Viola Davis can singlehandedly take a movie like The Help and turn it from something that could easily have been nothing but caricature and emotional exploitation into something that, at least at times, had some real feeling to it. Then again, her electric presence can only do so much—Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close remained a dud even though she did her best to bring it to life. So if we imagine this circumstance where Ender’s Game falls a little bit flat, it’s not an absolute guarantee that Viola Davis, alone, can salvage it.
Viola Davis is not a beginner. Viola Davis is acting. Viola Davis is truth. She has attained that rare level of acting where her appearance in a movie is instantly attention-grabbing and makes me sit up in my seat and start watching closely. It’s taken some time for audiences to catch on, but starting with her incredible performance in Doubt in 2008 and then The Help three years later, you can’t not notice her anymore. She finds a way of making every moment she’s on screen fascinating and special. If and when Harvey Weinstein releases The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby we’ll get to see her turn in some of her best work again, but until then, hopefully she gets some room to maneuver here.
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