I know– we would all dearly like to believe that anyone as wondrously beautiful as Natalie Portman must also have, within her amazingly perfect form, a nearly perfect talent, or at least some magical quality that would justify building an entire work of art upon her personal qualities.
Natalie Portman was the star of “V for Vendetta”, “Goya’s Ghosts”, and the upcoming “The Other Boleyn Girl”. The fact is, the further she moves away from her youthful intuitiveness and closer to actual conscious technique, the worse she gets. She was wonderful in “Leon, the Professional” (1994) and intriguing in “Beautiful Girls” (1996) neither of which really demanded much of her other than putting herself in front of the camera and remembering her lines.
It is interesting to me that, for a large segment of the movie-going public, it doesn’t matter if she can act or not as long as whatever it is she is doing in front of the camera appears to be something like acting, and as long as she looks good. Better yet– if something daring is involved– as in “Closer” (2004)– she must really be acting because it must have been hard for her to do. “Star Wars”, of course, doesn’t count. “Star Wars” does not count for anything, ever.
I haven’t seen “The Other Boleyn Girl” yet but I fully expect it to be as bad as “Goya’s Ghosts”, which at least featured counter-balancing performances by Randy Quaid, Javier Bardem, Stellan Skarsgard, and direction by the estimable and sometimes magnificent Milos Forman (“Hair”, “Amadeus”). “Goya’s Ghosts” was almost fun to watch, especially when Natalie Portman was not on the screen. There was a wonderful scene in which an inquisitor is “put to the question”– tortured by the father of one of his victims– to prove to him that anyone will say anything under torture.
But Natalie Portman– look, I’m as disappointed as anyone– but when she has the screen and she is required to come up with a reading of her lines, an interpretation, an affectation, and an evocation of the person she is playing, not some sophomore with outsized ambitions– she falls completely flat. She simply can’t convey the feeling that there is anything behind the facial expression– that it’s not just hanging out there like one of those Greek masks.
Scarlett Johansson shows more raw talent, and Woody Allen was able to get something out of her in “Match Point”, and she may yet find a career as an actress instead of a celebrity, but we’re waiting for the breakout role. (Actually, Scarlett Johansson was brilliant in her first major role, in “Ghost World”, where, like Portman in her early roles, she was more natural and intuitive.)
In the meantime, if you really want something more than eye candy, check out Amy Adams in anything she has done in the last few years. She is a funny-looking actress, and she may never get the same media attention as the other two, but she can out-act both of them in her sleep. She desperately needs a movie worthy of her talents.