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Hot Take: Is Jennifer Lawrence a One-Hit Wonder?

Ogodei

Member
Given persistent criticism about her performance as Mystique in the post-trilogy X-Men movies, the failure of Mother! and the mixed reception of Passengers, is it safe to say that the "highest paid actress in Hollywood" has just been coasting on Hunger Games heat this whole time?

I guess the best counterarguments are Winter's Bone (which is underappreciated), and her role in American Hustle, though it's notable that the former was before Hunger Games at all and the latter was midway through the Hunger Games movies.

Joy's probably the strongest counterargument, but i'm not sure of how much staying power that movie's had.
 

maxcriden

Member
No, she's an actress who has appeared in good and bad films like most/all actors and actresses.

Joy was really dry and unpleasant to sit through, but I was immensely impressed with her acting in Silver Linings Playbook and I enjoyed her roles in the Hunger Games. She put in good effort in Passengers despite the off-putting plotline. She did well in Hunger Games.
 

DOWN

Banned
? She’s great in anything besides X Men. She’s talented.

Silver Linings
Joy
American Hustle

etc

All good performances undeniably
 
D

Deleted member 20415

Unconfirmed Member
you literally name a few other movies she turns in good performances in.

One Hit Wonder is not the term you're looking for here. That's not her.
 

SeanC

Member
Mother may not have made massive bank but she was far from bad in it. She carried that movie across the finish line on her own shoulders.
 

KodaRuss

Member
I have not seen Joy but I hear it is good and I haven't seen Mother!

I think she is pretty good in

Winter's Bone
American Hustle
Silver Linings Playbook
Probably just the first Hunger Games


So probably not OP. At least not for me.
 

Chase17

Member
While it of course shouldn't be considered an end all be all, she does already have like four oscar nominations and isn't even 30.
 

robotrock

Banned
No, she's an actress who has appeared in good and bad films like most/all actors and actresses.

Joy was really dry and unpleasant to sit through, but I was immensely impressed with her acting in Silver Linings Playbook and I enjoyed her roles in the Hunger Games. She put in good effort in Passengers despite the off-putting plotline. She did well in Hunger Games.

Any plans to see Mother, max?
 
Eh, you could make the argument that maybe there is another actress more deserving of being the "highest paid". But you asked for "one hit wonder" status, shes definitely not that.
 

maxcriden

Member
Posts #2-24 (including mine):

you-have-failed-this-thread.jpg


Correct answer:

xq78z.gif
 

bud

Member
she was tremendous in winter's bone, but i can't really remember another great performance by her.
 

HStallion

Now what's the next step in your master plan?
I'll give her credit for making Chris Pratt seem like a decent actor in Passengers.
 

Seesaw15

Member
I mean she's not a movie star in the sense that her name alone is big enough to make people see a film( only Tom Cruise and Denzel Washington really have that star power) but she's a really talented actress.
 
Given persistent criticism about her performance as Mystique in the post-trilogy X-Men movies, the failure of Mother! and the mixed reception of Passengers, is it safe to say that the "highest paid actress in Hollywood" has just been coasting on Hunger Games heat this whole time?

But the problems with Mother! and Passengers have nothing to do with her acting. Passengers centers around an interesting story concept that is presented in a problematic way due to the editing choices and the way the film ended (plenty of people have proposed a handful of much better endings that don't "redeem" Chris Pratt's character so much as put it in a better emotional context). Meanwhile, Mother! seems to be doing pretty well among critics, but in true Aronofsky fashion is basically a huge punch in the gut to the viewer so it's scaring away audiences.

If anything I think it's interesting that Lawrence should somehow be to blame for those two films.

Nah, not an Aronofsky fan generally and what I've heard about it doesn't seem like my kind of movie. Mistake?

My understanding is that if you couldn't do Requiem for a Dream don't do this one. Different subject matter, same basic concept of being very difficult to watch.

Or at least, that's what I gather, I haven't had a good opportunity to see it yet but I've listened cautiously to a lot of the discussions about it.
 

blackflag

Member
? She’s great in anything besides X Men. She’s talented.

Silver Linings
Joy
American Hustle

etc

All good performances undeniably

Winter's Bone

She's a great actress just not great in X-men or hunger games but look at the source material.. it's not her fault.
 

Ogodei

Member
Imagine judging an actresses' career based on her performance in superhero movies.

If it were just X-Men this wouldn't be a conversation, definitely. But it's been a few high-profile underperformances lately, though the consensus here seems to be that it's more bad luck on her part for signing onto questionable projects?
 

- J - D -

Member
She's 27 yrs old and already has 1 oscar win and 4 nominations. Was a lead in two mega blockbuster franchises, makes like $20+ million a feature, and just had a movie come out wherein she's praised as arguably the best thing in it.

What?
 

nachum00

Member
Honestly she hasn't wowed me in anything I've seen her in. As for Mother, she was easily the weakest link performance-wise.
 
She's an actress who has a lot of roles in movies good and bad, blockbusters and disappointments, and when she is really good she even gets award nominations for her performances.

It would really go against the term one hit wonder.
 

maxcriden

Member
If it were just X-Men this wouldn't be a conversation, definitely. But it's been a few high-profile underperformances lately, though the consensus here seems to be that it's more bad luck on her part for signing onto questionable projects?

Yep, I'd say it's definitely bad luck for signing onto these projects. I've not seen reviewers generally knock against her acting really. These are underperformances for the movies but not for her acting herself.

(And no disrespect intended with my .gif reply above, just thought it too apropos to not post.)

My understanding is that if you couldn't do Requiem for a Dream don't do this one. Different subject matter, same basic concept of being very difficult to watch.

Or at least, that's what I gather, I haven't had a good opportunity to see it yet but I've listened cautiously to a lot of the discussions about it.

Thanks - I definitely couldn't do Requiem so I'm glad to hear I was correct in thinking this wasn't for me.
 

El Topo

Member
"Hey GAF, is this actress that has been nominated for four academy awards, has headlined multiple successful franchises and movies a one-hit wonder?"

Come on OP.
 

Vestal

Junior Member
I mean she's not a movie star in the sense that her name alone is big enough to make people see a film( only Tome Cruise and Denzel Washington really have that star power) but she's a really talented actress.

Thats a short list you got there.. Leo, Hanks, Crowe, The Rock to name a few also have that type of star power.
 
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