Sunday, November 14, 2010

Nell (1994)


It tells the story of an adult woman who has to face other people for the first time after being raised by her mother in an isolated cabin. [imdb]

Nominated for 1 Oscar:

Best Actress: Jodie Foster

You know, Jodie Foster almost didn't take the part, because she just wanted to direct the film. I can't imagine that. Later, she said that considers this to be her best performance. While I'm saving most of my ideas on that subject matter for my next week's profile, I will say that rarely have I seen so much prejudice on a performance like in the case of Jodie Foster's Nell. All you need is a careful look at it and see that it's more than jurd weird noises. I didn't expect what I got.

Getting back to the film: of course it has some cheesy, almost predictable moments. The screenplay is no masterpiece, but the acting makes up for other flaws: all actors are doing a good job, from Liam Neeson to Jeremy Davies playing a very offending redneck. The direction is mostly ok, but what convinced me not to go for less that a 7 was the last minute of the film. I've learned so much about Nell in those 60 seconds and it was a smart choice to end it with that final shot.

My rating for the film: 7/10. It's flawed, but I was captivated and that's because of you-know-who.

4 comments:

  1. I have to agree.This movie and performance are underrated.My only complaint is her courtroom speech which was unnecessary,but overall she gave great performance in a dificult role.My pick for 1994.

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  2. This seems like a really interesting film and performance, I'm looking forward to doing 1994.

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  3. This is a film I always enjoy more than I think I'm going to do. Often from afar I'm worried about the take on Foster's character but ten I'm overtaken by the quality of the performance.

    Rest of the film does drag slightly though, and the first half is much better than the second.

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  4. well... I think i prefer the second part because that's where Jodie's performance really starts to shine. :)

    but yes: that storyline, with the "love" story goes from mediocre to worse & cheesy.

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