Thursday
Nov192015
Morning Truth Tell: Jane Fonda is...
Thursday, November 19, 2015 at 8:00AM ...still a movie star.
photo by Steven Meisel via W Magazine
She just needs the movies to star in.
See also: Youth. Opening in select cities on December 4th
Reader Comments (25)
It would be a really strange nomination,but i loved loved her 8 mins in Youth,I don't see it happening though.
Goddess
ugh, yes. she is everything.
The Fonda nomination is happening. Youth plays right into the Academy wheelhouse and with recent film and TV work, Fonda is back in the limelight.
Not sure why Fonda resorted to plastic surgery. She was super hot the way she was.
Seeing Youth next week.
Watched 45 Years yesterday. The ending just stays with you but nothing about the performances says "OMG Oscar!"
I've nearly always found her way-too-self-conscious and over-emphatic on-screen - too many times she played the character that's essentially the mouthpiece for what the audience is thinking, which is tricky territory for an actress.
That said I've always respected her as a movie star and she's given at least a handful of electric performances. And you have to give it up for any woman who has managed to do what she did in Barbarella and then in Klute within a matter of five or so years.
Also, she's great in Youth. I hope she doesn't knock someone like Joan Allen out of the running but it would be nice to see her back on a nomination slate at this age.
Co-sign on this. Still as magnetic on screen as she was 50 years ago.
I haven't seen her in Youth yet, her screen time is about 8mins? She's one of my all time fave actresses, her best work being Klute and They Shoot Horses, Don't They.
I often think there are two Jane Fondas out there. One of them gives awesome performances, like the Jane Fonda in Klute, Barefoot in the Park, Coming Home, and even Monster-in-Law (you know you love it). I call the other Jane Fonda "SHOUTING Jane Fonda" (SJF, for short). And SJF shows up when her character has some sort of outrage or indignation. And the way that manifests is by her SHOUTING at us. Julia, Agnes of God, China Syndrome, parts of On Golden Pond. I watch those movies and think "why is she SHOUTING at me?"
I hope her performance in Youth is less SHOUTING and more awesome.
One of my all-time faves. I would be thrilled if she got the Oscar nom.
Absolutely one of the most interesting women of this and the last centuries.
@CharlieG
I think I agree with you except I see Coming Home as arguably her worst performance. For one, she isn't really playing a person or even a character so much as a premise or a thesis. And this plays to Fonda's worst instinct to indignantly UNDERLINE every monologue and plot turn.
@goran You are so right. I should have switched Agnes of God (although she gets a little shouty in that one) with Coming Home. I get what they were trying to do with her Coming Home character. But it really didn't work.
She's blunt and on point in Youth,she even manages to make that airplane scene work somehow.
I saw Barefoot in the Park earlier this week. And CharlieG is right: It's awesome Jane Fonda.
Jane's acting style has a lot of Hollywood history in it. She's iconic as a "liberated actress" of the 1970s but she's not Jill Clayburgh or Gena Rowlands. She has the vanity and light-seeking earnestness of a classic film star, paired with the intelligence and honesty of her generation.
It's not always easy to watch, or totally successful. But this conflict in styles is what has always made Jane Fonda unique and captivating to me.
Underline all the above comments.......... She is better when there is less message and more art. It is really amazing to see the depth of skill showcased with Corrie and Bree. Comedy is hard, but Bree in Klute is my fav of all time.
It's going to be so embarrassing when Jane Fonda (8 mins of screen-time) and Rooney Mara (1:35: hours of screen-time/the protagonist) are competing in the same category.
Sadly that B&W photo of her is not the best....
Otherwise Jane Fonda is awesome! What a trooper.
Very astute comments about Fonda's duality here, she radiates star charisma, but could be naturalistic with the right director. My 2 favourite performances from her are "They Shoot Horses Don't They" & "Klute".
Btw. I wish Criterion would do a release of TSHDT, films like "Goodfellas" get slavish fan treatment but for some reasons the emotional breakdown of "They Shoot Horses Don't They" just never gets the same recognition. The dance scenes are relentless and extraordinary to watch.
Haven't seen Fonda in top form lately, so I am interested to see "Youth".
You know, Lily Tomlin, and not Jane Fonda, is the best thing about Grace and Frankie. Also, she was the best of the trio in Nine to Five. I like Jane Fonda (still have a soft spot for that ridiculous reteaming with Redford in The Electric Horseman) but somehow her Red Carpet looks have swerved the media away from another deserving over 70 actress who's still plugging away...
In a way, all this attention feels like an infomercial. Early Fonda the Actress was great; not sure I'm on the Late Fonda the Movie Star train now.
Mixed feelings on her performance in "Youth." She deserves kudos for not going as over the top as she could have, but I still have this strange feeling that the attention she's getting has more to do with her crazy makeup and hair than her performance. That said, she's a great actress who in general deserves accolades, so I'd be fine with a nom.
@ Pam
"Early Fonda the actress" vs. "Late Fonda the movie star" is a weird and incorrect distinction to draw. She's more of a working actress (doing TV, guest spots, supporting roles) today and less perceived as a "movie star" than she's ever been. A celebrity, yeah. An icon, yeah. But this is far from the Movie Star phase of her career (which is why I imagine Nat made a post to "remind" us).
She is still every inch a star- get this woman a good movie
I agreed w Lady Edith her best 2 perf were They Shoot Horses, Don't They & Klute. TSHDT was the 1st time the Academy took notice of her as a serious dramatic actress & Klute sealed her status as THE actress of the early 70.
It wld have been wonderful had she won the Oscar for TSHDT instead of Coming Home, so the more deserving Claysburg or Bergman could win. I agreed she alws seen kinda self conscious in many o her performances, but then many other great actresses have thr too (Hello, K Hepburn & B. Davis)
@CharlieG She's not shouty in China Syndrome :O! I think its one of her more subtle performances there.