Neither McKellen nor Hopkins could come close to the performances Courtenay and Finney gave.
Nearly all the humour that was in the 1983 version was lost. The humour was still in the text but the actors' delivery meant it never worked.
A real disappointment.
I thought McKellen and Hopkins were more in tune with one another, while Finney and Courtenay, much as I loved them, seemed to be more involved in a game of grandstanding one-upmanship. The humour was obviously deliberately downplayed, with the tragedy of it all certainly being the focus. Obviously that won't appeal to plenty, but I liked seeing the differing take on it, and it certainly didn't work any less well. Like you say, the humour is still there, they're just not reaching for full on belly laughs. Doing it just the same way would have been completely pointless.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0S2EI48Qa84&t=1m38s
I agree its better to have a differing take from the movie version.
It's that man again!!
I'm not saying they should do it in just the same way but this way just didn't work for me at all.
The humour was in the written text but the delivery killed it.
I thought the film version was far better.
I thought Hopkins was surprisingly good (obviously put much more into it than he normally puts into things in the lazier latter period of his career). McKellen I found, on the other hand, surprisingly rather disappointing (and maybe it's just me but I had trouble understanding what he was saying sometimes in the accent he was putting on, which is odd as I very rarely have that problem). I mean to watch it again on iplayer sometime as I don't think I necessarily gave it my best attention (when it came to it I wasn't really in the mood to watch it). I wouldn't be able to compare it closely to the 1983 film with Finney and Courtenay because it's just been too long since I last saw that one.
shareI'm sorry McKellen's performance disappointed you. I can only think life is a series of disappointments if you found Ian McKellen's completely fresh characterization of the dresser so. There's hardly any other explanation.
First of all, casting an elderly actor was a genius stroke, making him a contemporary to his charge. But McKellen also added such a nuanced level of jealousy, weariness, enthusiastic devotion, and thinly veiled resentment to his role. He was PERFECTION! I simply must add, sticking his tongue out at the corpse was hilariously expressive.
It's not what a movie is about, it's how it is about it.
RIP Roger Ebert
PULEEEEEEZE!!!!
Is this sour grapes.
This production is totally BRILLIANT.
I was fortunate to see the original show and the brilliant film adaptation that followed.
This, however, was a pale shadow compared to the performance of Tom Courtney. I deeply love watching both Ian McKellen and Antony Hopkins perform, but the very sad edge was missing and Normans' lament of "WHAT ABOUT ME!", reflecting a life with only superficial appreciation had only minimal irony and almost no depth.
Good acting is always worth watching, but I would rather see the movie again than this production.
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Hi Lukerdog- perceptive analysis and I fully agree.
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Hope you enjoyed your re-viewing of the '83 version. to me, it is similar to comparing the unbeatable production of "The Lion In Winter" with Peter O'Toole ( who really should have won the oscar) with any other version. Although the show, on broadway, with Robert Preston and Rosemary Harris did totally blow me away at the time. Initial resentment of the movie cast turned to total love and creative respect after viewing. (I always want the original performers to replicate their stage creation). carol
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The actors who I think, would be more than good are John Cullum or Mark Rylance . Having seen over 600 different shows, Rylance is the best actor I have ever seen on stage. He is so comfortable, playful capable, and interesting. Chris Plummer also would be in that selection.
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The actors who I think, would be more than good are John Cullum or Mark Rylance . Having seen over 600 different shows, Rylance is the best actor I have ever seen on stage. He is so comfortable, playful capable, and interesting. Chris Plummer also would be in that selection.