MovieChat Forums > Love and Other Impossible Pursuits (2010) Discussion > Natalie P...Please someone explain!!...

Natalie P...Please someone explain!!...

posted 12 years ago by puplover
16 replies | jump to latest

(some spoilage) Just watched this movie; so Natalie's 3 day old baby just died (weeks earlier? I missed beginning), and there are so many scenes where I was waiting for SOME type of emotional outburst; whether screaming, sobbing, or trying NOT to but we could see she was falling apart or whatever. Examples: when Lisa Kudrow bitches Natalie out when she tries to pick her up from school; when the husband says "everything isn't *beep* about Isabelle; when the husband is giving her sh*t for NOT seeming to love his kid enough. Nat's character is in the most confusing, heart-wrenching, grief-stricken time in her whole life and in each of those scenes (plus most others), I'm WAITING for some outrageous emotion to come flooding out of her and...nothing.

When you are grief-stricken, wouldn't you tell the SOB ex-wife to go to hell if you're being yelled at because of food allergies? If that's not in the script, then Natalie, SHOW US that you are wanting to crack at any minute and you are holding on by a thread. I didn't get that for ONE second of the movie. If I didn't know her baby died, I would have thought she just had mild to moderate disappointment in regard to adjusting to new family life.

I feel NOTHING eminating (sorry for sp) from Natalie; she could have done SO much w/ this role. I feel nothing when I watch her. And haven't...since the Professional. In fact, her performance in Black Swan should have been her performance in this...it would have been closer to what the character was going thru: barely hanging on but trying, TRYING, not to fall apart, there are SO many ways for an actor to show that w/o words: that's just a general assessment. So many nuances were missed by her. When Kudrow put her hand on Natalie's shoulder as she walked out the door of her office, that was a tiny choice that said VOLUMES. And Natalie missed all those opportunities.

Does anyone else feel this way?

Thanks for reading!!

[–] puplover 12 years ago

Anyone??

[–] kubrick2899 12 years ago

I'm the exact opposite. It's been quite a while since I've watched this film, and the details and subtleties elude me at the moment, but I felt she delivered a spectacular performance. The performance of hers I wasn't crazy about was BLACK SWAN. There, I felt much of what you're saying about THE OTHER WOMAN. I felt in BLACK SWAN, we were presented with a fidgetty, panicky individual who never really got into the emotional breadth the role demanded. We were presented with a lot of physical changes, rather than true emotional ones.

"Film is an art at its highest level." Paul Joyce, REMEMBERING STANLEY KUBRICK

[–] puplover 12 years ago

Yes! Kubrick2899, I know this board is for "The Other Woman" but that is my exact evaluation about her performance in Black Swan. Just panic-stricken and fidgetty, yes, nothing deeper, nothing that I FELT.

But, maybe I'm saying I just don't find her riveting in the least. I don't get the hype AT ALL. I said on another thread, I found her really entertaining in "The Professional" and that was it.

[–] kubrick2899 12 years ago

Natalie is my favorite actress of all time, and I've seen everything she's ever been in, good, bad, or otherwise. She, like any performer, has delivered some bad performances in her day, and has been in some horrible movies. Just last year gave us YOUR HIGHNESS and NO STRINGS ATTACHED, which were just abominable. I love THE OTHER WOMAN, and another performance of hers I love is FREE ZONE. She's also great in BEAUTIFUL GIRLS.

I'm really glad that someone else out there feels the way I do about BLACK SWAN. I mean, being that she's my favorite actress, I'm glad she has an Oscar. I just wish it was for one of her GOOD performances. I thought Michelle Williams's performance in BLUE VALENTINE was the best nominated performance of last year.

"Film is an art at its highest level." Paul Joyce, REMEMBERING STANLEY KUBRICK

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] goleafsgo27 12 years ago

Bingo! Thank you moose, exactly what I was thinking!

I have seen enough to know I have seen too much.

[–] puplover 12 years ago

I think "Moose" deleted their response...can you tell me what it was? Thanks!

[–] goleafsgo27 12 years ago

I can't recall verbatim, but my sense of it is that NP's character is not just overwhelmed by grief, her grief is overwhelmed by her feelings of guilt as she secretly believes she killed her infant, however accidentally! So her self-esteem is somewhere below zero, which I feel would explain her reactions to events such as being berated by Kudrow's character. Had she "merely" been grief-stricken, she likely would have stood up for herself more. I hope that helps.

I have seen enough to know I have seen too much. -- ALOTO

[–] puplover 12 years ago

goleafsgo27 - Thank you for taking the time to explain that. If I look at it that way...it makes a little more sense. Thanks!

[–] jttoft 12 years ago

I'm confused... Where do you (and others) get the idea that Isabel had "just died"? It seems to me that it was somewhat in the past, but still an important part of their life. Take the Central Park Remembrance Walk, where Emilia says that Isabel died on December 30th. Based on the whether in especially that and other outdoor scenes, I would guess that it was fall - about 10 months after Isabel's death.

In any case, I thought Portman gave a very good performance!

[–] nubafia 12 years ago

@jttoft If I remember correctly, in the scene where Jack tells Emilia that Carolyn is pregnant, he says she is 7 (or 8, I don't remember exactly) weeks pregnant and that she got pregnant right around the time Isabelle died. And that's why Emilia was so outraged. So judging by that, its only been a couple of months.

And to the OP, like others have said, I think that it was because she was harboring the secret and the guilt of killing her child, perhaps she didn't feel worthy/ felt hypocritical of mourning her in that way.

[–] jttoft 12 years ago

If I remember correctly, in the scene where Jack tells Emilia that Carolyn is pregnant, he says she is 7 (or 8, I don't remember exactly) weeks pregnant and that she got pregnant right around the time Isabelle died. And that's why Emilia was so outraged. So judging by that, its only been a couple of months.

- Yes, that's right. My bad. I suppose the whether could fit with the end of winter, too.

[–] Bree_33 12 years ago

I think this movie shows Natalie Portman's great range as an actress(she portrays both the protagonist and the antagonist at the same time). I love that scene when Carolyn explain the truth about Isabel's death. How Emilia reacts, It was a sublime moment because her character is very complex, you finally understand her ...

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[–] kittwarn 11 years ago

Yes, I thought this was a very moving scene too. Your heart just breaks for her.

[–] JaeBianca 10 years ago

The previous poster was correct that the baby's death was several months before the main action of the film. Carolyn decided to have her baby after Emilia's baby's death, then she started fertility treatments, then she got pregnant. Jack started to explain about the hormone treatments affecting Carolyn's attitude, but segued into announcing the pregnancy.

[–] greenfairyXO 8 years ago

That was just her personality as the character. She was hard around the edges. She grew up with her father as a Judge, and she was being trained since a kid to be a lawyer. Lawyer's are very left brained thinkers/feelers for the most part. Her sarcastic and dry humor and relationship she has with Will (Will is also dry, and I think the relationship between them was actually cute, because I think he secretly appreciated her wit, sarcasm, dry humor and such because he was mature and also a bit rough around the edges for his age, and smart for his age) She did have many moments during the movie where she cried, or had moments of remembering Isabelle, and moments where she yelled and flipped out. When William was talking about selling Isabelle's things she flipped. When Jack informed her that Carolyn was having a baby he said something good came from Isabelle dying, she flipped out and screamed "eff you that isnt the reason thats not enough" and stormed out. I think the reason she didnt tell off Carolyn, is because she wanted to show Carolyn she isnt as bad as Carolyn kept making her out to be and she tried to be the better person. She also knew she stole Carolyn's husband, and Carolyn was so incredibly aggressive, and Emilia was emotional and going through things enough as it was, she didn't need to be fighting with someone so outwardly vicious and psychotic towards her, essp in public. So I disagree........I think for who her character was supposed to be it showed her emotions pretty accurately. She wasn't as sensitive or vulnerable or emotional as most characters in films like this. She tried to hold it inside, and a lot of it came out as anger, numbness or using dry humor to get through her frustrations. But the bantor between her and Will I think was also natural, and something they both enjoyed overall. She wasnt always just taking her frustration out on him. I am an emotional person and i wear my heart on my sleeve. I went to school for musical theter and I am right brained person who is very opinionated and passionate and outspoken and impulsive. If it were me I prob would have flipped my shi* on Carolyn a lot. But Emilia wasn't a very combative or confrontational person. She actually held in her shi* pretty well. It's just who she was. She had her moments when she snapped. But Jack even said to her "you're cold" and she was a bit cold, but Jack and William turned her into a more open loving person. Having Isabelle would have done that but she lost her so it made her even more guarded.