Worth taking a look at just to see how truly terrible a film with an "A-list" cast can be. Amber Heard plays a clairvoyant who has foreseen her own death at the hands of one of three lovers, possibly four if you include Johnny Depp. Top Tip, he isn't guilty - this time anyway. The cast includes Depp and Heard, also Billy Bob Thornton and Jason Isaacs. Jim Sturgess plays one of the lovers. To do this he assumes a camp cockney accent so bad that by comparison, Dick Van Dyke sounds like a life-long native of Spitalfields. I hadn't seen Sturgess in much, although apparently he's in Cloud Atlas which I enjoyed, but unbelievably he is actually British so he has no excuse for being out-cockneyed by Depp. And his effort wasn't very good.
Whatever, each and every cast member gives a master class in pitiful acting. Apparently Amber Heard was shortlisted for a Razzie as worst actress. It seems Depp isn't even credited in the film, which shows more sense on his part than I imagined he had.
Some people have said that the film is a waste of Martin Amis' writing, but since I can't abide Amis and don't like his writing much either, I don't really give a shit.
never trust a man in a blue trench coat, never drive a car when you're dead
Martin Amis writes books about how unlucky, rich middle-class white men are.There are often poor people and women in his books, but they are caricatures and usually "amusingly" grotesque, because he doesn't appear to actually know any poor people or women. I suppose the film is a fair reflection of his work. His old man had a far greater talent that diminished with age and booze and he ended his days as a drunken, right wing, antisemite. Lucky Jim is one of my favourite books, but you can see the roots of his misanthropy which Martin seems to have inherited.
never trust a man in a blue trench coat, never drive a car when you're dead
BBT has landed some pretty odd roles throughout his, ahem, checkered career. There's a lot to choose from, but Lorne Malvo in Fargo the series might be some of his weirdest, so bad it's good acting. I had the distinct impression that he was a) under-rehearsed and b) didn't give a fuck. The series is utterly meh, too much a rote rehash from the original film, so it can at least be said he did inject something different.
“China Is Breeding Giant Pigs the Size of Polar Bears”
Yeah, I quite liked the series, but I know what you mean. It really goes for the "Fargo the Movie" look and feel. BBT was definitely a stand out. The second and third seasons are rather different though. Unusual to have a television show packed with high profile TV and Movie stars across three seasons.
never trust a man in a blue trench coat, never drive a car when you're dead