MovieChat Forums > Flashforward (2009) Discussion > Mark Benford odd

Mark Benford odd

posted 13 years ago by Philip-11
7 replies | jump to latest

It was the lack of strong emotional reaction to the fact that another man was moving in on his wife and child; any other man would have got really, really angry, thrown things around, including punches. He was passive for most of the series. He kept walking in on them for goodness sake! Taking this and his occasionally camp mannerisms into account (I'm sure he does very slight 'girrrlfriend' headwobbles like Thomas Dekker does in the Sarah Connor Chronicals. Is Fiennes unable to conceal a more feminine side when he acts?), I was just waiting for the Benford marriage to die a death and perhaps they could all come to an amicable Hollywood bearding arrangement.

[–] SherlockVonEinstein 13 years ago

I'm not sure if the Fiennes is gay, but I know he's considered something of a heart-throb in the gay community (or at least my personal gay friends and all the tribute videos on Youtube seem to suggest this). Regardless, maybe Fiennes IS somewhat feminine in real life.

However, I think the biggest problem he had was that his American dialect sucked. I think he had trouble acting convincingly because he struggled to get the lines out, and he seemed conscious of all this. The producers should've just let him use his normal dialect. There's all kinds of expatriates that live in America, in paritcular, a major city like Los Angeles.

[–] DrZaat 13 years ago

Given that he's married with a kid, it's not likely that he's gay. There's not much stigma left regarding homosexuality, so I doubt that many gays nowadays marry to cover their orientation.

More importantly, why does Mark Benford's reaction to his wife and Lloyd have anything to do with Joseph Fiennes's personality? Do you think Anthony Hopkins is fond of human liver with fava beans and a nice chianti?

Fiennes was merely playing the character as written, and as he was directed to. Benford clearly believed that his efforts were critical to discovering the cause of the flash forward and how to prevent recurrences--and, within the world of the show, he was correct. This was a tremendous problem, which dwarfed his personal difficulties. If he failed to stop the flash forwards, he might lose his wife and daughter in a much more permanent and horrible fashion.

[–] SherlockVonEinstein 13 years ago

It's not so much that Joseph Fiennes' personality got in the way of his performance as he seemed uncomfortable with the role. I'm assuming it was a combination of realizing that he had certain limitations and, as you pointed out, how the character was written/directed.

Now, personally, unlike a lot of people who watched the show, I didn't find how "hammy" his character was to be too distracting. Actually, now that I've thought about it, I think the reason I liked the character was BECAUSE the performance so hammy. There was something charming about it. By the end of the series' run, I found myself genuinely routing for Mark Benford Legend.

[–] NoPlankton 13 years ago

Because he was LOADED, okay?!

[–] bjmgamer 13 years ago

His acting was horrible, and seemed to get worse through the series.

All the agents/scientists in the series made ridiculous choices and it seemed like it was to show that lawmen and physicists always throw their personal life out the window for the greater good. The show had so f-king much potential, but replaying it all in my head all I can think of are all the plot holes.

[–] RapeVanDamn 12 years ago

He knew he had bigger fish to fry and all he really wanted was for his family to be safe and happy even if he had to lose them.

[–] Rome18 11 years ago

Because seven years ago he was an alcoholic and did a great deal of damage to the family but Olivia stick with him through it all. He almost lost his family then. It seems to me that he was trying really hard in choosing his words so as not to open the wounds of the past. He also knows he has a violent streak and doesn't want to awaken it and drive his family completely away.

"the time you enjoyed wasting is not time wasted"