Dominic West sucked
He sounded nothing like Burton and didn't 'get' him at all.
shareIt was always going to be difficult, he had a good stab and sometimes he got the voice right.
Its that man again!!
MovieChat Forums > Burton and Taylor (2013) Discussion > Dominic West sucked
I agree OP. To me he sounded like any educated South Walean male. He didn't get the Burton quality.
shareAlthough I thought the Lifetime version (Liz & Dick) was really bad, the ONE good thing in it was Grant Bowler's portrayal of Richard Burton. He was fantastic. I thought he definitely did a better job than Dominic West as Burton.
shareHe is usually great in everything, but I agree, this was a misfire for him. He just wasn't very good as Burton, imho.
I am you and what I see is me.
I thought he was just fine as Burton. It was a subtler performance than what you'd expect but I thought it worked. He wasn't doing an imitation, yet he got what was essential for this take on their story -- Burton's compulsive and complex relationship with Taylor interfering with his attempts to be rational, professional, and functional. The quality of his voice was good as well and matched the essence of Burton. I thought he was a good match for Helena's version of Liz and that's not always easy to do in a film - to match performances so the two characters seem to be on the same wavelength. I was able to forget that he was acting, and their performances made this worth watching for me.
shareHe probably did the best he could, but I didn't think it was good casting. Helena nailed Liz Taylor! She was fantastic!
shareI am just watching this now on Netflix and thought I recognised Dominic West - I saw him in Appropriate Adult portraying Fred West! Burton to be fair had a very unique, almost gruff, rugged appearance and voice so considering those two factors alone I too thought West did a very good job getting the essence of Burton right.
I think people focus sometimes too much on the physical discrepancies but some people really are very unique in appearance and one has to see beyond that and focus on the acting and the idiosynchrasies portrayed. I thought West's performance was convincing - almost as good as the actor who had his work cut out playing Sid James in "Cor Blimey!".
P.S. Nice to run into you on here again, Keely. It seems like we enjoy a similar taste in films!
Has anyone seen my wife? - Columbo
i think we do. thanks! 😄
shareIt was an underwhelming performance, but it's hard to imagine anyone excelling with this script.
shareAccording to Robert Hardy, West was awful in this performance. Not Welsh enough. But Hardy thought Bonham-Carter was fantastic. If you read Hardy's personal quotes here on IMDb, Hardy is tough on lots of other actors, so take it for what it's worth.
shareHe was beyond horrific, as usual, he's one of the worst actors of all time, but his performance and that of grant fowler as Burton are particularly execrable. They are SO LAME, didn't understand Burton at all, it was just a very, very cheap parody. And his constant mentioning of Elizabeth gave me the creeps. He didn't say his name every two breaths. Also, yes he would call Liz a tart and so on, he called her Miss Tits on Cleopatra, and not once did I ever get any creepiness or revulsion from it, but Dominic West in this film calling her a tart and all makeup and tits was beyond repulsive to me, it was so fucking creepy, and that's not Burton's fault, he had the charisma to pull it off, but these clowns called actors today, well better not even try. Luckily it seems this film has already been forgotten about.
share