Since this will most likely be THE period piece of the year, I decided to take a look at `Bright Star` tonight & what I found were 2 great performances and great direction muddled by a fairly standard screenplay. Don't get me wrong- I love movies like these, in fact I'm a sucker for Jane Campion's great The Piano or James Ivory's haunting The Remains Of The Day. Both these movies had something that Bright Star lacks, a sense of urgency and uncanny originality that would set them apart from the others. Campion herself directs this movie and she does one hell of a job, setting a slow paced but effectively drawn out mood that -for the most part- had me at hello. The reason I'm writing this review is not for Campion, it's actually for relative newcomer Abbie Cornish who plays Fanny Browne -forbiddenly in love with poet John Keats- and one hell of an actress. She exudes passion and her final scene is incredibly real and stunning. I'm betting she gets an Oscar Nom come January & if she doesn't- then I'm gonna call it a major steal.
Some of you might Remember Cornish as Michelle in Stop-Loss or her small part in Ridley Scott's A Good Year. Those movies didn't showcase her talent enough and shadowed her behind other great actors- Bright Star is her chance to shine & boy does she ever. It`s the best female performance I`ve seen all year. The passion she brings to this movie is astounding. From the many different dresses she wears on screen to the beauty & romance she exudes with her counterpart -an impressive Ben Wishaw- there`s something exciting in discovering an actress blooming and lifting up a somewhat ordinary film. I don`t need to tell you Cornish does that and then some.
Remember when DC Studios told us Steven Soderbergh was coming in for "the final weeks of principal photography" on "The Batman Part II"? Yeah, now it's months.