Entertainment For Lively Minds
Riding through the glen
Saw Robin Hood yesterday. It's not a bad film, albeit one that's been vastly over-praised by the press (4 stars in the Guardian, twice, and in Empire).
However, aside from the fact that this isn't really a Robin Hood movie (it's essentially an origins movie which means very little Sheriff of Nottingham despite being brilliantly played by Matthew McFadeyn) I was preoccupied with the accents. Crowe's is all over the place - part broad yorkshire, part scouse, a tinge of Irish or Scots. It almost seemed like he'd come from a different place in each scene. I got so obsessed with accents in general (Scott Grimes' Welsh attempt is game but Dublinesque) that I started to find fault with actors who I knew to be English.
Anyway, I'm clearly not alone in this - Mark Lawson dared to mention it to Crowe who had a right old hissy fit (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/organgrinder/2010/may/14/russell-crowe-a...)
And don't even get me started on the impression the film gives of England being about 5 miles square - apparently you can ride from Nottingham to Kent in a few minutes. Still, the battle sequences are ace (think Saving Private Ryan with horses and arrows) and Mark Strong is, as ever, an exceptional baddie.
- More from Uncle Monty.
- Login or register to post comments
-
Just heard
the Lawson v Crowe barney on teh Kermode\aMayo show. It made me nervous and i wasn't across the table from the big ponce (Crowe that is). His accent is bobbins and he knows it
Crowe...
...really is a massive twat. I struggle to think of a single redeeming feature, other than the fact that I can do quite a good Maximus impression, which is a string to my bow which I'd never have discovered were it not for the career of everyone's favourite Antipodean humour-and-self-awareness void.
some authentic robin hood era
english for you have fun.
ps he was from yorkshire.
Is it only me that hears
"Michael McClure......!"
I'm looking forward to this.
I think Crowe has suggested that there will be a sequel which will deal with the more familiar parts of the legend.
I don't know what he's like as a human being, but he seems to be more than competent at his job - accent notwithstanding.
He told a great little story on the Ross chatshow about seeing a screening of Robin Hood with his kids - they were restless and bored before it even started, he struggled to keep them interested & I think he said one fell asleep before the end.
Amusing & self-deprecatingly told.
He was awesome
in LA Confidential, one of the best performances I've seen in the last 20 years.
He's bloody good
As an actor at any rate. Proof, LA Confidential, The Insider, master & Commander, and (yes) Gladiator are performances anyone would be proud of. And he's also in the brilliant Thirty Odd Feet Of Grunts. Erm, anyone heard them? I haven't.
Boy in the Hood
Crowe may have his faults but thank god for an old fashioned film star who doesn't spout anodyne, PR-approved drivel and actually brings something unpredictable and characterful to interviews. Oliver Reed would be proud.