Miscast & Recast

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Spartan26
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Miscast & Recast

Post by Spartan26 » Sat Aug 20, 2022 5:22 am

Saw the movie, Emily the Criminal, the other night and while I enjoyed it, I’m not quite certain that Aubrey Plaza (Conan on being cast & evidence of her being an INTP here) was the right choice for the part. She had the sweet, innocent face, which I think was necessary, though may've worked against her, but then there were times she didn’t really carry herself as one who’d naturally go to dark places when faced up against it. Scriptwise, I think everything her character did was set up perfectly. But, idk, sight unseen, would you buy Aubrey as a Thug Life sorta girl?

This got me thinking, who have been some of the more notable stars miscast in film or TV shows?

Believe it or not, I remember walking out of Glengarry, Glen Ross and my friend and I both thought Alec Baldwin was miscast for his iconic speech. Thought the guy needed to be younger, like some 28-29 yr old, snot nosed kid, who was youthfully arrogant or lucky or silver spoon trust fund baby type or older, like a seen-it-all type. Gene Hackman or Robert Duvall come to mind. My boss thought the same thing. Her father had worked in real estate. Sometime later I read the stage play by Mamet and the character was given the description of age 62. So, ha!

Michael Douglas was miscast for Falling Down. I may blame director Schumacher on his performance since he literally comes from the world of watching paint dry but that movie kinda was or had the potential to be one of the most profound movies of its era, which is saying a lot. But it needed someone who could do angry funny. Funny first. That movie woulda worked on so many more levels. Jeff Wayne was a comic I thought of then but he wasn’t well known. Lenny Clarke maybe?

Constance Wu in Hustlers. Yeah, not buying her as a single mom stripper.

Idk, unless they were going for the throwback hero who stands hands on hips, chest out, tells kids to eat their vegetables while selling x-ray glasses or secret decoder rings out of the back of a comic book, then I’d say Brie Larson was miscast as Captain Marvel. Maybe she could be a spokesperson for Wonder Bread??

Anyway, who do you got? Who was miscast and better yet, who would you have put in that person’s place?

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puerile_polyp
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Re: Miscast & Recast

Post by puerile_polyp » Sun Aug 21, 2022 9:46 pm

Spartan26 wrote:
Sat Aug 20, 2022 5:22 am
Michael Douglas was miscast for Falling Down. I may blame director Schumacher on his performance since he literally comes from the world of watching paint dry but that movie kinda was or had the potential to be one of the most profound movies of its era, which is saying a lot. But it needed someone who could do angry funny. Funny first. That movie woulda worked on so many more levels. Jeff Wayne was a comic I thought of then but he wasn’t well known. Lenny Clarke maybe?
I loved this movie and thought he was great personally. I don't think I would have liked it as much if it had leaned more funny. It was supposed to be dark and I don't think we're supposed to like him even though we sympathize with him. We're supposed to see the futility of his situation and it's like, it would be a joke if it didn't hit so close to home, so it's unsettling.

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Spartan26
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Re: Miscast & Recast

Post by Spartan26 » Mon Oct 10, 2022 4:44 am

puerile_polyp wrote:
Sun Aug 21, 2022 9:46 pm
Spartan26 wrote:
Sat Aug 20, 2022 5:22 am
Michael Douglas was miscast for Falling Down. I may blame director Schumacher on his performance since he literally comes from the world of watching paint dry but that movie kinda was or had the potential to be one of the most profound movies of its era, which is saying a lot. But it needed someone who could do angry funny. Funny first. That movie woulda worked on so many more levels. Jeff Wayne was a comic I thought of then but he wasn’t well known. Lenny Clarke maybe?
I loved this movie and thought he was great personally. I don't think I would have liked it as much if it had leaned more funny. It was supposed to be dark and I don't think we're supposed to like him even though we sympathize with him. We're supposed to see the futility of his situation and it's like, it would be a joke if it didn't hit so close to home, so it's unsettling.
I don't know if adding humor would've made it a comedy. At least not the way I'm envisioning it. I don't know if Michael Douglas is too charming to be what would now be labeled as a 45-yr-old incel who lives in his mother's basement to begin with. There was so much going on in that film, Dfnse's path from the eastern LA to the coast matched colonial settlers migration from the east coast to the west. Even on a micro level of forcing out Latinos from Chavez Ravine to build Dodger Stadium. I think the film was designed to start off showing the frustration of everyman, like dealing with rush hour traffic to pinhead zombie store workers who can't make a breakfast sandwich 5 mins past 10:30. But then it would delve much deeper into the psychosis of anger and entitlement (That's admittedly more of a mid 2010's concept but I'm struggling to recall what it woulda been called back then). Anyway, I think there was a degradation of the character that was missed because everything remained at surface level observation. And maybe not that it's character deterioration as it is seeing this person for who he truly was. There were characters in the films The Squid and the Whale, A Separation, and this Swedish film that came out a number of years back that was up for an Academy Award called All Things Fair come to mind as being particularly successful in pulling this off. I don't think Falling Down was meant to necessarily be a tragedy. I don't know the screenwriter's and director's intent on how sympathetic the audience is supposed to be with Douglas' character at the end. I do think it was meant to hold a mirror up to society. Of course not everyone is going to feel a sense of shame when the neo-nazi tells him "you and I are a lot alike," just by nature of the diversity of audience seeing it but I think it woulda been effective cinema had people at some point questioned in what ways am I like this guy? Carlin, Lewis Black, Rock, Hicks and Chappelle had/have that ability, that's why I would've first gone with more humor. And admittedly, not fair on my part assuming most people did not. By the end I didn't feel disdain or disconnect from the guy, even though he's not like me. It wasn't like a disconnect for being unrelatable, it was just more of a 'huh, kinda interesting' but not even really documentary level intrigue.

Idk, I guess a windbag way of saying somewhat decent film that missed the mark, heh. I haven't seen it in well over a decade so maybe worth re-watching.

I just saw the movie Tár and was reminded of it. In this case, Cate Blanchett was perfect. More humor woulda killed it. An editor bigger huevos woulda saved it. There was some ambiguity of emotion that I'm not sure how intentional that was supposed to be by the filmmaker. I did think her performance elevated the film but I applaud the guy effectively contrasting themes and motifs.

Yesterday
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Re: Miscast & Recast

Post by Yesterday » Thu Dec 22, 2022 8:56 pm

Spartan26 wrote:
Sat Aug 20, 2022 5:22 am
Saw the movie, Emily the Criminal, the other night and while I enjoyed it, I’m not quite certain that Aubrey Plaza (Conan on being cast & evidence of her being an INTP here) was the right choice for the part. She had the sweet, innocent face, which I think was necessary, though may've worked against her, but then there were times she didn’t really carry herself as one who’d naturally go to dark places when faced up against it. Scriptwise, I think everything her character did was set up perfectly. But, idk, sight unseen, would you buy Aubrey as a Thug Life sorta girl?
Dope write up. I disagree. I've met lots of clandestine evil doers that have difficult to detect ethically deficient tells, as it were. I think the movie's main character is easier to believe when you've spent significant time on the wrong side of the train tracks in society. That is, once you've met a charismatic and charming female street tough Aubrey Plaza's performance surges with believability. What I picked up on is she seems micro expressively perturbed which has me wondering what her backstory is; is she as innocent as we think she is in real life? I think not. I'm guessing there's a correspondence between her sanitized eccentric and sarcastic schtick that belies familial adjacency to the anti-comedic side of life.
ENTP

"Our truest selves exist within the observational incongruencies among general first impressions and further analyses of the finer details."
- from my Ph.D. thesis in psychobabble

Yesterday
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Re: Miscast & Recast

Post by Yesterday » Thu Jun 29, 2023 6:43 pm

Yesterday wrote:
Thu Dec 22, 2022 8:56 pm
Spartan26 wrote:
Sat Aug 20, 2022 5:22 am
Saw the movie, Emily the Criminal, the other night and while I enjoyed it, I’m not quite certain that Aubrey Plaza (Conan on being cast & evidence of her being an INTP here) was the right choice for the part. She had the sweet, innocent face, which I think was necessary, though may've worked against her, but then there were times she didn’t really carry herself as one who’d naturally go to dark places when faced up against it. Scriptwise, I think everything her character did was set up perfectly. But, idk, sight unseen, would you buy Aubrey as a Thug Life sorta girl?
Dope write up. I disagree. I've met lots of clandestine evil doers that have difficult to detect ethically deficient tells, as it were. I think the movie's main character is easier to believe when you've spent significant time on the wrong side of the train tracks in society. That is, once you've met a charismatic and charming female street tough Aubrey Plaza's performance surges with believability. What I picked up on is she seems micro expressively perturbed which has me wondering what her backstory is; is she as innocent as we think she is in real life? I think not. I'm guessing there's a correspondence between her sanitized eccentric and sarcastic schtick that belies familial adjacency to the anti-comedic side of life.
(edited)
Chat GPT script:

"The passage you provided is a commentary or opinion about a movie and a particular character, likely written by someone who has watched the film. Here's a breakdown of the main points:

"Dope write up. I disagree." - The writer is complimenting the write-up or review they are responding to, but stating their disagreement with its content.

"I've met lots of clandestine evil doers that have difficult to detect ethically deficient tells, as it were." - The writer is claiming to have encountered many secretive individuals who exhibit subtle signs of lacking ethical behavior.

"I think the movie's main character is easier to believe when you've spent significant time on the wrong side of the train tracks in society." - The writer believes that the main character of the movie is more convincing or relatable to those who have experienced life in challenging or marginalized circumstances.

"That is, once you've met a charismatic and charming female street tough Aubrey Plaza's performance surges with believability." - The writer suggests that the believability of the main character's portrayal increases when you have encountered someone like Aubrey Plaza's character, who is charismatic and tough.

"What I picked up on is she seems micro expressively perturbed which has me wondering what her backstory is; is she as innocent as we think she is in real life? I think not." - The writer noticed subtle signs of the character's inner disturbance through micro-expressions, which has sparked their curiosity about her background. They suspect that she may not be as innocent as she appears.

"I'm guessing there's a correspondence between her sanitized eccentric and sarcastic schtick that belies familial adjacency to the anti-comedic side of life." - The writer speculates that there is a connection between the character's outwardly peculiar and sarcastic behavior and her proximity to a darker or less comedic aspect of life, possibly suggesting a troubled family background.

Overall, the passage expresses the writer's disagreement with the original write-up and offers their own interpretation of the movie's main character, focusing on her believability, personality traits, and potential backstory."
ENTP

"Our truest selves exist within the observational incongruencies among general first impressions and further analyses of the finer details."
- from my Ph.D. thesis in psychobabble

Yesterday
Posts: 332
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Re: Miscast & Recast

Post by Yesterday » Fri Oct 20, 2023 8:24 am

Is Rowen Atkinson's Mr. Bean an alien? Because I don't think he was doing it right.
ENTP

"Our truest selves exist within the observational incongruencies among general first impressions and further analyses of the finer details."
- from my Ph.D. thesis in psychobabble

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