I take offense to two harsh pieces about Nicole Kidman’s box office prowess (or lack thereof) in the LA Times and The Guardian. The titles are even inflammatory- The Guardian: Nicole Kidman is queen of the flops; LA Times: Nicole Kidman: Movie star or box-office loser? Let’s be honest, Australia has some good things in it, but it is not a good movie. It just doesn’t work. That is Baz Lurhmann’s fault, not Kidman’s. While her performance was way too stiff in the beginning, she, and her character relaxed and I wound up enjoyed her and Hugh Jackman. But the story was dreadful, and again that is not her fault.
Has anyone taken the time to write about Hugh Jackman’s box office issues? He’s made a bunch of duds (Deception, The Fountain) but is a star (and the Sexiest Man according to People Magazine) because of the X-Men franchise. Get a guy a franchise and and he’s a star. Women have a harder time being franchise players. For example Halle Berry. No one is going to make a movie about her X-Men character, but they sure did make a movie about Wolverine.
It’s strange that there are a bunch of articles written about Nicole Kidman as a box office star when we don’t get articles like that for women like Emma Thompson, Kate Winslet and until recently Meryl Streep. They are just fantastic actresses.
Kidman really has never been a box office star on her own (and I would venture to say that she could care less about it) but she for some reason has been painted with this brush. Is it because she was married to Tom Cruise or that she was in a Batman movie? The films she took that are supposed to be commercial have sucked (Bewitched, The Stepford Wives). Her non-commercial ones are better. However, I couldn’t get through Fur, (as I couldn’t get through Jackman’s The Fountain) but liked Birth and Margot at the Wedding a lot. Her most recent “flop” before Australia, The Golden Compass made $70 million in the US but over $300 million overseas which is a big deal since the story was about a girl. (God forbid she should get any credit for that, she only gets blamed for the flops.)
But most importantly, Kidman is just emblematic of the obsession with opening weekend dollars and how women still can’t rate compared to the guys. Instead of blaming the actresses why don’t we figure out a way for them to be successful?
From Patrick Goldstein at the LA Times: What’s really depressing is that when you ask marketing execs to name the actresses that do earn their keep, you’re usually met with silence. There are always caveats: Meryl Streep in the right role, as with “Mamma Mia!” Angelina Jolie, who can put some extra oomph in a genre film like “Wanted.” Reese Witherspoon or Sandra Bullock in the right kind of comedy. In today’s Hollywood, it’s a lot easier to build a career as a respected actress than as a box-office icon. Whether you’re Nicole Kidman or anyone else, it’s a man’s, man’s, man’s world.
No wonder she talks about quitting acting. She can’t do anything right. I for one will keep pulling for her simply because her performance as Virginia Woolf in The Hours was breathtaking and I am hopeful she has a couple of more of those inside her.
photo: Insodefoto/PR Photos
I will go to a movie or rent it because Jolie is in it.
No one else has that draw for me.
Though Depp comes close, I wont suffer through a pirate story for him.
And Pitt is another who comes close. Mostly because his choices seem to be improving since he chose fatherhood.
Kidman proved she can act in The Hours.
I appreciated her in Cold Mountain.
I suspect racism in Australia, and until I’m told by “my people” that it isn’t wreaking of it, I wont put it on my netflix.
Favorite X-men characters:
Phoenix
Mystic
Storm
Rogue
Wolverine
in that order
Oh, and I loved Practical Magic.
Thank you for writing this article. I hope the double standards will go away as hey are exposed more and more often.
I defended films being marketed to women on a producers site when one man suggested we are not going to spend money on movies, not even ones we love.
Can you keep the myth busting double standard calling out articles on the side bar for easy link reference?
Those of us who are actually working on films are reading and sharing your words.
thnx again.
Wow, I adored Fur; it’s challenging and moving, it reaches me in important ways.
I like Kidman because she takes risks. She could have spent her career making lazy rom coms with the plot girl meet boy, girl loses boy, girl gets better boy in the end ala Kate Hudson and Jennifer Aniston. Instead Nicole doesn’t allow herself to be pigeonholed into one role. She was fantastic in Margot At The Wedding, The Hours, The Others, To Die For, and Moulin Rouge just to name a few. I’d rather spend $14.50 on a film starring Nicole Kidman than Hugh Jackmann, Clive Owen, Gerard Butler and the many other male actors who have trouble getting butts in seats but never get trashed for it.
I'm a Halle Berry fan but would I rather see a film about Wolverine or Storm? Definitely Wolverine in my case because his character is beyond cool.
As for Nicole Kidman, critics are quick to call anyone a king or queen of flops in a heartbeat. The business is tough like that. Kidman has had some great roles (i.e. Far & Away, Cold Mountain and Moulin Rouge) but overall I would say Kate Winslet has the better resume because of her choices.
Anyhow, I'll see be seeing Australia when I get the chance regardless of what critics have to say.
P.S. I linked your site over at the producers group I’m a member of.
Hi,
Nicole Kidman is one of the beautiful actres we ever have in hollywood. She has worked in some of the most popular movies of hollywood. This is what we are giving her in return.
Chandan
[url="http://www.lexclick.com]L.P.O.[/url]
Thanks for making this post! I don’t understand where the sudden harshness towards Nicole Kidman has come from. How can any movie that flops be the sole fault of its (female) star? That line of thinking is completely illogical. And of course, when a film does well, it’s not usually credited to the great performance of the lead actress.
Hi all,
Love, love, love reading all of your comments! One of the many great reasons to visit this site daily.
I have always liked Kidman. Saw her in Dead Calm before she became "Mrs. Cruise", thought she was fantastic. If you haven't seen it, rent it. Billy Zane is super creepy as well.
I really loved her in "To Die For" and "Malice" (what a great flick with a great cast — Alec Baldwin, Bill Pullman, Anne Bancroft, early Gwyneth Paltrow — and good twists, rent that one also).
She has consistently shown smart choices (with a few missteps, hey — who doesn't have those?), and she seems to like character roles. She does well with those, but she IS a serious beauty….so I think she has a hard time escaping the "STAR" image.
Yes, "they" blame her if her flicks flop. Much more readily than they do the men. What else is new. It is sites like Melissa's and conversations like ours that will hopefully help bring about change. We just have to keep talkin' about it and showing up in the theaters to support our women and their projects.
I'm thinkin' Nicole is probably a lot less concerned about them blamin' her than we are…..she's busy thinking about what character part she can do next.
She works regularly, and works with people she likes (Baz, for example). She'll be OK.
In fact, I'm rather excited to see what she does with her role in the currently fliming musical "Nine". The cast sounds interesting & awesome: Daniel Day Lewis, Judi Dench, Kate Hudson, Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard……out next December. I'm there!
Thanks for all of the interesting insight everyone!
:)
Liz Chesney here:
Interesting points, Mel. However, as someone who has seen and enjoyed “Australia”, I must say to all reading this: get over yourselves and go see this movie on the big screen! Yes, there a couple of cornball moments, but it held both my and my husbands interest the whole time. For the poster who cried “rascism”, I read in a Baz interview that the entire crowd lept up and cheered through tears of joy at a screening for Aborigenals. There is genuine emotion, an interesting story, history and lovely visuals. Yes, it is “Gone with the Wind” meets “Out of Africa” meets “The Thorn Birds”…but it works! :-)
I didn’t “cry” racism, suspected it. I let you know, here, that I check with my peeps before I got to a film and if you must know in order not to response snidely-
it’s to prevent being triggered.
I wont count on your perspective. Sorry if that offends you.
Good luck.