People have probably noticed by now that I absolutely love the blog Filmdrunk. It isn't always that great, but when it's good it's really good. A while ago Filmdrunk drew my attention to a movie called Winter's Bone (which I'm still looking forward to). He has since turned out to be absolutely right about it and he particularly noticed the talents of actress Jennifer Lawrence. (Actor Jason Isaacs recently claimed to have put money on her winning an Oscar in the next ten years.) So anyway, with the background now provided, Filmdrunk had this to say....
One of the things I was so impressed with about Lawrence in Winter’s Bone is that Hollywood is always trying to cram this “tough, hot chick” character down our throats. It’s kind of a response to the old “why do women only get to be damsels in distress?” criticism. Now that they’re aware of that, they do this thing where the female lead in an action movie has to say “the thing about my character is, she’s actually really tough!” Only it’s still pretty much the same old damsel in distress, only now, instead of a demure nightie, she’s wearing leather and angry stripper clothes and occasionally punches people. It’s still just as offensive, only now it’s wholly unbelievable too. Anyway, Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone is one of those rare instances of a female lead actually being tough in a non-bullsh*t way. AND she’s hot, so there’s that.Yeah, it's pretty typical that Filmdrunk should end a really awesome feminist statement with: "Oh yeah, did I mention that she's really really fit?" But I thought that summed up the issue with supposed "strong female characters" really well. (More on that issue here if you are interested.)
Filmdrunk's normal humour (to take other comments about Jennifer Lawrence) goes more like this:
I know, it sounds like boring-festival-movie-by-numbers. It’s not, I promise. It will take you to the woods, get you drunk on moonshine, and rape you in the drama hole.Like I said, the awesome statement in bold near the beginning of my post is unusually insightful and clever for Filmdrunk. :)
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Winter’s Bone knows that the quickest way to this reviewer’s heart is with a big f*cking chainsaw.
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If anyone in Hollywood does see it, Jennifer Lawrence is going to be a big star. 19 years old and all soft features, she manages to play Ree with genuine toughness and a sex appeal that comes through without her being tarted up like a common whore (not that there’s anything wrong with that), or playing that phony seductress character that’s so popular. She is the real deal. She charmed my pants off. Literally.
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She played a 16-year-old in the film, but as I told the other movie goers who acted really immature about me wanking, she’s 19 in real life. Not only that, but she’s a good actress. And I mean like an actual acting actress, not just a hot chick who can smile while she deep throats a banana and Michael Bay sprays whipped cream on her crotch (though that is a skill).