Monday, Feb. 16, 2009
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Are these the Oscars or the Razzies? Bless Jolie for her charity work, and for keeping Brad happy, but if there was a problem with Clint Eastwood's movie about personal heroism and civic corruption in Depression-era L.A., it was casting Jolie as the single working mom on a crusade to find out what happened to her missing son. Playing ordinary simply isn't in the actress' range. She seems to know that her monumental beauty is a handicap here, so she goes bigger in her movements. A stream of tears stains her Kabuki makeup; her sighs come with shrugs worthy of Atlas. Underplaying would have suited the role — but it might not have caught the attention of the Academy members. They often go for Big over Good. Odds of winning: 40 to 1