She is completely underrated. She was awsome in this movie. I wanted her to get away with the murders. That is how great she is. She has so much sex appeal and exudes so much charm. I have seen this movie countless times.
"There are two things you should know about me: I'm very rich~~and I'm very wealthy." BlackWidow
With all due respect, I suppose different strokes for different folks rings true here, because I think she's definitely lacking.
On the other hand, she gave one of her better performances in "Black Widow" (her chemistry with Debra Winger is amazing), yet I wish she'd received a bit more direction. If she had, in my mind, this film would have rated a solid 9 instead of the 7 I gave it--simply because of her acting.
That said, this is one of my favorites and I watch it every opportunity I can. It's absolutely fascinating and I never tire of analyzing it ... and watching her in it.
Oh, but then our lives: believe me, they are indeed wretched.
Russell has given mostly poor performances, however, she's effective in STRAIGHT TIME, THE LAST TYCOON and BLACK WIDOW.
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I remember when this film was first released. Theresa Russell was placed on a top ten list of most promising new performers. Truth is, it simply didn't happen, for she had the looks, the interest, but was greatly missing the talent. In a decade when great talents ruled, Ms. Russell didn't had the acting muscles to compete upon the principle leading ladies.
Watching this film today, her superfical transitions in a mult-character role takes away from the believability of the entire movie.
The role was originally to be played by Kathleen Turner, but she was forced out of the project because of other contractual obligations. Michael Douglas's company was to suit her if she did not agree to make the sequeal to Romancing the Store. It's a shame, for the Jewel of the Nile was garbage and Ms. Turner would have been incredible in Black Widow.
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Your right, Pfeiffer would have been a good choice. The film was made a few years before Annette Bening took off, but she may have been even better.
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yes, but Pfeiffer would have never done the nudity which was in the movie. Bening, like Turner, had no problem doing nudity in the early stages of their careers.
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I think not even a great actor can perform miracles when dealing with bad material or being miscast. Theresa Russell has experienced both and maybe made one or two wrong approches to some roles. I do think however that she is very good when given a strong role and characters that fit her. She’s tremendus in ‘Black Widow’, not just for being a gorgeous animal that it is fascinating to watch throughout, but you can always find something new in that performance you haven't noticed, a glimps in her eyes, a warm or icy expression, a second meaning in her voice. There are lairs and lairs to her Rennie Walker and that is the expression of a great job. Besides, she is very charismatic. I can only regret some narrow and barren movies she worked on later in her career.
shareI agree with you Striker. She was, or is, married to Nicolos Roeg who made her his leading lady in many of his films. Nicolas is an avent garde film maker and an acquired taste. He never had any commercial success and Theresa ended up being pigeon holed as an art film actress. Plus she got tagged as just plain awful for appearing in such dreck as Whore, which is wildly ambitious but a a monumental failure.
Black Widow is her best mainstream role and shows what talent she had. Clearly she had the goods to be a major leading lady. This film clarifies that and the critical acclaim and buzz generated showed that Hollywood picked it up too. She chose to follow it up with interesting, but decidedly off-beat choices which killed the momentum.
We have always been at war with Eurasia; Saddam Hussein/9-11; War Is Peace
Probably the most attractive actress I've seen. Superb in this film
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Coz lifes too short to listen to Madlib
Still think you're all wrong. She can't act!!! It's on VOD..Debra Winger was the grounding element to the film..it's almost like they told Russell to count beats before reciting her dialogue..even her bodily language is poorly methodical and strange. Russell's time spent on the A-list was measured with an egg timer, for she didn't have the acting chops to cut it.
shareI found her very interesting to look at, expressive eyes and very sexy. But she is too mealy mouthed to be convincing. I wish she would have had some vocal training, because she had good natural instincts. I agree that she and Debra Winger had some mad chemistry.
I love Theresa Russell in this movie.I've always felt Kathleen Turner in"Body Heat and Linda Fiorentino in "The Last Seduction"tried to be sexy and were very obvious about it.Russell in "Black Widow" goes beyond that and lets you see her agenda with out pretense.
http://troyholden.blogspot.com/2010/07/box-office-poison.html
I think Turner would have been too much in the role.
Russell played it cool, I think she did a great job.
I think Russell is outstanding in this film. She may not be a great actress in the classic sense, but I don't think anyone else could have played this role. She had that certain je ne sais quoi like Nastassja Kinski where she is absolutely exciting to watch and it's absolutely essential for the role.
I think another bonus to her performance is how she is able to lay each of the widows so differently. Each time I watch the film, I can't believe they are all the same person. She can look older when need be. By the time she gets to Hawaii, she looks a lot younger and it throws you off.
I always thought Theresa Russell was a strong actress. Why? Well, I feel she took uncomfortable roles ("Bad Timing", "Eureka", "Whore"), and made them seem effortless. My favorite role that she performed though might be 1990's "Impulse"; I thought she owned that character.
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