The thing that makes Libby's character so great is the truth behind it. PR professionals face this kind of limbo often. I've never dealt with it on that scale, but the morality dance of the job is so perfectly illustrated through Kathy Bates' performance.
my two cents--
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I agree: a great character. I don't think there are three actresses that could pull it off and Kathy Bates would always be the best. Someone in politics trying to do it the right way? Unbelieveable. She totally stole that whole movie. At the end, she was the only character I cared about. Certainly an Oscar-winning performance.
shareShe said it was the best role that had come down the pike in a very long time. I'm surprised she and Nichols never collaborated together again after this project.
share...an old post, I know, but I feel compelled to comment.
Bates was just brilliant in this film, she completely embodied the reality of a committed activist.
Activism and politics are one-and-the-same, and arch enemies at the same time. Politics is activism and activism is politics; they are married to a large degree, but at the same time, represent the most bitter of divorcees, and Bates truly encapsulates that paradoxical relationship.
Her character embodies all that drives people with an ideal to keep fighting, and the consistent and merciless heartbreak that comes with being a person of that constitution.
Libby also shows us how naive idealist thinking is, and how counter-productive it can be to REAL change.
Henry's the one that realises that change has to happen within the corridors of Congress, that is, the corridors of REAL power; you've got to get down and dirty, because that's the only way you can affect REAL change - sad-but-true.
Bates was the stand out in this film, and just reminded me how wonderful she is as an actor. Just brilliant! Bravo!
Yes, whe was amazing. Loyalty to a person who eventually is a big disappointment was her tragic end.
shareLibby shows why idealism and clinging to political purity doesn't and cannot work. You have to decide which issues you MUST support and which issues you can compromise on. You cannot hardline on everything and we don't teach that anymore like we should.
Yes this is how and why bills did get passed.
Does anyone else think the film is ambiguous about her death? (i.e., the "suicide" wasn't really a suicide...)
share