The JULIA ROBERTS Defense Thread
 

I don't understand all you Julia Roberts bashers who say she was unworthy of the Oscar in 2000 for her dynamic role as "Erin Brockovich." First of all, even if you eliminate her past work and pretend "Erin Brockovich" was Roberts' first film, it was an excellent performance. She portrayed fiestiness, bravado, sensitivity, aggressiveness, and vulnerability. She deserved that Oscar hands-down. It was not due to her popularity, nor was it due to a make-up or a cumulative Oscar. It was because she was the best actress of 2000.

Now, I'm a realist, and I realize that she's been in some heavy flops since her role as the prostitute in 1990's "Pretty Woman." Of course, we all have our own way of determining a flop from a "cult hit," and there are people who enjoy movies that flop and do not measure the worth of a film in box office dollars (I am among that count). But for the argument of box office dollars, the following films have not grossed all that well - and are therefore considered "failures" or flops.

1990 - "Flatliners"
1991 - "Sleeping With The Enemy" (possible exception)
1991 - "Hook"
1991 - "Dying Young"
1992 - "The Player"
1993 - "The Pelican Brief"
1994 - "Ready To Wear"
1994 - "I Love Trouble"
1995 - "Something To Talk About"
1996 - "Michael Collins"
1996 - "Mary Reilly"
1996 - "Everyone Says I Love You"
1997 - "Conspiracy Theory"

Then, later in 1997, she bounced back with the hit "My Best Friend's Wedding," (which I hate, by the way). From there, she started earning her box office potential back with such films as:

1998 - "Stepmom"
1999 - "Runaway Bride" (yes, it earned over 100 million)
1999 - "Notting Hill"

Then, "Erin Brockovich" and the Academy Award.

Unfortunately, she followed up her Oscar win with

2001 - "Ocean's Eleven"
2001 - "The Mexican" (which was okay, not great)
2001 - "America's Sweethearts"

Re: The JULIA ROBERTS Defense Thread
 

I agree she was excellent in Erin Brockovich. I loved the film because of her and Albert Finney. And I am happy she got the recognition. I, too, don't know why a lot of people "dislike" her. I would like reasons really.



Even though these films were considered "failures" or "flops" they are still excellent films. BTW, I wouldn't call The Player a film starring Julia Roberts. She is only in the end. I hope that didn't spoil anything for anyone. And I loved Conspiracy Theory!

1990 - "Flatliners"
1991 - "Sleeping With The Enemy"
1991 - "Hook"
1992 - "The Player"
1993 - "The Pelican Brief"
1995 - "Something To Talk About"
1997 - "Conspiracy Theory"

----------

1998 - "Stepmom"
I wasn't too keen on this film, but it was a hit...

1999 - "Runaway Bride"
Pretty good.

1999 - "Notting Hill"
This was a good film.




I don't know about you but I loved Ocean's Eleven and The Mexican. They were both great films. Even though The Mexican didn't go over 100 million, I would put that against it.



Bottom line, she is a great actress who deserves all she has gotten. She seems so down to earth and funny.

Only thing: She should shave her underarms everyday...

Loved Notting Hill. Great soundtrack and all around story.

All in all I believe she deserved the Oscar for Erin Brokovich. Very good film IMHO.

Great thread idea.

I was particularly moved in "Erin Brockovich" when Albert Finney's character accuses her of not getting personally involved with the case. Her response to him is what I believed earned her that Oscar.

I am not a vocal fan of Robert’s work. Despite her reportedly high IQ, she seems to struggle in roles that demand an intelligent, self-confident persona. I simply do not find her screen presence believable as an attorney, scientist, or other professional (unless one counts the oldest profession ;-) ).

That said, I do think she was amazing in <b>EB</b> and that she deserved the Oscar. And I have enjoyed her in other roles as well—<b>Pretty Woman</b> and <b>The Player</b> for example. But I also think she lacks range and often chooses roles (or perhaps it’s a mismatch with the director) that exceed her abilities or require a presence she can not deliver. I see her more as a movie star, rather than an actress. I don’t hate her; but I would not see a movie simply because she is in it.

I've always liked her. Especially in Pretty Woman, EB and Ocean's 11.

One of the most unwatchable piles of dump I've ever seen. Just awful.

I liked Erin B. a lot, but it wasn't the best performance of that year.

Re: The JULIA ROBERTS Defense Thread
 

There's nothing unfortunate about that. It's been her best movie, IMO.

Let me sum up the argument against Ms. Roberts.

The woman has only two facial expressions:

Nostrils flared and nostrils at rest.

i've actually never seen eb, not really hurting to either. but she is one of my favorite actresses. notting hill is easily one of my favorite if not the favorite romantic comedy. and she was excellent in 011, though i'm sure anyone could have filled the roll with such an amazing cast. on a side note i was thinking about her the other day and she has to be one of the most beautiful women in hollywood. i'm talking beauty, not sexiness or hotness. her smile goes on for miles, i know, but i don't know she has the look of the old time ladies (bergman, hepburn, wood).

Re: The JULIA ROBERTS Defense Thread
 

It's not that I think she's a terrible actress or anything - I never really thought about it actually. I never really liked her because she's got a big mouth... but I have liked her in a few things. There's lots of movies missing from the list you posted, but I get why you posted what you did. Still - it just happens to be a list of films which mostly suck (IMO) which makes me wonder why she's so popular.

1990 - "Flatliners" - decent/mediocre
1991 - "Sleeping With The Enemy" - suck
1991 - "Hook" - suck (was she even in it? oh yeah, tinkerbell)
1991 - "Dying Young" - depressing suck
1992 - "The Player" - decent
1993 - "The Pelican Brief" - decent
1994 - "Ready To Wear" - ubersuck
1994 - "I Love Trouble" - decent
1995 - "Something To Talk About" - suck
1996 - "Michael Collins" - suck
1996 - "Mary Reilly" - suck
1996 - "Everyone Says I Love You" - suck
1997 - "Conspiracy Theory" - decent/good
1997 - "My Best Friend's Wedding" - suck
1998 - "Stepmom" - suck
1999 - "Runaway Bride" - suck
1999 - "Notting Hill" - suck

"Erin Brockovich" - Lifetime movie of the week... yawn...

2001 - "Ocean's Eleven" - decent/suck
2001 - "The Mexican" - Great (don't know why, but I loved this flick)
2001 - "America's Sweethearts" - suck

Re: Re: The JULIA ROBERTS Defense Thread
 

rotfl
I mention that all the time when I see her on TV. Those chompers could be dangerous! :D

bcd

conscience asked for specific reasons why those of us who don't like Jules feel the way we do, so I don't think I'm threadcrapping here.

For me - and this is quite petty, but hey, you *did* ask - part of the problem has to do with this:
I have a tendency (and this goes well beyond movies) to excessively backlash against things I deem "overrated." And, considering all my knowledge of pop culture, I'd be hard pressed to name anything I consider more overpraised than Julia Roberts' alleged "beauty." I won't go into too much gory detail, but briefly, the ONLY thing I find even remotely attractive about her is her hair - and even that "doesn't really count," as I'm convinced anyone can have great hair when you've got a highly skilled team of $500 an hour technicians tending to your 'do.

By the standards of a Hollywood actress, I don't think JR even comes close to rising above the mediocre / average range. If I saw a woman who looked like her walking down the street, I wouldn't even hold my gaze for more than a nanosecond.

OK, so it's not entirely her fault, but I get annoyed all the same when every major media constantly tells me how gorgeous she is; I call it The Jennifer Lopez Effect. Still, in an effort to make myself appear slightly less shallow, I will say that in the few movies I've seen her in (which, admittedly, excludes her Oscar winner), I found exactly nothing appealing about her. At all. "Conspiracy Theory" seemed like a relatively safe bet for me - I like Gibson, and was in the mood for a fun movie when I saw it - but for whatever reason, I effing HATED that movie.

Finally, I've seen some quotes attributed to her in which she "personally attacks" people like me........because we don't share her "enlightened, sophisticated" political ideology. I've commented on "actors' politics" in enough threads that I think this time, I'll just leave it at that.

In summary, we have a woman who's held up as the ideal of female physical perfection, while I consider her average at best; who's made many $100+ million grossers, while I've never liked her in anything I've seen her do; and who hates (not simply "disagrees with" - hates) me because of my politics.

That, my friends, is why I don't like Julia Roberts. :)

Julia Roberts = :down:NOT HOT

Actually, if you haven't read my previous post, don't bother; Pants just summarized the whole thing beautifully. :)

Edit: I guess I owe it to y'all to provide a link and an example of what JR has said that catapulted her RHQ (Republican Hater Quotient) to Streisandian levels:
Linky: http://www.nationalreview.com/weeken...rd032401.shtml

This is hate speech, plain and simple. Which absolutely falls under "free speech," but just as surely as JR has the right to say it, I have the right to consider her a conformity-obsessed shallow little Sarandon knockoff. [And Sarandon is more attractive despite being several decades older.]

OK. Gotta go find a rock to lie on, so I can let the sun regulate the temperature of my reptilian body. You warm-blooded mammals have NO idea how easy you have it...

She is at best just an average actress. She will never be confused for Meryl Streep, Jodie Foster, women who can act .

I like Julia Roberts. She was good in Erin Brockovich but I can't see how she deserved the award. If anything, Albert Finney was more deserving of the one he didn't get.

However, there's something about the film I can't stomach:

The Dark Side of Erin Brockovich by Michael Fumento

And why has no one mentioned Mystic Pizza??

I think JR BLOWS big greasy chunks and is FUGLY :down:
Why Hollywood still gives her a chance I'll never understand. Tons of actresses with more

However, I did like here in:

Runaway Bride...it seemed to be about her real life. :lol:

America's Sweethearts...although I admit when gorgeous Cathi Zeta Jones was onscreen with her, JR looked even uglier than normal. I will admit I thought JR looked attractive in the flashback scenes where she waas fat. :up:

Notting Hill...she IS a bitch and played a bitch :lol:

Steel Magnolias...because she :up:

Giantrobo: rotfl

---------

When I look to actors or actresses, I pass on anything they have to say about politics. **** 'em. I just like the actors and actresses I like because they can act, not because they are demo or repub.

That is why I never read about a celebrity talkin' politics.

If they want to speak politics...be a ****ing politician.

And that is why I never bring up celebs and politics. :D

I think you disproved your case for julia just by listing her credits, buttmunker. A whole lot of crap spanning 13 years time.

She hasn't taken one serious risk in her career (other than lopping her hair off and going into hiding for a year or so after bailing out on her impending wedding to kiefer sutherland)

I believe her career peaked pretty early with her cinderella turn in pretty woman. I really liked her in that picture, she got her oscar nod. It's been downsville for me with her since. I attribute it to the movie star syndrome.

Brockovich was her chance to show off that she could talk tough and dress down. And in the end of that film she got her cake and ate it, too.

In other words, she's no julianne moore. Poor julianne, she'll never win an oscar. Not with movie stars like julia taking the lemons and making lemonade instead of sucking the limes after the tequila.

Check in.

I'm a fans of Julia Roberts. I am here to defend her :)

I agree Julia Roberts is a very good actress. She also has an incredible smile. I don't know why people don't like her.

My wife and I have always loved her movies:

Mystic Pizza
Pretty Woman
1990 - "Flatliners"
1991 - "Dying Young"
1993 - "The Pelican Brief"
1997 - "Conspiracy Theory"
1997 - "My Best Friend's Wedding"
1998 - "Stepmom"
1999 - "Runaway Bride"
1999 - "Notting Hill"
"Erin Brockovich"
2001 - "Ocean's Eleven"

Not bad set of movies. How many of us can say we been abart of movies that have earned around 2 billion dollors????

Pretty Successful if you ask me.

I really believe some people just don't like her kind of movies, but there are others that are just jealous of her success.

i like 75% of her movies...

nitting hill is the best so far.... asides from pretty woman

the rest are so-so

she's ok in my book... just ok

I think she's ok. But honestly she hasn't been in very many "quality" movies in my opinion. Does she deserve all the money she makes? Absolutely. Any actor who can pull in massive amounts of money for movies that, without that actor, would be considered mediocre drivel, is worth a lot of money. So there's no denying her popularity and worth. But does that a good actress make? She's ok, but really has very little range. She plays every role as if Julia Roberts were a...prostitute, a lawyer, a single mom, a best friend...so on. It's just her...in different situations. Which can be fine, especially for the light hearted stuff she does, but no way do I think she deserved that oscar. What she had was a well made movie about a fairly bland story and a performance that she played against that was, imo, Oscar worthy. I thought Albert Finney was excellent in that movie, and while she did a more than servicable job, it was in no way something that was particularly noteworthy. Seriously, she won mostly because of who she and the fact she did a serious, well received role. her performance was solid, but in no way did I think it remarkable. That is my opinion, but her popularity did more for her win than her performance...IMO. Lots of Oscars are won this way...though often times they are more deserving actors. Denzel for Training Day? Please...how bout "we want Denzel to win so this will do." And that's my opinion.

Wait, is it considered being more of a whore to defend julia roberts or to hate her?

I still do like her in pretty woman, though.

Giantrobo <-- Can't stand Julia whats her face so stays out of thread.

The Julia Roberts Defense? Is that anything like the Chewbacca defense?



The two look so similar I often get them confused....

I'm sorry.

this thread is hilarious! :D

i agree w/ the sentiment that she' basically totally overrated. i also think she's sort of unattractive - especially when she does the gorilla walk in Ocean's 11.

so, she's ok (although, i think i'm one of the rare people who really didn't like erin brockovich). i liked pretty woman and notting hill.

She has two very expressive bottom lips, grunter. Frankly, I think she's an attrocious actress, and is very difficult to look at or listen to. I loved Hook, but I cringe through her scenes in that movie. And it always made me laugh in Flatliners when they'd defibrulate her while she's still wearing that bra. You'd think that plastic and wire thing would anneal to her body with all that voltage going through her.

I actually love some of the movies she's been in. I just don't like *her*.

I think her brother is a better actress than she is

Eric Roberts IS the real "star" of that family imo:

Star 80 :up: :up:
Runaway Train :up:
The Pope Of Greenwich Village :up:

3 of my favorite films of his

Sorry I got slightly off topic but I'm tired of hearing how pretty and great Julia is..Somebody has to stick up for the older brother :)

I definitely agree Julia needs a defense. Much like Halle Berry, she is woman many apparently find attractive enough not to notice she does not act. She is a movie star. There is nothing in Erin Brockovich which could not have been accomplished by someone else, exactly like Halle Berry who screamed and cried her way to an Oscar in Monster's Ball. Hell J Lo was ten times better in Out of Sight, but she doesn't deserve an Oscar either. What this tells me is Soderbergh gets good performances out of the women he directs. Whoever mentioned Denzel, great call, another incredibly overrated performance. Ethan Hawke acted. Denzel chewed scenery.

Well, starting with her breakout role in Pretty Woman...

3/23/1990 Pretty Woman $178,406,268
A huge financial success, and I think she actually looked attractive at this point, because she was different and not the typical standard.

8/10/1990 Flatliners $61,308,153
A decent hit at the time, and much of the success is credited to rising star. She still has the "glow" of an up-and-comer.

2/8/1991 Sleeping with the Enemy $101,599,005
An average movie that is a big success ONLY due to Roberts. She's officially a star at this point.

6/21/1991 Dying Young $32,360,860
Her first post-star 'flop', although it is widely accepted that this movie probably wouldn't have even made $5 million without Julia. Also, at this point she's being heiled as the beauty standard, so her weakness there is starting to appear.

12/11/1991 Hook $119,654,823
Made money, but still considered something of a flop considering the hype and the talent involved. Julia cuts her hair and, combined with her overexposure, she doesn't seem all that hot anymore.

2/1/1992 Player, The $21,706,101
Not a Julia starring role, per se, so doesn't really count.

12/17/1993 Pelican Brief, The $100,768,056
A hit, although Julia gets less credit here because Grisham adaptions are pretty big deals at this point. At least her hair is back to normal.

6/29/1994 I Love Trouble $30,687,955
No excuses here, just a flop. Is it the straight hair? Whatever it is, she's no longer a surefire thing.

12/23/1994 Ready to Wear (Pret-a-Porter) $11,203,670
Another limited release Altman ensemble film, so it's kinda hard to count this as well.

8/4/1995 Something to Talk About $50,865,589
A mild bounce back, although at this point she's lost most of the guys' interest. She's officially a "chick flick star" at this point, and most guys are thinking "what did I see in her?" :)

2/23/1996 Mary Reilly $5,615,008
Wow, now she's lost the girls, too.

10/11/1996 Michael Collins $11,063,149
She's not even a factor anymore at this point. I honestly completely forgot about this movie existing.

12/6/1996 Everyone Says I Love You $9,714,482
Julia who?

6/20/1997 My Best Friend's Wedding $126,813,153
Sheeeeeeee's back! Gee, it took her this long to realize that her fans wanted to see her in romantic comedies (I Love Trouble doesn't count). One of her best comedies, IMO.

8/8/1997 Conspiracy Theory $76,118,990
A decent intake, but Mel was carrying half the load. Did anyone REALLY like this movie?

12/25/1998 Stepmom $91,137,662
An awful movie, but it did well. After this movie, she's become a guy repellant at the movies.

5/28/1999 Notting Hill $116,089,678
Guy repellant or not, the women are dragging to Julia's movies. Not that bad for what it is.

7/30/1999 Runaway Bride $152,149,590
A huge hit, but she's really recycling here. Overexposure has hit a peak here.

3/17/2000 Erin Brockovich $125,548,685
She steps away from the traditional chick flick formula, but smartly pairs with a talented filmmaker to do so. Big critical and finanical hit. She gives a decent performance, but seriously... if this exact same performace was done by a no-name actress would it have drawn this much attention?

3/2/2001 Mexican, The $66,808,615
Did decent business, but Brad helped. Poster suggest a romance, and the trailers insinuate more screentime between the two. Many were left disappointed afterward.

7/20/2001 America's Sweethearts $93,607,673
A return to romantic comedy, but not as well received. Is it because it's a lesser movie or because of overexposure?

12/7/2001 Ocean's Eleven $183,405,771
Humongous hit, but it's an ensemble. In reality, her role is extraneous here... and not to sound shallow but IMO this is one of her least attractive roles (Mary Reilly excepted).

8/2/2002 Full Frontal $2,506,446
Not a Julia vehicle, doesn't count.

12/31/2002 Confessions of a Dangerous Mind $15,938,738
Ditto.

Julia is a good actress NOT a great actress. She's limited in what she can play usually the love interest/mom etc...She CAN NOT play period pieces or do accents very well..

I think Streep,Sarandon,Foster,and Moore are better actress than she is

..Heck even Gwenyth Paltrow is better. Could she have played that part in Shakespeare In Love??..NO WAY!

..As for EB well that was an easy role not much of a challenge there any number of actresses could have pulled it off..