Sunday, August 25, 2013

Jodie Foster's Worst Role Ever

by Pa Rock
Film Fan

If one were teaching a course in creative writing and needed to come up with an example of a one-dimensional character, that teacher could do no better than the character of Delacourt played by Jodie Foster in the new movie release, Elysium.  Delacourt is a ruthless bitch out to seize power in an us-versus-them future world.  And that is absolutely all we know about her- she is a ruthless bitch who has to slog her way through some of the most borific dialogue ever attached to a major motion picture.   We don't know how she became such a bitch, or why she remains such a bitch, or how she rose to such a high position in government.   We don't know if she has children, a man in her life, a girlfriend, an over-bearing mother, or a drug habit.  All we know when the final credits role is that Delacourt is a ruthless bitch.

That is a pristine example of a one-dimensional character - and it was certainly the only thing pristine, or even interesting, about Elysium.  Matt Damon, the film's leading actor, also has to trudge through a morass of predictable dialogue, but his character has a bit more depth and substance than the one consigned to Ms. Foster.

The movie, Elysium, is a futuristic drama in which people with means and money have relocated to a green-space satellite orbiting a highly polluted and over-populated Earth.  It has the look and feel of a science fiction film of a couple of years ago entitled District 9 - due in great measure, one would suppose, to the fact that both films were written and directed by a young South African named Neill Blomkamp.   Both movies appear to be little more than perverse glimpses into Blomkamp's amusement park of a psyche - something that worked for George Lucas but misses the mark with Blomkamp.

Memo to would-be producers with deep pockets:  Not every movie is deserving of a sequel.

Memo to Jodie Foster:  Get an agent.  Craig's List is an unseemly place to look for roles.


1 comment:

molly. said...

Well, have to add some disagreement here.. I haven't seen Elysium but I'm sure Scott plans to since its sci-fi, but we enjoyed District 9. Too bad about Jodie's character. I love her acting!