Easily the most unconvincing actress in this entire movie. She put no effort or emotion into her lines whatsoever. At the end, when she is so allegedly enamored with the Spanish Steps that she wants to be wed in front of them? "Oh, I could stay here all night," she says, in a dry monotone.
Anyone else feel similarly?
She was awful. The worst of the lot.
I would have liked this movie more if the casting/acting weren't so bad.
Ellen Page as a femme fatale actress that all guys swoon over?
Jesse Eisenberg as a young Alec Baldwin?
Alison -- just bad acting.
Moreover the two young couples had zero chemistry. Or three if you include Eisenberg and Page.
Completely agree about Ellen Page. It felt like a continuation of her "Juno" character, post-college and pregnancy. Slightly more worldly but still awkward.
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I felt sorry for Ellen Page as she was playing a femme fatale that is suppose to drive men sexually crazy when all I could see was her skinny 10 yr old boy body. I think her part would have been better suited to Scarlett Johansson as she was totally miscast.
It is hard for us Canadians to take Page seriously in a role such as this after watching her as a child in Trailer Park Boys a decade or so ago.
shareI think Ellen's part was supposed to be a joke. Of course, she was no femme fatale ! We are supposed to laugh at that. The things that are happening are absolutely absurd ! I am a Woody fan and this is how he plays it !
shareHofer is right; her first appearance is played for laughs, and even Eisenberg's character comments on how unimpressive she is. If this sounds familiar, Monica is just a spiritual descendant of Jeremiah, the character played in Manhattan by that debonair actor, Wallace Shawn.
shareEllen Page character's isn't supposed to be a "femme fatale". She's supposed to be the unassuming kinda cute but kinda average-looking accessible girl that makes unsuspecting men gradually fall in love with her based on her wit, (pseudo?) intelligence, uniqueness and liberality.
I got the character right away, I've met many girls like this.
Baldwin uses up the film's ham quotient so completely there's hardly room for anyone else to be bad.
Seems to me Allen was looking to make a Felliniesque movie without Fellini's incredible instincts for finding interesting people and situations. He wasn't good at Bergmanesque, either
If these actors (Pill, Baldwin et. al.) have performed badly in this film but have been successful in other films then it comes down to poor directing. Having cast an actor, a director must make the actor believable in the assigned role no matter who it is. That's his job. If they fail, it is his failure, not theirs.
Unfortunately, to me it doesn't matter what the dialogue or plot contains, it appears that Woody has once again written the main roles with himself and Diane Keaton in mind. The actors are then forced to produce impressions of Woody and Diane. Alec Baldwin/Jesse Eisenberg/Woody Allen playing Woody with Ellen Page playing Diane for example.
I must admit I am not a great fan of Woody Allen's films though I force myself to see most of them hoping I will finally see what the fanatics do. I did find this one mildly amusing and enjoyed "Midnight in Paris" mainly for the story, as Owen Wilson's Woody Allen impression was grating. Actually, for a brilliant Woody Allen impression you would have to see Kenneth Branagh in "Celebrity" though I thought the rest of that one was total crap.