MovieChat Forums > W. (2008) Discussion > Thandie Newton was awful.

Thandie Newton was awful.

posted 16 years ago by nmescher
161 replies | jump to latest

I have never seen a movie where I was so aware of one of the actors actually acting. Everytime she spoke it brought me out of the whole movie. It has to be one of the worst pieces of acting in a long time. Why Oliver Stone didn't recast is beyond me. Perhaps due to the rushed shooting schedule. Everyone else did a fine job especially Brolin and Cromwell. Did anyone else cringe at Newton's performance? I'm glad her screen time, and even better her dialogue, were very limited.

[–] psychedelic_bomb 16 years ago

God, I completely agree. Everytime she opened her mouth I was completely taken out of the movie as well. Another thing that REALLY bothered me was the fact that they cast James Cromwell as H.W. Bush. He acts and looks nothing like him, and whenever he's even on camera I become painfully aware that it is, in fact, a movie. D:

[–] KongKongAGAIN 16 years ago

"Thandie Newton" wasn't awful; Oliver Stone was. He took human beings and created caricatures of them, then threw those caricatures into an idiotic Hollywood scenario. Newton's role was crafted to get on your nerves, and so it did; Dreyfuss got to play the devil, and Brolin the "sympathetic" idiot. "W."s fault lies with its creator, not with its players.

[–] smittenkitten41 16 years ago

I'm watching the film now, and I came on here to see if anyone else thought she was so horrible. The original poster is spot on when s/he says that we are completely aware that she is acting.

It was more like a Mad or SNL sketch, and wasn't half as funny.

She and a couple of the other caricatures ruined the film. They should not have tried to be exact in looks and speech, and tried to just get the ideas and thoughts of the characters true to life.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] ryanne_32 16 years ago

I'm normally a Thandie Newton fan, but in this movie I was just wowed by how bad she was. I actually thought the movie was a comedy in the first scene she was in. Her scenes just ruined it for me. I couldn't focus on anything but how ridiculous her acting was.

[–] Nagime 16 years ago

But the movie IS A COMEDY!

Just that Stone never had the nerves to go seriously in that way. Thandie, by the other hand, completty got the script and the movie, making a funny and creppy caricature of a real person, not playing her.

The cabinet meetings were hilarious, it looked like all big and bad villions getting on a big table with little light talking about how to rule the world. Great!

[–] warchild1985 16 years ago

I agree. She overdid it, that whole Condi thing. Shakin her head when talking with that nasal voice. LMAO through parts of the movie.

[–] thisnamesucks 16 years ago

I found her acting in this just as bad as Condi's in real life :)

[–] alexantoinette93 16 years ago

I thought Marley Shelton was pretty good.

[–] eliostar1 16 years ago

Richard Dreyfus looked so much the part, I didn't even realize it was him till half way through .

[–] damalc 16 years ago

it was bad but i don't think it was all Thandie's fault. she had very little to work with. she basically, rather than act, did an extended bad impression, which a lot of others on the cast did, and is what happens a lot of times in movies about real people. i also think she stood out, as she was the only black woman i rememeber in the whole movie.

[–] anfeargal 15 years ago

Rice herself is not that dynamic -- I think she did a credible job portraying her. Thandie's acting was limited by who she was playing -- and she came accross like a fairly accurate portrayal.

[–] OtherBrotherDarryl 16 years ago

Couldn't agree more...
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