Painful, watching the Ryan try and physically act her way out of a paper bag. The disjointed nature of the movie didn't help, but Please! It's Meg Ryan!
I don't think I'm giving any secrets away when I say the modern Private Benjamin, Ryan, can't act. It's embarrasing seeing her spar with those that can.
"Painful, watching the Ryan try and physically act her way out of a paper bag. The disjointed nature of the movie didn't help, but Please! It's Meg Ryan!
I don't think I'm giving any secrets away when I say the modern Private Benjamin, Ryan, can't act. It's embarrasing seeing her spar with those that can.
I think its more a personal opinion than a secret, User-153 :-).
I'm not sure what you mean when you say she's "not a fluffy rom com" - I'm not familiar with the expression. And I haven't seen her in Private Benjamin (wasn't that a comedy series?), so I can't comment on her acting in that. I think tho that we are used to seeing her in light-hearted romance roles (oh, OK - "rom com" - I think the penny just dropped :-)), and this is something quite different for her. I found her rendering of the southern accent a little confusing and, well maybe she fell short there - I don't really know not being American. Otherwise though, I think she made quite a fair job of something thats quite different for her. She handled all 3 versions (the fearless leader, the coward and the "real" story of the person who experienced fear but mastered it) and I think did quite a laudable job portraying the contrasts. I wonder, User-153 what you are specifically thinking of that she didn't do believably?
Mis-cast? Yes I think so, but less due to her ability as an actress than the viewers' inability to accept her in that role. I find it difficult to think of actresses (given that age could be an issue) who would be better cast in the role, but Sigourney Weaver certainly comes to mind as perhaps the best candidate. Sigourney would have been about 47 when this film was made. I'm not quite sure how that would relate to age restrictions at the time of Captain Walden's intake, but these days make-up will fix that anyway.
Any other suggestions of actresses that would have been better cast into this role?
Well, perhaps you're right...I didn't enjoy her in the film at all and was lashing out... I just didn't 'buy' her, as the American's say, in that role. She fitted poorly into the uniform and I didn't find her easy to listen to barking orders.
Private Benjamin is a classic film starring Goldie Hawn as a young bright thing in the US army, to whom Meg Ryan is often compared. It's good fun actually.
I agree, Weaver would be an ideal candidate, but she may be too old. Who else....hmmmmm
I'll have a think, leave it with me...
Mis-cast? Yes I think so, but less due to her ability as an actress than the viewers' inability to accept her in that role
If you saw Sigourney in Galaxy Quest - which came out in 1999 - you would not think she was too old for this movie. She was 50, and barely looked 35. Okay, okay, so a lot of that was the incredo-push up bra, a tight outfit, and the blonde hair, but she could have totally played this role well.
I asked the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.
Mis-cast? Yes I think so, but less due to her ability as an actress than the viewers' inability to accept her in that role
But the case could also be made that the viewers' inability to accept her in that role, makes her NOT miscast, because the crucial moment turns out to be a soldier not accepting her in the role of person-in-charge. Replay that scene with a man in charge, and I don't believe Monfriez would have committed mutiny, no matter how much he disagreed with the commander's decision to stay and not leave Rady.
You must be the change you seek in the world. -- Gandhi
I think you hit the nail on the head Muchtobegratefulfor. Not every female army officer looks or acts like Linda Hamilton in T2.
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