In a 9.18 N.Y. Times piece about standout character performances, Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott have praised Judy Greer‘s third-act turn in The Descendants. “Best known for kooky-friend roles in romantic comedies, Greer makes a strong, poignant impression in three scenes opposite George Clooney. [She’s] playing a fairly tangential character: the wife of the man Mr. Clooney’s wife had an affair with. But whether clueless, bewildered or tearful, Greer shifts the film’s center of gravity and alters its emotional chemistry.
![](/images/column/toronto2011/greer.jpg)
Judy Greer in The Descendants
“A star imports outsized individuality into every role, playing variations on a person we believe we know. A character actor, by contrast, transforms a well-known type into an individual.” And in The Descendants, “Ms. Greer reminds Mr. Clooney’s character and the audience mesmerized by his star power that it is not all about him.”
![](https://hollywood-elsewhere.com/wp-content/themes/amory/patreon-banner.jpg)