtered by the trained soldiers, IMO.
It was incredibly stupid when they went to the final battle, the movie nearly jumped the shark for me right there. I could accept her branding the sword during the attack on Nottingham because she had to defend herself and, in any case, she didn't use it much to fight but to free the people imprisoned. But she coming to that battle, and with the kids... Ridley must have been smoking something GOOD that day.
I loved the rest of the movie, and the credits, just wish for an edit where that part is cut out entirely.
"It never showed any scenes of her being able to use a sword or anything...? Just sort of popped out of nowhere that she was this woman warrior!"
Excuse me? I wrote that post over 3 years ago and I get this rude response out if the blue! You have the nerve to write that you have a problem with people like me??
I was not texting or playing with my hair when I watched the movie thank you very much!
I am not a shallow or stupid person and I consider myself a fair critic.
Marion riding in armour out into battle was ridiculous. So she was tough and took care to protect herself in the village... That doesn't mean she skilled in combat or knows anything about fighting in a war. It was far fetched and there were many others who felt the same way.
He's just jealous of your hair Jenn. Let it go.
shareSo she was tough and took care to protect herself in the village... That doesn't mean she skilled in combat or knows anything about fighting in a war. It was far fetched and there were many others who felt the same way......and...... her lack of skill almost got her killed.
I was so glad to see her in this film, mostly for the chance to see her alongside Max von Sydow. She's a wonderful actress and he's just this wonderful old actor who has been doing his thing for so many, many years. I quite like Russell Crowe, too, but if I were him I'd feel a bit outmatched having to share a scene with those two. As for that scene at the end with her in the armour...well let's just pretend that never happened.
shareI love her performance. Funny and strong. The scenes with Max Von Sydow were so cute ! Cate was great !
I don't have problem with the battle scene because It's just a fiction. If Ridley will make a sequel, the relationship between Marion and the lost boys will be one of the best elements of the movie
I don't have problem with the battle scene because It's just a fiction.
But Jenn and balehead and the rest of us that hate the Marian-&-the-kids-turning-up-on-the-battlefield thing aren't complaining because "it wouldn't have happened historically"; we hate it because even within the fantasy medieval England of the fiction it's blatantly stupid.
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When does she fall in love with Robin, and become radiant? Her best look was actually in one of the deleted scenes when she is shooting the breeze with Walter.
Her being brunette I suppose has to do with her being a sensible and practical person. I guess it might be harder to believe if she were blonde? I wonder how old that stereotype is...
Lady Marion was always brunette. Olivia de Haviland, Audrey Hepburn, Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. So Cate is brunette in this movie.
Cate was great in this movie. I can't wait to see the sequel.
Brunette? So don't forget the lovely Joan Rice (also very brunette) in the marvellous and for me, best RH movie, with Richard Todd as the outlaw leader. Sorry but I dislike Cate getting all these roles
Would have much preferred someone a little younger - and more attractive/feminine
OK I get it - those were tough times, husband away etc. but I like to see a pretty woman. Her old mate from Liz2, Abbie Cornish mebbe?
God forbid that middle-aged people, medieval or not, have sex!
Your double standard. Let me show you it.
Nobody has a problem with skinny, plasticky young things being cast as lusting for middle-aged men or, in Sean Connery's case, for their grandpa. But cast a woman who is no longer 25 and doesn't look like she landed from the photoshopped cover of some fashion magazine and she's suddenly too icky to even be allowed to have sex.
Cate is not only a beautiful woman, but also one with personality and talent and she can carry off a part that's not supposed to be that of a dizty hot thing. OK, sure... I found Ridley's need to throw us ladies a bone with some chick who LOOK, is FEISTY and HEROIC and straps on an armour when the going gets tough right down insulting. That didn't take away from the fact that I genuinely enjoyed the movie otherwise. Having Max von Sydow in it and his scenes with both Cate and Russell Crowe made up for it in spades.
Ahh right, they were all brunettes.
Cate's my favorite Marion, though I love Mastrantonio's as well.
The whole business of Marion showing up at the last battle is baffling, and to some, embarrassingly bad. But I don't think you should be insulted by it. "Ridley's need to throw us a bone' is speculation. I thought Ridley's opening with Marion and the theft of seed corn by the wild boys, inspired, and having her story unfold parallel to Robin's, refreshing.
It might have been better if they hadn't deleted the scene of her shuffling onto her horse when she's weighed down by the armor.
Guess I shouldn't have watched the featurette of Ridley "explaining" Marion's character then.
That charge of the light pony brigade scene made me roll my eyes out, but otherwise... seriously, I'm actually kind of THRILLED with this Marion. Just as I am with the fact that both Robin and Marion are played by older actors and are GROWNUPS life has kicked around and they've had to go through nasty ish and it molded them into interesting adults. The kind that Robert Pattison and that Sienna person wouldn't be able to portray in the absence of a brain transplant.
I've heard all kinds of criticism here that I find unfair for a movie that does offer plenty to criticize while still remaining highly entertaining for me. The fact that the leads aren't the latest Teen Vogue covers, that it's not campy, that it doesn't have too much cheap humor but actual grownup themes, etc. Even the fact that there was too much Max von Sydow bonding with Robin (seriuosly??? People haven't noticed that Russell Crowe + elderly father figure / mentor= instant chemistry? Hello, Marcus Aurelius!), said in the same breath as haughty whining about not enough character development. Sense? That makes none. I thought Cate was a brilliant casting decision in a more grownup reimagining of the story and all her scenes with Russell and Max von Sydow are worth a DVD rewatch.
Apparently it was Russell who thought of Cate and asked her. Ridley said it would never have occurred to him as she doesn't make this kind of movies.
I think this version has camp (MIlady, I need help with the chainmail). What surprised me most was Ridley's deft touch in handling the romance. Robin saying I love you and Marion just looking at him intensely? Eyebrow-raising-g00d.
I hope there is a sequel.
I'm actually kind of THRILLED with this Marion. Just as I am with the fact that both Robin and Marion are played by older actors and are GROWNUPS life has kicked around and they've had to go through nasty ish and it molded them into interesting adults.
if that thrilled you, and you've never seen Connery and Hepburn being just that in Robin and Marian, get hold of it and watch it! You won't be sorry.
I very much agree with that statement. Robin and Marian makes this film look like.....um......what it is.
The action, writing and direction is all 110% better.
The church may shout but Darwin roars
Love Cate & every movie I have been priviledged to see her in. This movie is GREAT entertainment. I enjoyed every minute. I, too, cannot wait for the sequel.
shareskinny,
She looked plenty skinny to me - average for hollywood. So I dunno why that would be mentioned.
young things being cast as lusting for middle-aged men or, in Sean Connery's case, for their grandpa.
I don't get that either. Plenty of 20 somethings dig men in their 40s. That's not "Hollywood." That's life. Also, Sean Connery *was* middle aged for Robin and Marian. He was like 48 or something.
who is no longer 25...doesn't look like she landed from the photoshopped cover of some fashion magazine
Huh? Cate Blanchett's fugliness has nothing to do with her age or her complexion. Her complexion is fine - she doesn't look "old," and doesn't need photoshopping or age-defying makeup. She needs a NOSE JOB! The End.
Also I dunno how people can complain about the youth-obsession of Hollywood leading ladies, and in the same breath suggest that men in their 40s aren't attractive to most women. Can we say double-standard? The 40s are the best and *most attractive* years for lots of men, celebrities and otherwise.
Back on topic... Normally I don't even notice if female star looks less-than-perfect, but I did find Blanchett distractingly fugly in this movie. She is just not attractive, even for a non-celebrity.
As for the character of Marion... Yeah, she was unattractive. The way she was written, the script, it just gave her no opportunity to shine as a character. Just like the rest of the cast, she was breezed over so they could keep pushing the plot and the too-intricate and confusing field of villainy.
You're absolutely incapable of following an argument to its conclusion, but that's not even the worst of our problems. (Of course you "don't get that"...)
Cate Blanchette needs a nose job because an anonymous nobody who will make in a lifetime the kind of money she makes in a day says so? Uhuh.
Who the frak adopted YOUR standard of "perfect" and "less than perfect" and made it the law of the land?
in the same breath suggest that men in their 40s aren't attractive to most women.
Sean Connery was 68 in Entrapment and Catherine Zeta Jones was... not1. You didn't specify Entrapment. We're talking Robin Hood, so of course I went there.
Who the frak adopted YOUR standard of "perfect" and "less than perfect" and made it the law of the land?Um, YOU just lectured us on the female standards of Hollywood, and how Cate Blanchett is "beautiful." So, who the frak adopted YOUR idea of beauty? What, you're allowed to have standards on this board, but no one else is? lol
The point is that your comments were on how Cate does not fit the typical Hollywood beauty
"No, it wasn't. But you "just don't get" it and where nature and genetics have failed you, no man or woman can help. Granted, there's some mitigating circumstances for your failures since the original post I was replying to was deleted and you can't go back and see the point, but I have a feeling it would be in vain anyway. "
Thats a poor attempt in admitting the other poster was correct. Unfortunately Blanchet isnt atractive enough to play a lead role in this type of film. Men age better than women and peak at an older age therefore casting a younger woman with an older man is possible. Additionally there are many attractive actresses who can play women of various ages: Knightley, Olivier Wilse, Diane Kruger, Eva Green...
Thats a poor attempt in admitting the other poster was correct. Unfortunately Blanchet isnt atractive enough to play a lead role in this type of film. Men age better than women and peak at an older age therefore casting a younger woman with an older man is possible.I agree, and even when they cast mature guys with younger girls, they choose the more attractive and well-loved actors like Sean Connery, Russel Crowe, Harrison Ford, etc. It's not an age thing as much as a Love Thing with their fans; these actors have worked hard and earned their status with the audience.
NothingButDVD great post!!!
Blanchett is also the perfect example of an actress who conforms to Hollywood standards. Her hair normally is dyed blonde, she is super skinny, she still has conned herself like Sarah Jessica Parker and Jennifer Aniston into thinking that they are some kind of Supermodel Beauty/fashionista trendsetter who keeps plastering their busted homely 40+ aged faces and extremely silly fashion sense (remember Cate's infant blanket dress) over magazines and TV commericals and think that people will be conned into believing that these busted hags are beautiful and good looking.
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Agree NothingBut and Klein except that Aniston is a lot more attractive than Parker and Blanchet!
Its not just Blanchets look its also the persona she gives off. Just ruins almost every movie she is in for me.
How can Cate have ruined this movie? Russell did that all on his own with his frankly bizarre accent that changes from one scene to the next!
And I say that as a huge Crowe fan. One of my favorite films of all time is LA Confidential and I loved Gladiator and even Proof of Life. To me Russell is one of those guys who can just bring it so I don't know what happened here?
As for Cate. I am not a huge fan of her actually but she was one of the better things in this. I tend to find her a bit distracting because I find her odd looking. I am a woman I hasten to add so not some bloke hating on her because she isn't 'hot'. I know a lot of people, male and female, find her very beautiful but to me she is strange looking. But she can't help how she looks so that is not really fair. I thought she was amazing in Elizabeth too. But generally I can take or leave her. I wouldn't want to go and see a film just because she was in it like I might with some other stars (Emily Blunt being a case in point).
Great acting from Russel Crowe though.
shareI have to disagree with you. Cate Blanchett was fantastic in this film. At least to me she is. I loved her in this.
shareI think Cate was very good in this film, like the rest of the cast she was burdened by the script and 'middle ages dot to dot' and overtly laboured PC excuse of a story.
shareCate Blanchette is good, but I hate how with each adaptation, Marian is made into a bigger feminist
2011 Academy Award for Best Picture:
Inception
I kept hoping this was Maid Marion's mother. Where's the little tart that should have been cast as MM.
shareshe was served up to king john...as a french pastry.
shareI'm not researched in this subject. But, there are many traditions of Maid Marian. There is one where she is a more gifted archer than Robin Hood. People have their favorites. And, Ridley Scott seemed to be exploring some of the differences. Cate Blanchett is an intensely gifted actor. This business of her being terrible is misinformed at best.
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YES. I agree totally with the OP. I really liked this film, but I don't know what it is, but Cate Blanchett along with Gwynewth Paltrow are really offputting in films for me.
It might be because of the chemistry, or lack of that they create during their films, but they just feel out of place.
Or perhaps it's just because I can see their roles being taken on by ANY other actress.