Husband and I watched Moneyball this weekend - and I do believe Sinead's house did too! It's a great movie, totally engrossing, enlightening and entertaining. Highly recommend. And I have to say as Brad Pitt ages, he's becoming a better actor - or maybe he's getting better roles suited to his strengths (which are not long speeches, stir the troops, or declare the love or explain the mysteries of the universe - no, he's not good at that).
But, he's got pretty great comic timing and he can be still when he needs to be, which is something not a lot of actors can do. He's got great chemistry with men, even Jonah Hill, there were wonderful believable moments in this Mutt and Jeff relationship. And I think his best skill is his physicality. When he's moving, doing something, he's great. Smashing things up with a baseball batt, destroying enemy soliders, twitching and ticking through 12 Monkeys, bare fist brawling with an Irish accent, as a gum-chewing, goofy dancing trainer in Burn After Reading - give him something to do and the guy sings.
Which is why in contemporary movies, the guy is always eating. The Ocean's movies, and now Moneyball. Endless scenes with the busy working of dipping french fires in ketchup or shrimp in cocktail sauce.
Perhaps the argument is - people eat. All the time. At the very least three times a day. Which reminds me of something Wanda Ottewell told me in the very beginning of my career, when I CONSTANTLY had people eating or taking showers. "Because people do it all the time, we don't need to see it." Unless it means something, obviously. But busy work does not make good reading.
And I think it's time Brad Pitt found something else to do with his hands, because it was the only distracting thing in that movie....
8 comments:
Ha! I don't remember noticing that. Must watch it again now. :)
If you want to see yet another Brad Pitt, see Tree of Life. Oh the tension. Talk about creating a aura of malice by being mostly silent and still. But that might speak more to the talent of the director or the kid who played his son...
I saw it too over the weekend. Really liked it. Except for the end... I don't think I got it. The kid had to fly to see him anyway - what's the freaking big deal flying to Boston?????
But that's just me. And I look at the food thing as something that normalizes him. When you've got someone so "pretty" watching him shove food in his mouth kind of manifies him.
The same could be accomplished with burping. But then it wouldn't give him something to do with his hands.
I believe I might have some suggestions about other things Brad Pitt could do with his hands . . .
I didn't notice it either. What I did notice is that he stopped being Brad Pitt pretty early on in the movie, and that his prettiness actually suited the role.
I liked him. Still have to see Tree of Life.
I always thought the eating Ocean's 11 was pretty funny. He just does it with such charm. It seemed like an in-joke of some kind maybe.
There are painful Brad movies like Interview with the Vampire (shudder!) but in my mind Fight Club makes up for all of them.
Oh my gosh, I noticed that, too, in Ocean's Eleven!!! I pointed it out to my husband -- "Is he eating in EVERY scene?" We thought maybe it had something to do with the theme of the movie (bottomless pit of want??) or maybe was an inside joke of some kind, but it definitely stood out.
I haven't seen Moneyball yet, but now I'm sure I'll notice the eating! Thanks for pointing this out and making me feel like I'm not the only one noticing such things! :)
I was talking to my wife about this (watching ocean 13)Rewatch his films and pay close attention. Scenes are created from multiple takes. He can be eating one thing and then another between conversation.
There is a great supercut on youtube of all his eating scenes in Ocean's Eleven! :D
https://youtu.be/s6mNJwImPb4
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