Saturday, January 8, 2011

Class of 2010 Supporting Actress Blogathon: Uma Thurman in Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief



As soon as I saw this performance, I knew I just had to claim it for my write-up. Are we watching a preteen adventure fantasy flick for the family or a parody of a Hollywood Golden Age classic when Uma Thurman strolls in all Norma Desmond-like to receive her guests.


The turban! The sunglasses indoors! She even keeps her captive audience as statues so that they will never leave her. Uma isn’t asked to do much other than be a roadblock on the hero’s fetch quest but much like what she did with her Poison Ivy, she goes mythic not in the scale of her performance but gifts us instead with the most drool of line readings, punctuating each word with a forked hiss, like a goddess tempered with annoyance at the inconvenience of being needed to do something completely beneath her yet at the same time unwillingly pass up the chance of meeting her would-be permanent gazers. You can just trace that hint of joy in Uma as she gets to cut loose once more (and let’s face it, Uma’s been at her most entertaining when in costume rather than in wardrobe like that black wig in Pulp Fiction, the Poison Ivy outfit, and the Kill Bill tracksuit.)

flowery speech said with venom,
"Son of Poseidon. I used to date your daddy."

She speaks like she simply can’t be bothered but there's aged venom boiling beneath those pointed hisses. She sure as heck is livelier and actually worth the money the producers spent on compared to the CGI Medusa in the Clash of the Titans remake. Would a performance such as this ever garner awards traction? Surely never but it does raise an actressexual’s eyebrow and gods bless Uma for remembering the “entertainment” in “family entertainment.”

"Sneak. A. Peek."


This has been in support of: