Cinecast Mailbag (10/5)

Return of the mailbag, with some gentle chiding from one listener who wants to point out some gaps in our Top 5 Actresses list. Oh, and some Faye Dunaway bashing ... which is always fun.

Sam, Adam -
Before I say anything else, I've got to get this out of the way. Faye Dunaway is a double decker ham and cheese sandwich. Subtlety is a word absent from her dictionary....The only range she has sits in her kitchen. That said, there can be a time and place for such performances. It works beautifully in "Mommie Dearest" or "Network," where the shallowness of the characters leaves no room for unnecessary claptrap such as vulnerability or doubt. She can play one note, can play it cleanly and can play it pretty loud. But one note does not a virtuoso make. Enough said. What surprised me most about your recent list of Top 5 actresses was the exclusion of three very reliable, accomplished actresses.

First is Susan Sarandon. Smart, strong, sexy, funny, vulnerable. She is the actress that Faye Dunaway wants to believe she is. Hell, I'd rather watch one of Sarandon's make-up commercials over any Dunaway performance. She can take the worst movie (can you spell S-T-E-P-M-O-M?) and make it enjoyable. And how many actresses can make you want to sin at the altar of baseball ("Bull Durham") and then pray for absolution from your sins at the altar of God ("Dead Man Walking") with equal conviction and authenticity? If for no other reason, she deserves to be on the list for her absolutely stunning performance in George Miller's "Lorenzo's Oil," in which she portrays a mother watching her child basically disintegrate in front of her. Her exclusion from your lists is unforgivable.

Second is Frances McDormand. Known mostly for her work in a number of Coen Bros films, she is one of the single most reliable actresses working. Does this woman ever give a bad performance? From her work in "Almost Famous" to "Wonder Boys" to "Mississippi Burning," her work is never less than believable and interesting. Add in the Coen's films, and it leaves one question: Naomi who??

Finally, I have to include Dame Maggie Smith. The woman brings a sense of class to anything she works on. Equally adept at playing Shakespeare, Agatha Christie, and Neil Simon comedy, she is truly one of the most gifted actresses out there. Her moments as the older Wendy in Spielberg's "Hook" held the only moments of magic the movie could muster. Hell, I even sat through "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" solely for her work in the film. I just hope to see her more often than the occasional Harry Potter film every year or so.

Well, as always, keep up the great work -- Stuart Kazanow, Reisterstown, MD

Stuart -- great e-mail. Thanks for doing my dirty work re: Dunaway. I'll try and remember your "the only range she has is in her kitchen" line the next time Adam mentions "the most overrated actress in the history of cinema." Onto your picks for actresses overlooked by Adam and I on Cinecast #42...

#1: Susan Sarandon. I don't know. You make a great point about her ability to play, with conviction, the saint and the sinner; but I always felt she took herself (and her character) too seriously in "Dead Man Walking" and as iconic a performance as hers is in "Bull Durham," I'm not totally sold on her ability to really cut loose. She's never really given a performance that's really excited me. (On a side note, I recently watched "Bull Durham" again for the first time in a while, and maybe it's because I've gotten a little older, but I found Annie Savoy to be more annoying than sexy. Maybe it's blasphemy to suggest it, but she reminded me of a lot of the hyper-literate and condescending women I'd met in my life that I've learned by now to steer clear of. Apologies to any hyper-literate, condescending women in the Cinecast audience.)

#2: Frances McDormand. OK. I'm not going to argue this one. Frances McDormand is a very good actress. She's smart and she knows what she's doing. My problem is that she seems to know exactly how good she is. And I see that in some of her performances. Particularly "Fargo." She seems to comment on the character as she's playing it. She gets all the details right. The accent. The behavior. The tone. But there's an emotional distance between McDormand and her character that bothers me. That being said, check out John Sayles' "Lone Star." It's a great movie that's worth seeing all on its own; but Frances McDormand has a single scene (playing Chris Cooper's ex-wife) and it is just astounding. A must-see if you're a McDormand fan. [Adam chimes in: "So let me get this straight, you LOVE Frances McDormand playing an over-the-top one-note role, but Faye Dunaway isn't subtle enough? Sure.]

3. Dame Maggie Smith. You're preaching to the choir on this one, Stuart. She's amazing. I definitely considered her for my list, but just hadn't seen enough of her work to justify her inclusion. It does give me an opportunity, however, to mention a favorite film of mine -- Robert Altman's "Gosford Park." A lot of people I know don't care for it. I like it more every time I see it. Great ensemble acting, a great script, and impeccable, invisible direction from Altman. And one of the greatest things about this movie is the performance of Dame Maggie Smith. As the stuffy widow who's short on cash, Smith steals scene after scene with bitterly funny one-liners.

- Sam