...whom do you think would have been better? Besides the obligatory, "Anyone!" who in 1994 could people see inhabiting this role believably? Who can you see properly delivering lines about skulking or not noticing rain?
My top picks would be the obvious ones: Sandra Bullock, Julia Roberts, Meg Ryan. Perhaps Michelle Pfeiffer, Uma Thurman or even Melanie Griffith could have pulled it off as well.
Virginia Madsen all the way.
She was 33 at the time and perfect for the part.
xavlexav wrote:
perfect for the part.When you say "perfect for the part," do you mean the part as Richard Curtis conceived it and wrote it and as Richard Newell turned it into a film or do you mean your conception of Carrie? A Carrie that you would like more than the one in the film.I am quite sure that Richard Curtis and Mike Newell got what they wanted from Andie McDowell. So the question is this: Do you think someone else could do a better job of the same Carrie, or do you want a different Carrie? share
Oh, oh, I know exactly who would be perfect for the role! Catherine Keener!! She was 35 around the time this movie was released, so she'd be perfect age-wise.
I think her role in 'Being John Malkovich' was kind of similar to Carrie. Close, but distant, sexy and desirable but sort of unreachable, slutty but also kind of a girl next door. She pulled that off successfully. My problem with the actress who played Carrie is that she wasn't desirable, mysterious, or anything at all. She was stiff with no personality, sorry.
Just recently re-watched this movie, and agree that Andie is the weakest part of the film. She's just too wooden, and the way she delivers many of the lines is awkward. Andie was fine in "Groundhog Day," but I have never liked her in this role. That said, however, the character itself is not very well developed or fleshed out. You only know a few things about her, and they are not exactly flattering traits (i.e., she's promiscuous.)
As to who would have played the role better, I'm not sure. Sandra and Julia are romantic comedy queens, and IMO are better actors than Andie. Marisa Tomei would have been good, too.
Milla_Hooks wrote:
but I have never liked her in this role.Are you sure that it is the actress that you don't like and not the role?
You only know a few things about her,Hmmm, I think I know a lot about her personality, and I think she is wonderful.
(i.e., she's promiscuous.)What constitutes promiscuity is a subjective judgment and I have no interest in arguing with you about that.What I would point out is that her sexual behavior is completely in line with that of young, unmarried women, pursuing a career in a big city and that has been the case since the 60s.Since college, Carrie has had sex with 14 men, not counting the man she marries and the man she ends up living with, in about the same number of years. I find it difficult to see that as promiscuous.Carrie's number of partners is completely in line with Rachel, Monica, Carrie Bradshaw, Miranda, and Charlotte. Do you regard all of them as promiscuous as well? share
Are you sure that it is the actress that you don't like and not the role?
What constitutes promiscuity is a subjective judgment and I have no interest in arguing with you about that.
What I would point out is that her sexual behavior is completely in line with that of young, unmarried women, pursuing a career in a big city and that has been the case since the 60s.
Since college, Carrie has had sex with 14 men, not counting the man she marries and the man she ends up living with, in about the same number of years. I find it difficult to see that as promiscuous.
Carrie's number of partners is completely in line with Rachel, Monica, Carrie Bradshaw, Miranda, and Charlotte. Do you regard all of them as promiscuous as well?
Milla_Hooks wrote:
Yes, I'm pretty sure that I have seen the movie enough to know it's the actress.What would you like Carrie to be like?Richard Curtis is playing with the conventions of Romantic Comedy, and he has reversed the usual sexual roles. I don't know about you, but that seems to bother some people.
While the character itself is not well-developedI don't agree at all. I feel that I know her very well, and I like her, and I trust her.
she had little chemistry with Grant,Well it's hard to have chemistry with someone who is scared to be around you for fear that they will fall for you.
Well, I live in a big city and am pursuing a career, and the amount of sexual partners she mentions is hardly considered "normal" even here.Than we have had different experiences. I see Carrie sexual behavior as completely within a normal range.
Are you saying if you live in a small town you've only have one or two partners,No, but there tends to be talk and somewhat different standards from large cities.
and if you live in a large city you must have 30+ sex partners?Where did you get the "must"? Female sexual behavior varies widely. All I am saying is that there isn't anything unusual about Carrie's sexual behavior. That is based on my observations. Neither does Richard Curtis. In the commentary on the DVD, he expresses complete amazement at the attitude of a British politician — I did not recognize the name — that he had lunch with toward Carrie's catalog aria.
Hugh Grant's character lived in a large city, and yet he had less than half the partners she had.Grant is hardly trying. He only dates women that he knows that he can dump without any regrets. Except for Carrie, it can be argued that the other eight women that he has had sex with all come from his rather small social group. It is certain for five of them, extremely likely for a sixth, and a case can be made for a seventh. That leaves at most one woman outside of his circle before Carrie. As I said, he is not trying.
Yes, I do consider the fictional characters you mention promiscuous as well.There we have the disagreement. I don't, and I do not run across that attitude very often on the boards to discuss them.
And aside from that, all of these women are fictional, so if you're using Carrie, Rachel, Monica, etc. as the "norm" of unmarried women living in a big city, your point is rather moot.They are fictional, but I believe they represent accurately attitudes toward sex in New York City and other big cities. Certainly not the only attitudes, but quite mainstream ones. Not in any way unusual ones, or ones that I would expect to provoke comment.
Carrie is not a well-developed character to begin with, and obviously Andie (and by extension the character) didn't resonate with many of the people who've viewed the film judging by the number of threads on here devoted to this very subject.It was an incredibly successful movie, and as I said to you in another post, people come here a lot more to complain than to praise.That is true of a lot of boards. share
I'm with the majority here. Don't dislike Andie McDowell as an actress, but I've never liked her as Carrie. The way she delivers many of her lines feels forced and awkward. I feel Marisa Tomei would have given Carrie an interesting edge that Andie lacked in the part- she was just too wooden for my taste. The best thing about this film is the supporting cast, from Fi to Scarlett to Tom to the Priest. Carrie is the film's weakest link by far. I can still watch the movie though.
shareltm12386 wrote:
Carrie an interesting edge that Andie lacked in the part- she was just too wooden for my taste.Can you explain in what way the Carrie that you want would be different from the Carrie that we have?I find the chemistry argument unconvincing because of the nature of the relationship between them, and it is very subjective whether two people have chemistry or not.The "interesting edge that Andie lacked" says to me that you simply want a different Carrie. That is certainly your right, but the Carrie that Richard Curtis and Mike Newell gave us does not have that edge. She is not very self-confident, and she is entirely a suitable mate for Charles. If he wanted a mate with an edge, there was Fiona waiting for him. He doesn't.Richard Curtis is simply not telling a conventional romantic comedy story with a conventional romantic comedy heroine. Carrie fits perfectly in the story that he is telling, and Andie McDowell creates a convincing, consistent story for people who understand what is happening.Of course, she is not convincing if you want a different sort of heroine. People have suggested that she should be vibrant, mysterious, an unapproachable femme fatale, and all sorts of other things. Send your complaints to Richard Curtis. He got the Carrie that he wanted. She is completely consistent throughout the film.When we first see her, and Fiona describes her, we get one impression of her. Maybe some people think that is what Carrie is supposed to be, but we quickly learn — or should — that the initial impression is wrong. She is simply not the person she seemed to be.There is something very homey and comfortable about Carrie which may be why I like her so much. If you want to have a partner with an edge, good for you. I don't and Charles doesn't. share
Can you explain in what way the Carrie that you want would be different from the Carrie that we have?
Send your complaints to Richard Curtis. He got the Carrie that he wanted.
ltm12386 wrote:
And yes, you're right, she is consistent- consistently cringe-worthy through the film in the way she delivers every line throughout the film.That is the way that you see her because you want a different Carrie.
Not really, Andie was hardly the first choice for the role and got it only after several others turned it down.Marisa Tomei turned it down because of an illness in her family. Do you have a source for the assertion that "several" others turned it down? Or that Richard Curtis or Mike Newell were in any way dissatisfied with her performance?According to IMDb trivia
As of 1999 it is the highest-grossing British film in cinema history with worldwide box office in excess of $260 million.in spite of the fact that, according to you, one of the two main characters phoned in her performance. Really?
And if the writer and director wanted a flat, wooden performance to represent the character that they had taken the time to write and create, then sure they got precisely what they wanted.You see it as a flat, wooden performance. I see Carrie as a woman that one could actually live with and that is a suitable mate for Charles.
BTW- no matter how many times you post about Andie and how you thought her performance was and how magnetic and wonderful Carrie is,Now you are grossly misrepresenting what I've said. I have never said that Carrie was magnetic. She obviously isn't. I think the character "Carrie" is wonderful as a person. She is a sort of person that I can see myself marrying and that is not true of very many romantic comedy heroines.Andie McDowell's performance is a Carrie who is warm and homey and wants to settle down. She is not the person that we think she is when we first see her. She is not the person that Fiona describes. She is not the ball of fire that maybe you want.She is a nice, not very self-confident, girl who has been living in the fast lane because of how she looks, but that isn't really her.I know I'm not going to convince you. share
Marisa Tomei turned it down because of an illness in her family. Do you have a source for the assertion that "several" others turned it down? Or that Richard Curtis or Mike Newell were in any way dissatisfied with her performance?
ltm12386 wrote:
Look at IMDB Trivia- Melanie Griffith, Marisa Tomei, and Brooke Shields turned it down.That was spread over three different entries, none of them with sources.You seem somewhat naïve. You are aware that I could go in there right now and remove all three entries? I am looking for a source, not something that some random person posted on IMDb.
since you keep saying that she gave exactly the performance they wanted???There are a couple of reasons that I believe Andie McDowell gave the performance that they wanted.One is that she is quite a good actress. There is no sign that they were trying to get her to do something else, and I'm quite sure she could've given them a different Carrie if they had wanted it.Carrie is an unconventional Romantic Comedy heroine, but this is a very unconventional Romantic Comedy. It is deliberately playing with the conventions of the form. I suspect you don't understand that but that is what's happening.In Carrie they have created a real woman that I find immensely appealing. Someone that Charles might actually get involved with. Someone that I might actually marry. Offhand, I cannot think of another romantic comedy heroine about whom I would say that. Carrie is a real person, and a very nice person. You want something else, but I have no reason to believe that Richard Curtis did.With Carrie as she is, the entire movie fits together into a consistent whole at least if you understand what is going on. I don't know about you, but many people demonstrate that they don't.This really is a very good and a very clever movie. It is not a movie that was wildly popular because of the quirky characters, and in spite of the fact that one of the two leads was just phoning it in and giving a wooden, monotone performance. share
You seem somewhat naïve. You are aware that I could go in there right now and remove all three entries? I am looking for a source, not something that some random person posted on IMDb.
ltm12386 wrote:
Actually, I am not naive about that. I'm well aware that things like IMDB can be edited.Then why did you claim that as a source if you knew it was worthless?IMDb trivia can be edited by anyone at any time. Unlike some other things such as quotes, I don't believe they do any fact checking except possibly in an obviously unlikely case.
However, Andie MacDowell has said in a number of interviews that other actresses were considered and turned down the role, including Jeanne and Marisa.Great, can you provide a link?
She herself has admitted she was not the first choice.That is true and I have never questioned it. I do question that she was the fifth choice because I've never heard anything like that before.But I'm easy to convince. All you have to do is produce reliable sources.It would not in any way affect how I feel about Andie McDowell's performance or what Richard Curtis wanted Carrie to be like. Carrie fits perfectly into the movie and perfectly with Charles as she is.Imagine how successful the movie would've been if one of the leads had not been a fifth choice, incompetent, and phoning it in. share
ltm12386 wrote:
Well, for a start, how about a Carrie who didn't deliver lines with such monotoneI don't agree with that at all.
and could have some kind of emotion behind her words would have been nice.I thought that her emotion was constant and obvious. Perhaps it needed to be broader to register with you. share
Julianne Moore, Demi Moore, Julia Roberts, Kim Basinger, Mimi Rogers, Molly Ringwould
Kid on bike "Where you going?"
Charlie Bright "Somewhere".
Jamie Lee Curtis springs to more and for me, I this nk she would definitely had a chemistry with Grant
shareI don't think Sandra Bullock would have been good as Carrie. She has a tomboy-ish appeal, not right for Carrie at all. She was good opposite Hugh Grant in Two Weeks Notice because her character was a hippy.
I think someone like Sherilyn Fenn, Diane Lane or Kelly Preston would have been fine.