As anticipated, when Jennifer Lawrence is on a press tour, there’s a headline every day. During this press tour, she’s talked about taking a break from acting, dropping out of high school, her crush on Timothee Chalamet, people getting too worked up about her jokes, and last night on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, she got drunk with him, took off her shoes, and showed why she’s a talk show circuit favourite. I’ve embedded both videos below. It’s Colbert who brings out the rum. And from there it’s a conversation of tangents, loose, irreverent, comfortable. That’s what Jennifer Lawrence does well – she always seems comfortable. Or she finds a way to be comfortable. Or she finds a way to sell her comfort. This has always been key to the art of being a Movie Star – when you’re a woman. Julia Roberts, no matter what the drama happened to be in her life at the time (there was ALWAYS drama), always sold comfort, and still does. Sandra Bullock too. Jennifer Lawrence is 100% the heir to those two American sweethearts. And she may be a lot more ribald than the two of them ever were, a lot more foot-in-mouthy, but all of them give off that same vibe: comfort. A male movie star is allowed to be awkward and make you feel awkward (Johnny Depp) but a movie star who is a woman must make you feel welcome. Jennifer Lawrence is the best at this in her cohort.
Does that make you want to see Red Sparrow?
Red Sparrow is getting decent reviews – not overwhelmingly great, but it’s not a total piece of sh-t. What’s interesting about Red Sparrow though is that “comfort” is not the takeaway feeling. In fact, the story is actually rather uncomfortable. Due to family circumstances, a young girl is trained to be a spy, to use her sexuality in exchange for information, her body weaponised and exploited. Agency, then, is the conversation here, in contrast with the agency that Jennifer Lawrence, the star, has always been perceived to possess. That’s where the comfort comes from: Jennifer Lawrence, no matter she’s doing, is doing it because she wants to be doing it – even if it gets her in trouble. Nobody ever says about Jennifer Lawrence that someone decided for her. I’m curious this weekend what that will mean at the box office.
Here’s Jennifer at the NY premiere last night in Dior and a topknot, with heavy makeup and a bold lip. I think I could like the dress more if it wasn’t for the makeup. Here’s a good example of why you don’t do both at the same time – if the eyes are dramatic, let them be dramatic, but if the lips are bringing the action, let them do the work. The strong eye and the strong lip are making it all too much. And then when you throw the emerald earrings in there, the whole look is overkill.
