ACTING NATURALLY

A passionate, personal look at a subjective subject.

Early on, acclaimed film critic Thomson declares, “I like or love all actors.” Throughout the narrative, the author nimbly ambles his joyful way through his extensive film knowledge and his reflective attitude toward the people who act in them. Ever since he was a child, he “held these screen phantoms in total trust.” So, readers may ask, what is good acting? According to Thomson, “it is making us watch very closely, as if we were doing it ourselves.” The author admired the performances of Carey Mulligan, a work in progress, but was waiting for her to “burst out.” Finally, the “wounding but exhilarating experience” of Promising Young Woman (2020) let her “go wild.” As a young moviegoer, he could feel James Dean’s “mastery.” Anthony Hopkins is a “majestic player…with an endless appetite for work,” and Thomson loves that “he will try anything.” Meanwhile, Denzel Washington strides through Déjà Vu “as if crossing the Potomac, certain of a place in history.” Meryl Streep, Thomson proclaims, “will be a mainstay in this book, our godmother and a genius, too.” On the Waterfront is a “sonata for a great actor pretending to be dumb.” In addition to assessing the performances of individual actors, the author is excellent on close-ups, a “window on the possibility of soul or mind.” He is also convincing in his arguments for the crucial importance of casting, and he presents fascinating hypotheticals. What if two key actors in a certain movie were cast in the opposite roles? While examining an entire “universe of film stars, those iconic, axiomatic presences”—e.g., Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, Gregory Peck—Thomson delves into another intriguing area: Can an ordinary, nonactor act? He offers Bicycle Thieves and A Man Escaped as evidence in the affirmative. Throughout, the author provides movie suggestions, many of which readers will want to seek out immediately.

An informative, “wild party” for movie fans and actors, veterans and newbies alike.