Postby Steve Bryant » May 20th, 2009, 9:57 pm
As to this tiny, surprising side issue of the talents of Madonna and Lindsay Lohan, I would suggest that the following quotes by Roger Ebert (whose opinions I revere) and Cynthia Fuchs (a random google quote, but I agree with her) do not suggest that these ladies are untalented, nor that they gave excellent performances because some sort of uncanny "marketing":
Ebert:
Madonna, who took voice lessons to extend her range, easily masters the musical material. As importantly, she is convincing as Evita--from the painful early scene where, as an unacknowledged child, she tries to force entry into her father's funeral, to later scenes where the poor rural girl converts herself into a nightclub singer, radio star, desirable mistress, and political leader.

"Desperately Seeking Susan" does not move with the self-confidence that its complicated plot requires. But it has its moments, and many of them involve the different kinds of special appeal that Arquette and Madonna are able to generate. They are very particular individuals, and in a dizzying plot they somehow succeed in creating specific, interesting characters.
The key task is to make the double photography of the "twins'' work. All kinds of tricks are used, and of course the techniques are more advanced than they were in 1961, but since you can't see them anyway, you forget about them. Lindsay Lohan has command of flawless British and American accents, and also uses slightly flawed ones for when the girls are playing each other. What she has all the time is the same kind of sunny charm Hayley Mills projected, and a sense of mischief that makes us halfway believe in the twins' scheme.
Fuchs:
You might call A Prairie Home Companion an unlikely Lindsay Lohan movie. You could also call it the best work shes done, the best work shes likely to do, or the best chance shes had to do good work. Heres Lindsaynotorious bad driver, paparazzi victim, and late-night partiertransformed into another possibility, on a screen with Meryl Streep playing her mom.
Thats not to say that Lohans previous work is unworthy: Mean Girls is generally fabulous and, in Freaky Friday, she matches Jamie Lee Curtis step for comedic step. And yes, shes altogether perfect in The Parent Trap, especially if youre nine years old. But still, in A Prairie Home Companion, Lohan is unexpectedly nuanced, canny, and endearing.
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Steve Bryant on May 20th, 2009, 9:58 pm, edited 0 times in total.
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