Jennifer Lawrence

[Mitch Henessey]

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Jennifer Lawrence has three Academy Award nominations, with one win for her performance (Lawrence is the second youngest Best Actress winner at the Oscars) in Silver Linings Playbook. On top of that, Lawrence has the Mystique character in the new X-Men films, and she's the star of The Hunger Games series as Katniss Everdeen.

Naturally, with an Academy Award for Best Actress, a plethora of award nominations, and a high profiled status as one of the more popular stars in Hollywood under her belt at the young age of 24, Lawrence draws overrated criticisms, or some people don't understand what all the fuss is about.

When I had a chance to watch Winter's Bone for the first time years ago, I thought Lawrence did a good job (John Hawkes deserves his fair share credit for the acting in WB), and she consistently delivers with quality performances.

Of course, the praise for her films goes overboard sometimes, but there's no denying the talent is there, and unless I'm missing something, you'll have to look hard to find one true stain on Lawrence's resume. The only film that sticks out is House At The End Of The Street. It's a generic and boring horror film, but there's nothing wrong with Lawrence's performance.

What are your thoughts on Jennifer Lawrence as an actress, and her overall body of work?

 

[Dave]

Hmm! She's a strange one.

I haven't seen a hype train quite like hers for a long time.

That said, some of her performance have been good. Of course, the Hunger Games was definitely the series that brought her to the mainstream cinema audience. But, to be quite honest, her performances aren't that good in it. Yes, she's compelling and the acting is perfectly fine. But it will be a cold day in Hell before she ever wins an Oscar for a performance in those movies.

Since then, I've seen her in American Hustle and X-Men and thought she did well in those. American Hustle is just a great movie and her character was brilliantly thought out. Her interactions with Christian Bale were remarkable honestly - she deserved her Oscar nomination for that. X-Men was a decent movie but I didn't really expect the movie to center around her. Then again, if she's what people want to see then it was always likely.

However, I must admit - I never really bought into the hype of the Silver Linings Playbook. I watched it twice and just could never really get into it. I thought Bradley Cooper did a better job of selling that movie to me on a personal level than Lawrence did so I couldn't really get behind her winning an Oscar for that.

Honestly, as far as mainstream actresses go, she is good. She is currently riding a wave of hype that shows no signs of slowing down. And she is in a luxurious position whereby people are going to come to her with scripts, allowing her to pick and choose what she wants to do. Expect more success but right now, I am unfulfilled.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

However, I must admit - I never really bought into the hype of the Silver Linings Playbook. I watched it twice and just could never really get into it. I thought Bradley Cooper did a better job of selling that movie to me on a personal level than Lawrence did so I couldn't really get behind her winning an Oscar for that.

Silver Linings Playbook is a strange one for me. After the first time, I didn't understand the big fuss about, but after a second watch I warmed up to it a little bit. Lawrence did a good job, but it's hard to ignore Bradley Cooper's performance, his presence in the movie, and the believable father/son relationship with Robert De Niro's character, a big driving force behind the movie. Without the chemistry from her relationship with Cooper's character, I have a hard time believing in Lawrence as the front-runner to win the gold.

Going forward, I'm interested to see how Lawrence's career unfolds after The Hunger Games and X-Men. I'm not saying she needs both franchises, because she delivered her best performances outside of X-Men and The Hunger Games, but at the same time, Katniss Everdeen and Mystique played a big part in Lawrence's rise to fame.

 

[Alex]

For young actresses coming up she's certainly unique.

She's done enough mainstream work such as Hunger Games and X-Men. that she's a notable name but she shows she can act really well when doing fims like Silver Linings Playbook and American Hustle (which I haven't seen but have heard is decent) She's also quirky enough that she comes across as genuine and not just another pretty face like so many other actresses (hi Megan Fox)

Compared to lots of other actresses who usually do one of a particular type of role she's good enough to float around different genres seamlessly

 

[jmt225]

She's cool.

Loved Silver Linings Playbook and Winter's Bone. I thought she was brilliant in both of them.

Never got around to seeing American Hustle for whatever reason, but I'm sure she's great in that too.

I have zero interests though in ever seeing those Hunger Games or X-Men movies. Just not my cup of tea.

That said, the way she balances big-budget films and the "arthouse indy pictures" is really impressive. She's able to make big bank, along with getting the critical acclaim and award nominations. That's not an easy task for an actor/actress to do, let alone someone in their early twenties. She has quite the career ahead of her if she continues going down the path she has been.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I don't see what's so special about her. I saw "Winter's Bone" before "Hunger Games" (I don't go to movie theaters) and found her to be a Kristin Stewart type; the brooding young woman with hidden pain that unexpectedly brings out heroic characteristics. The film was okay; nothing to get excited about.

Then, I finally saw "Hunger Games" and found her playing the exact same character.

I don't get it. What do they find so wonderful about her performances? It's not a question of her being bad in the movies, because she wasn't.....but to become so celebrated at such a young age? The folks I watched the movies with told me her voice was neither expressive or distinctive. She's not beautiful or particularly lithe in her movements.

So tell me....what is it about her?

 

[Mitch Henessey]

So tell me....what is it about her?

For starters, Lawrence portrays likeable and sympathetic characters. In Winter's Bone, she was the gutsy teenager, who fought to protect her mother and the rest of the family, and in The Hunger Games films, she's the fearless heroine. And I'm not a comic book expert by any means, but Lawrence's Mystique in the new X-Men films is someone, who's constantly torn between Eric/Magneto and Xavier. That's a big difference from Rebecca Romijn's more villainous Mystique, who showed unquestionable and undeniable loyalty to Magneto.

Tiffany (Silver Linings Playbook) and Rosalyn (American Hustle) are cut from the same cloth for the most part: they're emotional train wrecks and schizophrenic nutcases. Rosalyn is more narcissistic and treacherous, but you can laugh at her, because the majority of Lawrence's scenes in American Hustle are so over the top and hysterical.

Yeah, Lawrence's Katniss was bland in the first film, and there's not a big improvement in The Catching Fire sequel. I've never read the books, so maybe that's how the character is supposed to be, but she's the face and star of a wildly popular film franchise that's based on a wildly popular novel series. When you look around at the current landscape of films, it's hard to pick out a noteworthy heroine, and more often than not, Lawrence's Katniss is the first name that pops up.

The thing with Stewart is, without the Twilight series, I find it hard to believe her career would have a chance to survive. The only noteworthy non-Twilight film I can think of for Stewart is Snow White & The Huntsman, and she's upstaged by Charlize Theron in that film.

And Lawrence has enough talent to separate her from the pack of other popular or known actresses. Actresses (i.e. Megan Fox and Jessica Alba), who are stuck with the perception of receiving high profiled or notable roles for their looks.

Also, as JMT pointed out, for a promising young actress, Lawrence does a good job of balancing the big blockbusters with the arthouse style indy films. She never leans too far in either direction, and that's important. Shia LaBeouf was someone, who starred in big blockbusters, but he took a vow to focus on serious low-budget dramas, and now, his real life incidents receive more publicity than his film roles.

 

[Dowdsy McDowds]

I don't see what's so special about her. I saw "Winter's Bone" before "Hunger Games" (I don't go to movie theaters) and found her to be a Kristin Stewart type; the brooding young woman with hidden pain that unexpectedly brings out heroic characteristics. The film was okay; nothing to get excited about.

Then, I finally saw "Hunger Games" and found her playing the exact same character.

I don't get it. What do they find so wonderful about her performances? It's not a question of her being bad in the movies, because she wasn't.....but to become so celebrated at such a young age? The folks I watched the movies with told me her voice was neither expressive or distinctive. She's not beautiful or particularly lithe in her movements.

So tell me....what is it about her?

Totally agree with Sally.

She's a media darling and is inoffensive but I just don't get her 'it' factor. There is a broad appeal due to her mix of projects that JMT stated but something just doesn't click for me. The performances I've seen from her haven't ever bowled me over and there was something somewhat irritating about her casting as Mystique in the latest X-Men films as Rebecca Romjin-Stamos was a much lesser known actor in the originals, which suited the role very well. In the new films, it was a well-known actor in blue body paint. Again, due to her appeal I can understand why she was cast but I didn't think it was a good choice for the Mystique character.