I love Laura Linney. Nay...I worship Laura Linney. She's my favorite actress, certainly currently working and perhaps ever. No one is more consistently brilliant. Take, for instance, Kinsey. While most actresses would have only bothered to show up and not truly try to put any effort into the movie, knowing they had the inherently Oscarable role of the "long-suffering yet loyal spouse in a biopic." Instead, Linney puts fire and life (I know it was basically made to be teh Oscar clip, but that "stop using science to justify what you've done" scene is great), as well as her usual sublety, into the role. She never takes that part for granted and her Oscar nomination was completely deserved (as were her other two, but in an ideal world, she'd have at least seven. Yes, I said seven!). Most people, thank God, agree with me on La Linney, but if she ever gets backlash, it's that she "coasts." That's a ludicrous charge. What happens is, Linney almost never wants you to see her acting, unlike, say, Cate Blanchett or Marion Cotillard in La vie en rose, just to name two punching bags of this blog who were the first to come to mind (sorry guys). Instead, she does what should be the goal of every actor/actress: she becomes her characters. Think about what she's best known for - usually, it's playing a complicated woman in a complicated family. That's an outline, yes, but all these families are different. Linney always captures the precise dynamics in every family she portrays, and she always makes it look effortless and incredibly charming. I can see how some say she "coasts" but she just doesn't do it, dammit!
Laura Linney is the patron saint of this blog, and if you don't like it, GTFO.
Laura Linney is the patron saint of this blog, and if you don't like it, GTFO.
