This is something I've been thinking about for some time. I don't want to trash the film though. It looks quite good and I plan to see it.
I also like Gordon-Levitt. He's a good actor. But why have him speak with a french accent instead of hiring someone like Gaspard Ulliel? There's only three years between them so he isn't too young (imo).
Did they go with Levitt only because he's a more bankable star than any french one, Ulliel included?
I thought that too but it seems, in terms of physicality, JGL (like everything else he does, it seems) really committed himself to the role. I'm really curious how much of his own stunt work he did and how much was amazing VFX. Either way, the magic tricks, the wire walking, the juggling--that looked extremely convincing 99% of the time that it was JGL doing all that. The one time anything looked noticeably off to me was, I think, when he first meets his photographer and the wire breaks. Maybe it was because of the upcoming fall (I didn't think of that until just now) but it looked like he wasn't quite balancing himself, like he had a harness underneath his outfit.
So, while I too was annoyed with his fake French accent, for a while anyways, I forgave that for how admirably he did everything else.
You'd feel cocky too if you were full of myself.
[deleted]
I thought Leavitt did an amazing job. I think he was perfect for the role. He was just as good as portraying Petite as Depp was playing Hunter Thompson.
share[deleted]