Let’s face it - nearly every male movie goer fell hard for Scarlett Johansson the first time he saw her on the big screen.
For me, it happened during the sublime “Lost in Translation.” And her quiet beauty in “The Girl with the Pearl Earring” only made matters worse.
But something happened to the actress since then. She stopped being anything but a gorgeous face. Her once poignant stares lost their potency. Her dramatic moments started falling flat.
It’s hard to track her descent, and it’s possible I initially gave her credit for acting chops she didn’t possess.
Her film selection hasn’t helped.
“The Island.” “The Black Dahlia.” “The Nanny Diaries.” “The Spirit.”
Did I mention “The Black Dahlia?”
She’s become Woody Allen’s latest muse, a position which Diane Keaton and Mia Farrow used to their distinct advantage.
But Johansson is the weakest link in the recent “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” and “Scoop” deserves a slot in Allen’s forgettable film vault.
The beautiful actress is still quite young - 24 - so she has plenty of time to mature, and grow, as an artist.
For now, Johansson remains Allen’s occasional muse … and a conundrum for those expecting bigger things from her beguiling screen start.
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I'm an award-winning journalist and film critic with more than a decade of experience in newspapers, magazines and the Web. I'm a member of both the Washington, DC Area Film Critics Association and the Denver Film Critics Society.
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She was lovely in The Man Who Wasn’t There, and her role wasn’t that big.
Funny, but she had the same sort of descent as Natalie Portman - much better as pre-teens than as adults. Portman has never topped “The Professional” or “Beautiful Girls” and Scarlet never topped “The Horse Whisperer.” I think George Lucas awful people-skills as a director may have did in Portman, but not sure what to think of Johansson. Maybe she figured viewers were too busy staring at her chest to see that she was acting.
So when are we gonna get an article about the Gwyneth Paltrow (GOOP) conundrum (which has lasted far longer), or for that matter, Spike Lee?
Utterly agree about Portman … so very, very good in Beautiful Girls, then the wicked Lucas sapped all the skill right out of her. It seems it’s permanent in the case of Hayden Christensen.
I never understood Johanssen’s appeal. A great body, but not much talent, and the face of a baby chicken. Highly overrated, IMHO.
I would quibble with your assertion about Hayden Christensen, though. Normally he’s a whiny man-child who makes awful movies, but he was excellent in Shattered Glass. I’ve seen videos of the real Stephen Glass, and Christensen nailed him in that movie. If only he had continued to pick good movies, or show the promise he showed in that one…
Hayden was respectable in “Glass,” although I though Peter Saarsgard (sp?) was superior. But easily the Jedi’s best flick.
Can you imagine Lucas scoured the planet for just the right actor to play Anakin … and chose him???
Which says everything about Lucas’ judgment after 20 years of not directing. That said, everyone outside of Ewan McGregor was extremely wooden, including Sam Jackson, which says to me Lucas was more at fault than the cast. How in the hell could you make Jewels wooden?
I’d still take Scarlett (and for that matter Natalie) even at her worst talent-wise over the likes of GOOP Paltry, Kate Hudson, and certainly Lindseed Lorent…and so would ANY of you if you have a soul!
I’ll take 1 Anna Faris over 5 Scarlett Johansson’s any day…
Your math is sound, Blackhawk.
I’ll see your Anna (admittedly quite awesome in Observe and Report AND esp. Smiley Face, though she needs to steer clear of the Scary Movies already) and raise you one Kristen Bell…