As a Christine Baranski fan, I feel there is major incongruity in a 52 year old actor (Baranski) playing the mother of a 40 year old.(Tomei) Was she 12 when she gave birth? Marisa is nice, but no longer the ingenue.
shareSean Connery is only 12 years older than Harrison Ford, but still played his father in Indiana Jones: Last Crusade. Nobody seemed to mind.
shareRachel Griffiths played Johnny Depp's mother in "blow" and she is 5 years YOUNGER than johnny depp.
those of you who think you know everything are annoying to those of us who do.
And Angela Landsbury who is 3 years older than son Laurence Harvey in the Manchurian Candidate and Jesse Landis who was 11 months YOUNGER than son Cary Grant in North by NorthWest.
sharewow..you guys r movie encyclopedias.
shareAnd Pacino's mum in Scarface is only four years older.
I can't remember, but didn't Depp's mum in "Blow" play a part in the scenes showing young George Jung? They would've needed a younger actress to make her more adaptable (You could say the same thing about Sally Field in "Forrest Gump"). I mean there's no way Ray Liotta is old enough to play his dad, I remember he was definately in the young George scenes.
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Dear Wooddonna,
in spite of other replies to your question, I agree with you that Tomei is totally unsuited to be Baranski's daughter. I like Marisa Tomei (I'm Italian, by the way), but, unfortunately, in this movie she looks remarkably older than her actual age. So many wrinkles... what happened with the make-up?
Ciao from Italy
Paolo
It's amazing that so many people do not understand the basic concept of "fiction". (So many not because of this thread, but because I see comments all the time, in various places, where people confuse fiction and facts about the actual world.)
share[deleted]
I'm responding to the initial post in the thread, right? That post questioned having one woman play the mother of another when there is--in reality, not in fiction--only twelve years difference between them. The point is that in the fiction, it is not stated that there is only twelve years difference between them, so noting that fact about reality isn't quite getting the concept of fiction.
We might think that Baranski and Tomei do not look to have enough of an age difference to be mother and daughter, but let's look at that assumption more closely, forgetting about the concept of fiction for a moment. Even if we argued that Baranski looks younger than her age and Tomei older, there really is 12 and a half years difference in their age. Just how many years difference does there need to be between two women for one to be the mother of another? All that's required, at minimum, is that the older woman has reached puberty, had sex, gotten pregnant, and has been able to carry the baby to term then given birth. Women can and regularly do reach puberty by the age of 12. 12 year olds have given birth. This is a medical fact. Regardless of what age we believe Baranski and Tomei to look in the film, in reality, they are 12 years apart in age, and that is something that a 50 year old and 38 year old can look like, per logical identity.
Further, people can and do look much different than we'd expect them to look based on a knowledge of their age. They can either look older or younger than our preconceptions about how that age "should look". Baranski was really 50 and looks like she looks in the film. The fictional character could easily be 55 and look like that. Tomei was really 38 and looks like she looks in the film. The fictional character could easily be 33 and look like that. Is 22 years a sufficient age difference to buy one character being the mother of another?
A fortiori, as fiction, the film need not conform to anything in particular that we believe to be true about the actual world. Fiction is not documentary, and any fact, including physical facts, can be fictionalized. We could have an 80 year old play the daughter of a 5 year old in fiction. Fiction authors/creators can create any world they like, any way they would like it to be.
So Baranski and Tomei's actual ages are irrelevant here, as is your belief that they do not look to have enough age difference to be mother and daughter. In both fiction and reality, these two could easily be mother and daughter. The film is not in error, isn't incorrect, and doesn't have a problem on this point; it's your beliefs and assumptions that are mistaken.
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I agree with you 100%
shareSuspension of disbelief, please.
In "Joey", we're supposed to believe that Gina (played by Drea de Matteo) is Michael Tribbiani's mother, when the actors are only 5 years apart.
Don't take movies so seriously.
It struck me too as ridiculous for Tomei to be Baranski's daughter, but then Anne Bancroft was only six years older than Dustin Hoffman's Graduate when she played his seductress - he was suppose to be twenty something and he was actually 30, she 36.
"Long live the Organization For The Organized!" - The Jacket
I too can get annoyed with regards to the age of actors in cerain roles, but it is usually restricted to films based on existing works where the ages are clearly defined.
Case in point, the film First Knight features Sean Connery as King Arthur, Julia Ormond as Guenevire and Richard Gere as Lancelot. at face value it's OK casting seeing as Guenevire falls for Lancelot. Older husband, younger wife, yada yada, right?
Problem is, in the original Arthur stories Arthur and Guenevire are the same age and Lancelot is older than both of them.
I cannot stomach that kind of oversight of the original material. In the case of Baranski and Tomei I just don't think it's that big of a deal.
Ok. It's the movies. I'm convinced.
sharelet's assume maria tomei could pass for 3-4 years younger and baranski could pass for 3-4 years older there you go not too much of a suspention of disbelief.
shareThat's what I was thinking as well. Baranski could pass for someone in her 50's and Tomei could pass for someone in her early 30's. Actual age is irrelevant, as someone else mentioned.
The other thing that struck me is that the two actresses also have very similar facial features. That's what really made me buy that they were mother and daughter. You could really see it when they were arguing in the kitchen.
She's not playing her real age...besides, she's one of those old Botoxed women.
El Paso, Texas...ever heard of it?