Jessica Lange Is AWFUL In This Film.
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Cape Fear
ChairmanOfTheBored — 15 years ago(July 05, 2010 07:38 AM)
I loved this film, thought De Niro played a great over the top psychopath, thought Nolte was a surprisingly convincing flawed protagonist, and it was cool to see Scorsese lend his touch a traditional commerical thriller.
However, Jessica Lange is utterly cringeworthy in her role and is the wink link in an otherwise impressive cast (not least of all the brief but compelling cameos by Peck, Mitchum and Balsam). I've seen other performances by her and I know Lange is more often than not a very good actress with some truly excellent performances, but she is beyond bad in this movie. She overacts every scene she's in and half her role is shouting. There's no subtlety her performance, every one of her lines is delivered in an overexaggerated format, and the "I DIDN'T LET HIM OUT" scene is just laughable in an otherwise taut, intelligent thriller.
I'm A Lead Farmer, beep - Lincoln Osiris -
RainAndTangerines — 15 years ago(July 10, 2010 01:53 PM)
At times I felt like turing away when Jessica was on screen. Her performance was over the top and completely cringe worthy. I have seen her in films before and thought she was wonderful, in Tootsie, for instance. That was not the case in Cape Fear. The way she kept breathing excessively and the pace in which she spoke was almost enough to drive me mad.
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wylierichardson-966-922691 — 9 years ago(July 26, 2016 11:18 PM)
We never actually saw her with a drink in hand, so they didnt seem to be going for an 'alcholic' vibe with her role. The movie seemed to want to suggest 'fraying marriage', which is why her and Nick Nolte are often shown arguing. That is my take on it.
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Elder_Yautija — 14 years ago(June 05, 2011 04:23 PM)
I always thought she did a good job, as she was depicting an anxious and insecure woman, a carachter that many people will find annoying. So, yes, if you dislike her in this movie and feel like looking somewhere else, and if the way she speaks makes you nervous and irritates you (as it does me), then I guess I have a point.
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cocumaluzzi — 15 years ago(August 08, 2010 12:00 AM)
I didn't think she was that bad although I'm not a huge fan of short-haired broads. Juliette was her usual "cringeworthy" self though. God she sucks. And yeah, now that I think about it I guess Jessica sucked pretty bad too. God I hate short-haired broads!
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monty_106 — 15 years ago(August 26, 2010 06:38 PM)
Yeah, I agree; she was a pain in the arse. She was like an overly-enthusiastic 5 year old trying to get someone's attention. What was up with her breathing? It was like she was enduring an incessant asthma attack for the entire film. Her eyes kept rolling around all over the place as well, like she was having some kind of seizure. Weirdo.
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dsgoorevitch — 15 years ago(September 04, 2010 10:18 AM)
What was she supposed to do? The writer had it all wrong. The Nick Nolte character had to be both cold and controlling to make the women do what they did. And he was neither. And it was partly Nolte's fault for not being able to decide who he was but it was mostly Scorcese's fault. Women are not his strong point. He knows nothing about them and I think this is obvious about him looking at his other movies. Lange is a superb actress when given proper lines and direction. "Frances" was really something, for example.
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MisterHex — 10 years ago(December 10, 2015 08:25 PM)
And it was partly Nolte's fault for not being able to decide who he was but it was mostly Scorcese's fault. Women are not his strong point. He knows nothing about them and I think this is obvious about him looking at his other movies.
I've always thought the same about Michael Mann, who never really wrote or portrayed women very realistically in his films. More than a coincidence that Mann and Scorcese specialize in male-dominated crook movies -
arman0612 — 14 years ago(May 14, 2011 11:00 PM)
What? I thought she was amazing, a wonderful performance, I really liked how her character was a little crazy and very weird and she had some funny scenes at the beginning. I also think she played the scenes where she was scared in a very convincing way and her tears were amazing as well, one of the best performances I've seen by her.
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tightspotkilo — 13 years ago(April 25, 2012 09:04 AM)
I've NEVER thought Jessica Lange was all that. Well, other than her first film, King Kong in 1976, where she was basically eye candy. Way way WAY overrated as a "serious" actress. So her stinking up Cape Fear is pretty much par for the course for her.
Get the facts first - you can distort them later!