I'm not crazy, I'm just a little... well...
In an attempt to appease, at least temporarily, my silly girlcrush on Ben Barnes, I saw indie flick Bigga Than Ben. I had no expectations going in; it was purely what nfalkestav refers to as a "drool movie". But I liked it. It wasn't a great movie, but it was funny, quirky and at times touching. And Barnes was good in it. I mean, other people thought so too. Which made me feel strangely vindicated, after all the Narnia reviews referring to him as a pinup, a cardboard cutout, a shampoo commercial.
Which leads to a couple of thoughts. First, why do I care if the lad can act? Can I not, with my head held high, fancy someone on a purely shallow level? Keanu Reeves has fans. Arnold Schwartzenegger has fans. If either one of them can act, they're very good at hiding it. If I wanted more justification for liking Barnes than "he's pretty", I could always argue that in interviews he comes off as funny, likeable and intelligent, which he does. And he's studied children's lit. (Even if he does claim that Lewis is the only fantasy writer to switch genres between books. Someone needs to introduce him to Diana Wynne Jones stat.)
I suppose what it comes down to, though, is that I did like his acting even in Narnia. Not to the point where he blew me away with it, perhaps, but he was certainly more than adequate. And I suppose that I'm enough of a sheep that I don't want to be the lone voice arguing that point. Having another film for comparison makes me feel less delusional.
The second and third thoughts are then, if the reviewers find him a good actor in BtB, why do they find him a bad actor in PC?
Part of the reason, then, could be lazy thinking. If a character has wavy hair and a noble cause and gets to kiss the girl in the end, then that equals Prince Charming, and the actor is a pinup meant to please the girls, and pinups can't act. Any number of times I've seen reviews going, "Wait, Tom Cruise can act?" "Rob Lowe can act?" etc. And of course they can - they just needed to scruff up and get a non-pinup role before people noticed. Because a performance level that's seen as flat for a prince is seen as remarkable for a homeless Russian scumbag. I think there were very few reviewers willing to go "Wow, Heath Ledger is a wonderful actor" after 10 Things I Hate About You, but he was, even then.
The other part, of course, is that perhaps - despite my opinion - Barnes wasn't as good in PC as in BtB, because he's one of those mid-level actors who can't rise above the material. Consider the Star Wars prequels. They turned Liam Neeson into a stiff, Ewan McGregor and Pernilla August into non-entities, and convinced the world that Hayden Christensen can't act his way out of a paper bag. But as one reviewer who had seen Shattered Glass put it, he's not a bad actor, he's just an actor stuck in a George Lucas film.
Not that the dialogue in Narnia is that bad, of course. But I think the fairytale surroundings and the bombastic storyline lead expectations to ham, and low-key performances will come off as flat. It's the only explanation I can find as to why one reviewers disfavourably compared the Pevensies to the cast of Harry Potter. The HP kids are given lavish scenery and will dutifully proceed to chewing it. It would also explain the sometimes-expressed nostalgia for the cast of the BBC TV series. (Not the faithfulness, or the heart. The cast.) The acting there is hammy as all fuck, but at least the worldview becomes consistent. Indeed, look at what performances in the new Narnia have got the most praise: Tilda Swinton as the larger-than-life White Witch, Reepicheep, who's a cartoon voiced by a comedian, and Trumpkin, who - while Peter Dinklage is a low-key actor - has a frown modeled into his very makeup.
Ham sticks out. And, you know, that's fine. Nothing wrong with ham, and it's not easier to bring quality ham than to bring a quality low-key performance. In fact, it could be argued that in certain situations, ham is more appropriate. What do people who are not me remember from Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves? Alan Rickman as the sheriff. Rickman can do low-key; he did it brilliantly in Sense and Sensibility. But who would have wanted that? There are people who can stick out in a positive way by being low-key in hammy surroundings. I'm thinking, for example, of Ellen Page in X-men 3. But even there, I can't help but wonder if she felt like such a breath of fresh air because a) she reminded me of the more down-to-earth style of the first two films, and b) the ham we were shown was such low quality ham that it wasn't enjoyable.
Perhaps you need to go with the flow and amp the style up a little when the settings demand it, rather than treat a centaur like a Finchley schoolboy. Perhaps when Barnes went, "Nuh-uh, I'm not going to be some sort of Disney prince," whether he did it on purpose or because he doesn't know how to act larger than life, that was a big mistake. Especially since while the Pevensies are simply low-key, he's low-key with a prominent and somewhat unmotivated fake accent. (His fake accent in BtB was matched with his co-actor's real one, making it stick out less.)
Or perhaps my faith in him is mistaken and he's indeed a sweet, pretty, smart young man who can't act, and BtB was a fluke. Easy Virtue seems to be another pinup role for him. I guess Dorian Grey is what will really tell.
Which leads to a couple of thoughts. First, why do I care if the lad can act? Can I not, with my head held high, fancy someone on a purely shallow level? Keanu Reeves has fans. Arnold Schwartzenegger has fans. If either one of them can act, they're very good at hiding it. If I wanted more justification for liking Barnes than "he's pretty", I could always argue that in interviews he comes off as funny, likeable and intelligent, which he does. And he's studied children's lit. (Even if he does claim that Lewis is the only fantasy writer to switch genres between books. Someone needs to introduce him to Diana Wynne Jones stat.)
I suppose what it comes down to, though, is that I did like his acting even in Narnia. Not to the point where he blew me away with it, perhaps, but he was certainly more than adequate. And I suppose that I'm enough of a sheep that I don't want to be the lone voice arguing that point. Having another film for comparison makes me feel less delusional.
The second and third thoughts are then, if the reviewers find him a good actor in BtB, why do they find him a bad actor in PC?
Part of the reason, then, could be lazy thinking. If a character has wavy hair and a noble cause and gets to kiss the girl in the end, then that equals Prince Charming, and the actor is a pinup meant to please the girls, and pinups can't act. Any number of times I've seen reviews going, "Wait, Tom Cruise can act?" "Rob Lowe can act?" etc. And of course they can - they just needed to scruff up and get a non-pinup role before people noticed. Because a performance level that's seen as flat for a prince is seen as remarkable for a homeless Russian scumbag. I think there were very few reviewers willing to go "Wow, Heath Ledger is a wonderful actor" after 10 Things I Hate About You, but he was, even then.
The other part, of course, is that perhaps - despite my opinion - Barnes wasn't as good in PC as in BtB, because he's one of those mid-level actors who can't rise above the material. Consider the Star Wars prequels. They turned Liam Neeson into a stiff, Ewan McGregor and Pernilla August into non-entities, and convinced the world that Hayden Christensen can't act his way out of a paper bag. But as one reviewer who had seen Shattered Glass put it, he's not a bad actor, he's just an actor stuck in a George Lucas film.
Not that the dialogue in Narnia is that bad, of course. But I think the fairytale surroundings and the bombastic storyline lead expectations to ham, and low-key performances will come off as flat. It's the only explanation I can find as to why one reviewers disfavourably compared the Pevensies to the cast of Harry Potter. The HP kids are given lavish scenery and will dutifully proceed to chewing it. It would also explain the sometimes-expressed nostalgia for the cast of the BBC TV series. (Not the faithfulness, or the heart. The cast.) The acting there is hammy as all fuck, but at least the worldview becomes consistent. Indeed, look at what performances in the new Narnia have got the most praise: Tilda Swinton as the larger-than-life White Witch, Reepicheep, who's a cartoon voiced by a comedian, and Trumpkin, who - while Peter Dinklage is a low-key actor - has a frown modeled into his very makeup.
Ham sticks out. And, you know, that's fine. Nothing wrong with ham, and it's not easier to bring quality ham than to bring a quality low-key performance. In fact, it could be argued that in certain situations, ham is more appropriate. What do people who are not me remember from Robin Hood - Prince of Thieves? Alan Rickman as the sheriff. Rickman can do low-key; he did it brilliantly in Sense and Sensibility. But who would have wanted that? There are people who can stick out in a positive way by being low-key in hammy surroundings. I'm thinking, for example, of Ellen Page in X-men 3. But even there, I can't help but wonder if she felt like such a breath of fresh air because a) she reminded me of the more down-to-earth style of the first two films, and b) the ham we were shown was such low quality ham that it wasn't enjoyable.
Perhaps you need to go with the flow and amp the style up a little when the settings demand it, rather than treat a centaur like a Finchley schoolboy. Perhaps when Barnes went, "Nuh-uh, I'm not going to be some sort of Disney prince," whether he did it on purpose or because he doesn't know how to act larger than life, that was a big mistake. Especially since while the Pevensies are simply low-key, he's low-key with a prominent and somewhat unmotivated fake accent. (His fake accent in BtB was matched with his co-actor's real one, making it stick out less.)
Or perhaps my faith in him is mistaken and he's indeed a sweet, pretty, smart young man who can't act, and BtB was a fluke. Easy Virtue seems to be another pinup role for him. I guess Dorian Grey is what will really tell.