unconvincing acting
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Prelude to a Kiss
lakealice — 15 years ago(August 27, 2010 02:29 PM)
I get why the old man wanted to be like Rita, but why on earth would she want to be that old man? He had showed no personality up to that point and was odd-looking, not cute or charming or witty or anything.
When they did change bodies, I didn't get that for the longest while, because they didn't show the differences in personality in their acting. When Baldwin started getting upset noticing changes, I couldn't see them at all, and was mystified. This was the fault of the acting, in my opinion.
Remember Steve Martin having Lily Tomlin's soul in his body in "All of Me? Now that was acting! There have been other movies where characters changed bodies that were much more convincing than this one. -
ryansassy1 — 9 years ago(September 11, 2016 06:37 AM)
I just watched this movie for the second time and I have to agree, the actors didn't put enough emphasis on the difference between the two personalities they each played. It should have been a lot more obvious than it was that Rita was suddenly a completely different person! I mean, the personality of an old man who was from the "Greatest Generation" versus the personality of a young "Gen X" woman Meg Ryan played them almost identically. There were a few differences but it really should have been a lot less subtle. She talked the same, walked the same (did you notice the weird, awkward gait she had even before the switch? That didn't change, either).
The "old man" actor, I forget his name, still played his Rita personality like an old man. He should have at least tried to change his inflection, accent, etc. when speaking as Rita.
The only real reason we, the audience, knew that they had switched bodies was that scene when they kissed. The camerawork, music, lighting, etc. gave us an over the top "hint" that something weird was going on. Plus then Peter started narrating about how something was weird. If not for that, It would have taken me several scenes to realize something was different about Rita. But the script really should not have needed Peter's narration nor the weird kiss scene to show us, the audience, that something was off. It should have been more obvious by the acting.
"I'm sorry, but.." is a self-contained lie.