Actors in a Different Realm
Sometimes actors take a leap into a completely different style of film or character, and boy does it work.
1. Parkland; Peter Landesman Click here to see trailer
Zac Efron plays the surgeon, Dr. Charles Carrico, placed in charge of attempting to revive U.S President J.F. Kennedy the day he was assassinated. The entire cast of this film do an amazing job replicating the chaos and sheer panic that would have been encapsulated in the small operating theatre, but after seeing him in High School Musical I never expected him to play such a powerful and serious character.
2. The Reader; Stephen Daldry Click here to see trailer
Kate Winslet delivers a dynamic and heart wrenching performance as Hanna Schmitz, a German woman who has a passionate and secretive affair with a young man half her age who reads to her on a daily basis. Nearly ten years later and after losing contact with Hanna, the man is now a law student and encounters her on trial for war crimes. It is different to see Winslet without her usual perfect English accent and aloof demeanour, and instead we her harsh and fighting for her freedom.
3. Don Jon; Joseph Gordon-Levitt Click here to see trailer
Joseph Gordon-Levitt has written, directed, and starred in this little ditty of a film. He plays Jon, a porn addicted New Jersey guy on his quest to find love. The music, camera work, and genuine acting are all very unique. Joseph has also transformed his body for this role, he looks and speaks nothing like I have heard him before. I especially enjoyed the contrast Joseph created with the sex scenes, comparing the porn, the one night stand, and the potential for true love.
Paul Walker plays the love interest of a girl thrown into a black and white television show from the 1950s, Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon). This whole movie is strange yet exciting, as the town of innocence and repetition slowly transforms and bright colours appear as they become more adventurous. Paul Walker's character is nothing like you would be used to from his more recent movies, with manners that could kill, dapper hair, and a letterman jacket.
5. Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind; Michael Gondry Click here to see trailer
Jim Carrey like you've never seen him before; serious, sullen, and head over heels in love with a tangerine haired Kate Winslet. The two undergo a procedure in which the other is erased from their mind after a messy break up, and we follow the memories of the couple fading throughout Joel Barish's (Carrey) mind. This film made me weep, laugh and reminisce about my own break ups and we realise how important all memories are - even if painful.
6. The Royal Tenenbaums; Wes Anderson Click here to see trailer
Ben Stiller plays Chas Tenenbaum in another colourful and unique comedy/drama by Wes Anderson. The Tenenbaums are a highly dysfunctional and perhaps hostile family attempting to reunite with their estranged father, Royal (Gene Hackman). Each of the three siblings are entirely different from the other with something spectacularly unique about them, Margot (Gwyneth Paltrow) lost a finger on the search for her real family, Richie (Luke Wilson) is a tennis champion with a pet eagle, and Chas (Stiller) lost his wife and has henceforth become overly protective of his two young boys. As with all Anderson films, this one is delightfully strange- and a little sad, but it was nice to watch Ben Stiller create a character who wasn't an awkward, loved up moron.
7. Dallas Buyers Club; Jean-Marc Vallée Click here to see trailer
Jared Leto; the role everyone was talking about. The true story shows Ron Woodfroof (Matthew McConaughey) hustling his way around the medical system to bring medication into the United States for AIDS patients, after he himself is diagnosed with the disease.
8. The Wolf of Wall Street; Martin Scorsese
Jonah Hill is the kid who grew up in comedies, but I think he blossomed in this role. Another true story, this time of Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) a high rising stock-broker not afraid to break the rules and cause a scene. His partner in crime, Donnie Azoff (Hill) is quick to join in with his escapades. This movie is long, but certainly didn't feel like it with loud and bustling snappy scenes, lots of drugs and nudity, and the most amount of F bombs than any other film, ever.
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