So Why's a Nice Boy like Dermot Mulroney
Getting Such Bad Reviews for My Best Friend's
Wedding?
Had a thought recently about the
(pretty much inaccurate) bad reviews Derm is getting for BFW.
Now, I know what you're thinking. "Wait just a minute here...YOU'RE the
one who's down on him for being in BFW in the first place, selling out the
indie thing."
Yeah yeah yeah.
Anyway, I've been trying
to figure out why so many critics are characterizing a pretty incredible
projection of warmth and decency (the kind that gets us male-watchers
right between the legs) as "drippy" and "devoid of chemistry" and
"frat-boy annoying" and "muted" and so on.
(Especially since I
don't actually think Derm is all that warm or DECENT [all caps intended]
in real life. Decent, maybe, but not Michael O'Neal DECENT)
(And
before you cry "sour grapes," wander over to the tidbit page. No one can
criticize Derm better than I can...when he has it coming)
I've
developed a theory.
There is one, big, huge, screaming thing to
hate about BFW (besides its status as Hollywood vehicle which makes it a
perpetuator of a truly destructive system but that's another essay).
This is a blatant attempt by many parties to force the public to
re-embrace Julia Roberts.
Think of all those "off-camera" candid
shots of her on the set (you see them in those "making of" specials and
entertainment news show reports). Am I the only one who found the bubbly
bubbly pretty pretty queen of comedy stuff a bit...forced? (Especially
the ball park and wedding brunch location stuff). It smacked of,
well...fear. "Get this bubbly stuff right and SELL IT or you're
finished!"
(Further potential proof that she was running scared
on this project - hands down the most powerful moment of hers was that
vulnerable smoking-in-the-hallway shot...just incredible)
I
suspect I'm not the only one who sniffed it out (the forcing, not the
smoking!). And let's face it...the movie-going audience, be it critics or
the public, gets pissed when its intelligence is insulted by insinuations
that we can be forced to accept what Hollywood wants us to.
So,
now you've got a passel of critics who, though they may not even realize
it, are a bit miffed that this film is trying to force them to embrace JR
again. So they're mad, they want to lash out, and they're not even sure
why.
Who ya gonna lash out at?
1. America's sweetheart
who's running scared and trying so hard?
I don't think so.
2. The other chick, the cute blonde one?
I don't think
so.
3. The homosexual?
In this age of political
correctness? I don't think so.
4. Okay, how about the white
male heterosexual product of a privileged upbringing?
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