Fri, April 26, 2002

I offer no claim that this opinion is in any way unique, but I think Jodie Foster is amazing. She's the star of one of my favorite films of all time (probably #2 overall, but I've never crunched the numbers, so let's just say in the top 4). But beyond that, I just like her. She exudes a natural grace and a calm, understated dignity to complement her unparalleled beauty and easygoing intelligence. Am I gushing? Am I full of hyperbolic adjectives? That's because Jodie Foster is just that amazing.

Jonathan Demme says that on her first day in front of the cameras for Silence of the Lambs, she was not doing an accent. She had looked at the character and decided that Clarice Starling didn't need one. After a take or two, he approached her and said that he thought the character would have an accent and that it would help in illustrating the way that some of the men in the story make assumptions about her based on superficial things like her accent and the fact that she's a woman. So, according to Demme, Jodie said "Okay," and spent a few moments alone, thinking about it. And then, she was ready, and cameras rolled and the Clarice that we know was born. Just like that, she came up with the perfect accent for the character. And, Zowie!, Oscar® – once again – was Jodie's. What a professional!

I guess I like that story because it illustrates what a depth of understanding she brings to her work. Beyond the fact that she was willing to collaborate with her director and make changes to a character decision that she obviously had not made in haste, I think what's salient is that she knows her craft so well that she can make a sweeping adjustment like that in no time, and still have it ring true with the character. It's important to remember that Jodie started her career at age two, and was on Mayberry, R.F.D. before her sixth birthday. Unlike so many child actors, she brings such talent to her work that she continues to command our attention nearly 35 years later.

What touches me so much is seeing Jodie in roles like Meg Altman in Panic Room from last month. The film is excellent, and Jodie's performance is magnificent, but what I felt was unique to this role was the fact that she was a mom. And a great mom. I felt a very strong connection with her, through the connection she shared on screen with her daughter Sarah (played by Kristen Stewart). She represents the model of a woman who is compassionate, intelligent, and caring (not just in Panic Room, in general) and I really love that about her. It feels comfortable to watch her on screen.

Beyond her spectacular acting talent, though, I really enjoy Jodie Foster for her life off-screen. I have tremendous respect for the decisions she's made (career-wise and otherwise) and for her personality. For starters, obviously, she decided to be in Contact. Love it! She's the perfect person to breathe life into Carl Sagan's character, and it felt as though she saw in the script exactly what I see in it: a fascinating and fantastic story about science and emotion and faith and love. (Plus, it had Jena Malone. You've got her, you've got Anna Paquin and Kirsten Dunst. You've got Natalie Portman. These are the young women who are poised to become the Jodies of tomorrow.) Contact is the best movie decision she ever made. But, a very close second is Maverick. Not because it was all that great, while it was certainly very good, but because it was perfectly timed to remind us that Jodie can have fun. The movie was fun and the making of the movie was fun. I was proud of her.

Third is Hannibal. I understand that there are people who disagree with her decision not to be in this movie. I haven't met them, but I've heard of them. I'm not doing research (just writing from the heart! snif), so I can't tell you whether she passed first or Demme did. But they both did. And a pair of talentless hacks took their place. (Everybody says, "Yeah White Squall sucked, yeah G.I. Jane sucked, but Alien is a classic, so Ridley Scott is a great director!" Correction: Aliens is a classic. Alien is mediocre and the directing draws way too much attention to itself while still not being very interesting. That opening shot? Why? I watched Alien on DVD recently for the first time in at least 10 years, and I can't see what all the fuss was about. I like Ian Holm a lot, but that's it. And, Scott gets a lot of credit for Thelma and Louise, which was good, but not because of him. Because of Susan and Gina. Gladiator winning Best Picture is eclipsed only by Shrek and The English Patient in terms of all-time Oscar® travesties. And don't even get me started on Julianne Moore.) The point is, two very talented people who understand the Silence of the Lambs story said "No, this isn't the way to go." I really respect that, because it was clear that the book was just a mistake. Writing a sequel to a book based on the success of the first book's movie is just a bad idea and it's a damn shame that such talented writers as Thomas Harris and Michael Crichton (The Lost World) have gotten sucked into such an arrangement. The timeline is too short and the temptation to one-up yourself is too great and Hannibal suffered from that in spades. Red Dragon, a Hannibal Lecter story from before there were movies of Hannibal Lecter stories, is due for adaptation later this year and I'm sure it'll be a hell of a lot better. (Getting Ted Tally is a huge start.) Anyway, despite obvious pressure to return to her Oscar®-winning role, Jodie stood firm that the quality of the work was more important and I respect that tremendously.

So, Jodie Foster gets my nomination for Actress Extraordinaire, and I guess all of the above sums up a few reasons why. Can she open a movie all on her own? We'll see how Panic Room does, I guess. But to me, what's more important is not a career studded with box office blowouts, but a body of work peppered with quality work and dedication to the craft.

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