MovieChat Forums > 44 Inch Chest (2010) Discussion > John Hurt miscasted?

John Hurt miscasted?

posted 15 years ago by anthony-296
16 replies | jump to latest

I thought the casting was spot-on apart from John Hurt.
Saw this at the recent Sydney film festival and unfortunately John Hurt kept reminding me of Wilfrid Brambell from 'Steptoe & Son'.
Ray Winstone puts in another strong performance but there where problems with the script and a unsatisfying ending.
Not as successful as it could have been; sigh!

[–] i_live_and_eat 15 years ago

your kidding John Hurt was great, perfectly cast as the grumpy old school gangster. I thought his dialogue was fantastic as well, the man who can narrate anything just swearing his head off, fantastic!!!

[–] solarian 15 years ago

I though John Hurt was brilliant.

There was a Q&A tonight at the LFF screening with the director, writers & John Hurt, and one of the writers specifically mentioned how some people have referred negatively to John Hurt's performance being like Wilfred Brambell, but he thought that was perfect, exactly how he imagined the character when he wrote it so he thought it was spot on the way John Hurt played it.

[–] anthony-296 14 years ago

Thanks very much for the information re' the Wilfred Brambell 'connection' & the fact it was how the writer imaged the character to be.
In the light of that information Hurt's performance was spot-on then!

regards,
Anthony

[–] the_Fuzer 14 years ago

He was hilarious, totally cracked me up

[–] daveysnoek 14 years ago

John Hurt was *beep* brilliant in this *beep* film you *beep* *beep* Just look at the way he eats a bag of crisps!

[–] the_Fuzer 14 years ago

[Angry john]
"Sure you did'nt stop off at the Poof's Club on the way back?"

[–] valleyjohn 14 years ago

I can see where you are coming with the steptoe thing but i think he was quite brilliant.

[–] onepotato2 13 years ago

The past tense of "miscast" IS "miscast" ...you stupid fooking koont.

[–] CopOnTheEdge 13 years ago

Bombay roll!?

You threw a monkey in the sea?

[–] harleydanaher 9 years ago

Lick it! Lick it!!

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] MoovieLuvver 13 years ago

Not miscast at all. I loved his character from the first second he appeared...sour old angry bastard...played perfectly!

[–] thetuffpuff 9 years ago

Wow. I'm always surprised at how people can have such different reactions to performances. I thought the complete opposite. I thought that John Hurt was great. Yes, he was a "character" and he went all in. I loved his performance.
On the other hand I thought that Ray Winstone was actually the weakest link (not bad, just the weakest of the excellent ensemble). I thought he hit the love-sick-sad-sack bit TOO hard.
Either way, this is one of my favorite films.

[–] cableaddict 8 years ago

"Miscasted" is not a word.

[–] Edward_de_Vere 8 years ago

Wow. I'm always surprised at how people can have such different reactions to performances. I thought the complete opposite. I thought that John Hurt was great. Yes, he was a "character" and he went all in. I loved his performance.
On the other hand I thought that Ray Winstone was actually the weakest link (not bad, just the weakest of the excellent ensemble). I thought he hit the love-sick-sad-sack bit TOO hard.

I think Colin Diamond was written that way, so I didn't have any problem with his performance.

Other than Hurt's Peanut, I thought that the most interesting character and best performance was Ian McShane's Meredith.

[–] Edward_de_Vere 8 years ago

I thought the casting was spot-on apart from John Hurt.

I thought that John Hurt as Old Man Peanut was the highlight of the film, he was certainly the funniest and most memorable character. If I had to say any actor was miscast, it would probably Dillane as Mal. Dillane is a good actor, but it didn't make much sense to have the scrawniest actor of the lot cast as the gang's muscle.

unsatisfying ending.

There were only two possible endings: killing lover boy or letting lover boy go. I'm not convinced that having Colin kill lover boy would have been that much more satisfying an ending, because then all we'd see of Colin is his thug side rather than his vulnerability. I also appreciated the scene where lover boy shows Colin kindness and compassion that Colin's cold and selfish wife never did, even though her betrayal, unlike lover boy's, was conscious and malicious.