"Pompeii" and Johansson

• email this story
• read comments (32)
• post a comment
• 
  
  

If the casting rumors are true, Orlando Bloom will play an upstanding engineer named Marcus Attilius Primus in Roman Polanski's Pompeii, which will start shooting in August. The rumor mill is also saying that Scarlett Johansson may be cast as as Cornelia, the "defiant daughter of a vile real estate speculator who supplies Marcus with documents implicating her father in a water embezzlement scheme," according to an Amazon synopsis.

How did Johansson become the dominant period actress of our time? She was right for her role and quite good in Match Point, playing an insecure 21st Century neurotic, but did anyone really believe her as a subservient Dutch maid in The Girl with the Pearl Earring? There's something about her that's almost molecularly 21st Century -- something common and mall-ish in that vaguely teasing, mind-fucky manner of hers. I didn't believe her in The Black Dahlia and The Prestige, both period films. And she's up to more period The Other Boleyn Girl and Mary Queen of Scots.

I thought it had been widely agreed that Johansson hasn't just been over-rated but is close to over. (Which doesn't mean "dead" -- only that it's time for a serious career re-think.) Why is it that the internet community always seems to understand the the new modes of perception about this actress or that genre months faster than the filmmakers and the suits?

comment #1

Rich S. says ...

I agree about Johanssson, but what about Bloom? Didn't Kingdom of Heaven teach them anything? He's okay as the vaguely androgynous second banana, but he just hasn't shown himself to be leading man material. To paraphrase Chris Rock, "If you want Russell Crowe, don't settle for Orlando Bloom."

comment #2

Hrefna says ...

I think Johansson can have a good period look in still photographs. Carefully posed still photographs. It's when she starts to move or speak that the trouble starts, her body language and tones of voice are just so hopelessly contemporary.

comment #3

PaulKolas says ...

I think your perception of Johansson is fairly much on the money, Jeff, although I'm hoping Polanski can untap something in her we haven't seen before. What troubles me about her, as you say, is that she's just too damn "contemporary" for an historical epic like this. And I'm far from thrilled that the feckless Orlando Bloom is playing the protagonist. Maybe the character of Marcus is one of those passive types swept up in a tidal wave of events and will react accordingly, much like Omar Sharif did in "Doctor Zhivago". Also, doesn't the plot sound awfully similar to the water embezzlement scenario of "Chinatown"? I can just see the closing line of dialogue..."forget it Marcus...this is Pompei".

comment #4

Rich S. says ...

I'm also wondering why no outrage over the fact that Polanski is making what amounts to a disaster film. "Two young lovers meeting under the backdrop of one of the great catastrophes of the ancient world."

I guess it could be okay (Titanic); or not (Pearl Harbor).

comment #5

Me says ...

I'm cool with a disaster movie (what else would a movie called Pompeii be). What's got me concerned is the whole evidence of a water stealing scheme thing - it sounds so stupidly political and conscientious, like it wants to be the China Syndrome. Blech.

comment #6

sardine says ...

Sofia Coppola put Scarlett on the MAP. LIT is her best performance. Jeff, you are always off when it comes to performances, and, of course, Sofia Coppola.

comment #7

OddDuck says ...

Am I alone in thinking that Girl With A Pearl Earring was an awesome movie and that Scarlett was just about perfect in her role? Typically I'm not one for movies that have the potential to bore, and had read numerous reviews warning that this one was akin to watching paint dry, but I was entranced and mesmorized.

comment #8

Deege says ...

She's pretty, she's sexy, she's watchable...all in a pin-up sort of way. But she's not a believable or compelling actress.

I'll give it the benefit of the doubt only because it's Polanski, but I sense a certified mess coming our way.

comment #9

erniesouchak says ...

She has big breasts. That explains everything.

comment #10

erniesouchak says ...

I thought Orlando Bloom was takng time off to sit on a mountain or something? Poor thing. Polanski does his best work with good actors, but who knows, maybe he can perform miracles w/bad ones.

comment #11

hhh43089 says ...

Jeff,

This was reported about a month ago. Bloom and Scarlett were attached but aren't now that production was delayed to early 08. Conflicting schedules. They'll find better.

comment #12

T. S. Idiot says ...

I agree with OddDuck about GWPE, one of the most beautifully photographed films of recent years. I had doubts that SJ could pull it off, but she convinced me.

comment #13

Monument says ...

I'm not going to argue about Johansson in the looks department, she's gorgeous...but that voice. She sounds like a teenage valley boy that's smoked one too many cigarettes; it's turned me off in just about every one of her performances.

As for Bloom, I don't think he's quite found himself as an actor yet. Don't forget, Lord of the Rings was his first film. He was made into a superstar before he had any chance to build a real foundation as an actor; I wouldn't write him off just yet. And if you have a free night, go rent the director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven. You'll see a much better performance by Bloom, and a much much better film.

comment #14

Jayne Gacey says ...

Why does everyone want the Best Actor now? This is how the '70s ruined Hollywood. There was a time when that wasn't the only concern. Have you people ever actually seen a Tyrone Power movie? Real men don't need to act!

Monument, you couldn't be more right about Kingdom of Heaven. I would put the director's cut as one of the best films of 2005.

comment #15

cjKennedy says ...

I haven't seen GWPE but I might have to check it out now. Until I read the positive comments about it I was prepared to agree with Jeff about Scarlett working period. In the stuff I've seen, she's almost as jarring to me as Keanu Reeves in Dangerous Liaisons or Much Ado about Nothing.

Still, she might be 'over' in the Jeff Wells Handbook of Hollywood Success, but I still like her in the right thing.

comment #16

cjKennedy says ...

And I agree with Monument about not yet writing off Bloom. He might not be living up to some expectations (again according to the Jeff Wells Handbook of Hollywood Success), but he could still find his niche. So what if he doesn't turn into another Tom Hanks or Tom Cruise or Will Smith?

comment #17

Ogami Itto says ...

"Have you people ever actually seen a Tyrone Power movie? Real men don't need to act!"

Orlando Bloom is no Tyrone Power, and Bloom is not what I think of as a "real man." He looks about 16 or 17.

comment #18

Monument says ...

"Bloom is not what I think of as a "real man." He looks about 16 or 17."

That's what everyone used to say about Leonardo DiCaprio. It took him a long time, but he just turned in two of his finest performances this past year. Who knows what will happen with Bloom.

comment #19

OddDuck says ...

Orlando's problem isn't just that he looks young, it's that he looks squirrelly, or more accuratley, kind of like a ferret. I can see him looking more fox-like in another 5-10 years, maybe.

And re: Scarlett in GWPE - I think one reason she did so well in that movie is that she had remarkably little dialogue. So much of the movie is simply her posing or silently reacting to what's going on around her. I'm not diminishing her performance, because I think it was very nuanced and subtle and just spot-on for her character, but still, she didn't have to talk much.

comment #20

T. S. Idiot says ...

"she's almost as jarring to me as Keanu Reeves in Dangerous Liaisons or Much Ado about Nothing." Nothing is more jarring than KR in Little Buddha. Come to think of it, nothing is more jarring than KR.

comment #21

cjKennedy says ...

You know, I almost added Little Buddha to the list but I hate to kick a man when he's down...even KR.

comment #22

sardine says ...

keanu is one of the most interesting actors around. it you don't see it, you don't see it.

comment #23

Gus Petch says ...

Another voice of support for Girl with a Pearl Earring. It's a fine, and underrated, movie: intriguing premise, stunning photography, well acted. Johansson carries off her role perfectly, and OddDuck is exactly right that the limited dialogue helps her out.



I can't disagree with Jeff more, though, when he says that Johansson "was right for her role" in Match Point. She was badly miscast in that movie IMHO. She is way too (1) young and (2) eye-poppingly gorgeous to be believable as a long-struggling actress who's about ready to give up the profession. Her being American doesn't help either. Kate Winslett, the original choice for that role, would have carried it off better for a whole host of reasons. Don't get me wrong -- Johansson did what she could with a role to which she was poorly suited. But Match Point is a great movie despite Johansson's casting, rather than because of it.

comment #24

cjKennedy says ...

Sardine, I've grown to appreciate Keanu in the right things, but in period stuff he's deadly. One man's opinion.

comment #25

Monument says ...

I really wonder how Keanu Reeves would be viewed if he had never made Bill and Ted. I

comment #26

Jay T. says ...

Duh... it's because she's one of the few young, attractive actresses that actually has curves - and casting a waif in a period film usually looks off to most directors.

comment #27

Reedyb says ...

Here's an interesting (at least to me) thought.

Woody Allen and Roman Polanski were the only two directors who ever got a great performance out of Mia Farrow.

Maybe they will be the same for Scarlet Johansson?

Maybe not, just a thought.

comment #28

OddDuck says ...

I think Peter Webber (GWPE) got a good performance out of her, and so did Sofia Coppola. Also, I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I watched and enjoyed The Horse Whisperer - a thoroughly syrupy, cliched and contrived Hallmark-level mess that was completely elevated by several great performances, including Scarlett.

comment #29

Mgmax says ...

"defiant daughter of a vile real estate speculator who supplies Marcus with documents implicating her father in a water embezzlement scheme"

Didn't Polanski already make this movie?

Forget it, Marcus, it's Pompeiitown.

comment #30

Ogami Itto says ...

"That's what everyone used to say about Leonardo DiCaprio. It took him a long time, but he just turned in two of his finest performances this past year. Who knows what will happen with Bloom."

Yeah, but the difference is that DiCaprio was actually a good actor when people hassled him about his boyish looks. I can't same the same for Bloom.

Also, I thought Dicaprio was great in The Departed, but miscast in Blood Diamond; I just couldn't accept him as a hardass smuggler, and that was mostly because of how he looks. Its not his fault (and God bless him for being so attractive), but there are simply some roles which, however good the actor, aren't going to work if the actor doesn't look the part.

I would've bought someone like Clive Owen in that role, however; he has a natural world-weary cynical quality perfect for DiCaprio's character in Blood Diamond.

comment #31

Ogami Itto says ...

""defiant daughter of a vile real estate speculator who supplies Marcus with documents implicating her father in a water embezzlement scheme"

Didn't Polanski already make this movie?

Forget it, Marcus, it's Pompeiitown"

I wonder if Scarlet J.'s character will also be the real estate developer's mistress? ;-)

comment #32

Reliable Witness says ...

This rumor has already been shot down. http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=20320

UPDATE: We have delved more into this story and, while Bloom and Johansson were indeed in consideration for the film, they can't do the film because production has been postponed until April 2008, which conflicts with the actors' schedules. The movie is still being sold at the Cannes Film Festival with a promise of A-list actors attached. It should hit theaters 3rd or 4th Quarter 2009.

Furthermore, even if they were filming this August Orlando Bloom is unavailable as he opens a play on the West End in July that runs through September.

Post a Comment