Wednesday

I have a great problem assessing the quality of an acting performance. I read reviews about how actors were good, or great, or average, or rubbish, or better in this than that, but when I see the films myself I find it very hard to understand what the reviewer was talking about. I'll know, perhaps, when a performance has been terrible, but the difference between good or great is impossible for me to assess. What are the criteria? 'I believed him more than the other actor'? 'He was the character'? I've heard people criticise Alec Guinness' role in Star Wars, and I've heard said of some actors that they 'phoned in their performance'. What does this mean? I always thought Alex Guinness was great as Obi-Wan Kenobi. I once saw something that analysed the performance of Johnny Depp, and decided his brilliance was his acting off-dialogue (i.e. when he's not speaking). I understand this, and try to look for it in movies, but still it's a discipline I find hard to comprehend. My own recent attempts have taught me a new understanding for how difficult it is, but I remain unable to respect the ability as much as I do the writer, director, composer or photographer of a film.