*Spoiler?*
Looking at the early part of the performance, there is no clue that Frank is anyone other than a math teacher. It's as if no one told Depp that he was Alex until the scene when he opens the safe.
its called good acting which that is exactly what depp is -- a great actor; actually angie/depp had tons of chem - job well done, loved it.
shareYou could clearly see Frank recognising Elise at the train when they first met.
shareMaybe he was playing a role playing game with her like some couples do when they are bored.
share[deleted]
Great post rkj. I so agree. Do people think Depp can't play two characters in the same film? Or that his agent would advise him to do a film when he hasn't read the script? Though, I did wonder halfway through if Depp had read the script cause it was just so awful, and considering the deep love the characters were supposed to be experiencing, the chemistry was non existent. A bad movie and I'm not sure what the filmmakers were even trying to achieve with it. Cynical move on their part maybe, put all the stars in and who cares about the script may have been the plan but it did not work.
shareLooking at the early part of the performance, there is no clue that Frank is anyone other than a math teacher. It's as if no one told Depp that he was Alex until the scene when he opens the safe.
I know this is a very, very late response.
But Depp acted like Alex the whole time.
I love this film, especially after knowing the spoiler. Depp played the ambiguity so well it's incredible to just watch his performance.
When I first saw it, I kinda think it was b.s. that he was Alex the whole time, that it was just a gimmick twist. As I saw no sign of him being Alex.
Upon second viewing, everything actually worked. And I've seen it several times since.
Depp played it as if he was unsure if she still recognized him when they first met ( which we took for being uneasy around beautiful stranger ). He even did a double take because he hadn't see he for a long time but recognized her immediately. First word out of his mouth, "I'm sorry." Then, Depp continued to play it like he was not sure if he should reveal himself to her, not sure if she would forgive him if he did. Which, of course, we mistook for him being clueless on what's he's being conned into, on first viewing. And so on and so forth. And Depp played this ambiguity throughout the whole film, with different set of ambiguity for every scene as the plot thickens. He played like a math teacher for us, but played Alex for his character, his lover, and the film. Doing both at the same time.
This film's ambiguity is not on clues, hints or foreshadowing. It's all on Depp's performance.
This film is so underrated. There's no preachy romance or artsy philosophy, but for entertainment, it's a joy to watch from one scene to the next.
I love this film, especially after knowing the spoiler. Depp played the ambiguity so well it's incredible to just watch his performance.
When I first saw it, I kinda think it was b.s. that he was Alex the whole time, that it was just a gimmick twist. As I saw no sign of him being Alex.
Upon second viewing, everything actually worked. And I've seen it several times since.
Depp played it as if he was unsure if she still recognized him when they first met ( which we took for being uneasy around beautiful stranger ). He even did a double take because he hadn't see he for a long time but recognized her immediately. First word out of his mouth, "I'm sorry." Then, Depp continued to play it like he was not sure if he should reveal himself to her, not sure if she would forgive him if he did. Which, of course, we mistook for him being clueless on what's he's being conned into, on first viewing. And so on and so forth. And Depp played this ambiguity throughout the whole film, with different set of ambiguity for every scene as the plot thickens. He played like a math teacher for us, but played Alex for his character, his lover, and the film. Doing both at the same time.
This film's ambiguity is not on clues, hints or foreshadowing. It's all on Depp's performance.
This film is so underrated. There's no preachy romance or artsy philosophy, but for entertainment, it's a joy to watch from one scene to the next.
I am so glad I found someone (or some-two) on here that loved this movie! I thought their chemistry was great and it was quite beautifully and simply scored. That scene when they first arrive on Venice and they zoom right out to show the boat heading into the city with the music in the background is just lovely.
sharei thought depp was a bad actor, he didn't look really embarrassed by a beautiful woman approaching him so aggressively. later i knew he was acting that he was acting, but still you can't do much with such a poor script.
sharei thought depp was a bad actor
i meant i thought he was a bad actor before i realized in the end of the movie that in the beginning of the movie he was acting that he was acting which is really good acting by him. i think he choose bad scripts to act though, many of his movies are pretty dump, i call it the nicholas cage syndrome.
shareYou obviously haven't seen much of him Or You just don't know what good acting is.
"Tell yourself whatever you need to hear, you're the only one listening."
to realize good acting you need long monologues, that's why you may find it more on theater rather than holywood movies, i can't remember depp in a long monologue, so i can't decide if he's brilliant or not, wait there was that scene in the potc, end of the world, when he's "dead" on the ship alone, very interesting and funny.
shareFear And Loathing In Las Vegas. Watch that. It's pretty much all Depp monologue-- reading Hunter S. Thompson, really.
Just a wannabe-writer writing
Your question really irks me:- so your saying that Depp is that bad an actor, or any actor really, that if he knows his character, although playing a meek maths teacher, is really an international thief, and that he wouldn't be able to stop himself from looking a little bit cool? Actors generally do as asked of them; if he was told by the director to act that part of the film as if he was 4% coyote, he would have done so. Do you get my gist>? He was asked to play a mild meek maths teacher on holiday and that's what he did.
Your opinion is insulting to Depp as an actor I would think? !