Whiny, moody, shrewish and annoying. I'm not sure how old the character was supposed to be, but she behaved like a bratty teenage girl. Hard to believe a sophisticated woman like Theo would be even slightly interested in her. I like Lili Taylor in other movies, but her character mostly ruined this movie for me.
Stalked by coleburnz07 since 2012 and Scarletknights since 2007!share
In the novel she's thirty-two.
I guess you have to give Lili Taylor some credit for taking on characters that can make you squirm (Lisa Kimmel in Six Feet Under, the Andy Warhol-shooting Valerie Solanas, and others).
She's being neither of what you've said, what are you on about?
shareShe was ALL of what I said, and that is one of the many reasons why this movie sucked.
Stalked by Bliskin since 2016, coleburnz07 since 2012 and Scarletknights since 2007.share
I agree about Taylor, but then, she wasn't much different from her character in "Mystic Pizza" or "High Fidelity". She's clingy, desperate but unrelentingly annoying. Even though I pitied her, I found myself wishing that the house would just finish her off!
I recall the 1963 film having a similar character, played by Julie Harris, as did the original story by Shirley Jackson. She's supposed to be unlikable. So in that sense, Taylor fits the bill.
-Those we should know elude us. But we can...love without complete understanding.
May be among my last posts if the message boards are ended - yeah, I think Taylor has found a niche for herself with this kind of role; see the second season of American Crime for example.
The dialogue given to Julie Harris was somewhat different; she could have an adult conversation at times. There seemed to be a tension within her between her "normal" side and her emotionally fragile side.
Yes, I agree that Taylor is definitely a "niche" kind of actor. Even in the film "High Fidelity", in which she plays one of John Cusack's character's ex-girlfriends --SPOILER (I think)!-- and even he gets squeamish about the idea of another hook-up with her years later--calling it a "pity" thing.
I remember Julie Harris as different in that version of The Haunting. She has always been sort of sylph-like, delicate and intellectual, which it seems the ghosts (or whatever they were ) took advantage of.
Unlike Taylor, Harris is more known for playing smart (if quirky) women like Emily Dickinson ("The Belle of Amherst") and Mary Todd Lincoln ("The Last of Mrs. Lincoln"). My favorite, though small, role by her is the professor Reggie Delessups in "The Dark Half", an adaptation of Stephen King's novel with Timothy Hutton. She's the perfect Bohemian, earthy-crunchy mistress of the occult, who smokes a pipe and helps Hutton's character, Thad Beaumont, deal with a supernatural serial killer. In this film, she is definitely NOT weak or delicate!
By the way, I think that this is a really underrated film, better than King's "Secret Window" (which is still very good).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106664/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_18
-Those we should know elude us. But we can...love without complete understanding.
Her eyebrows were also annoying! They looked like math brackets!
shareTo be fair, the character is supposed to be emotionally repressed, so the "bratty teenage girl" element is intentional. However, the way this version handles her character is pretty subpar, especially with the decision to nix the "questionable sanity" part of her characterization.
shareWell she was quite annoying in the original as well.
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