h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Hey! I agree, Heather deserves an Academy Award. She was AWESOME!!! This film deserves a stack of nominations. But I say, Mike deserves one too. Why? Well, I say all the characters were foils for each other. Mike added quite a bit of humor (best line: "F*** you, log!" ) But he did well as the frightened one, the innocent one who didn't really know. Chasing after Josh, the temporary bit of insanity with the map, just the whole bit, I think he was excellent at improv, better than Josh (but heck, he was pretty great too, give 'em all awards!), and had a solid performance. Heather just had more of an opportunity to stand out with the role she had, but you gotta watch the guys.

SPOILER WARNING [to anyone who has not seen the movie, READ NO FURTHER. You shouldn't even be here anyway. I've given enough spoiler warnings.]

On my third viewing of this film, I tried to pay more attention to the guys. I am simply mesmerized by Heather's performance. There's one place where she doesn't look 'real' to me. For a second she looks a bit fake and melodramatic, but the rest of the time she has me absolutely convinced.

However, the boys. Lemme focus on Josh and Mike for a minute.

Josh is an enigma to me. It seemed a couple of places he had several different directions he could go with the character and was indecisive which way to go. This happens to work for the story. Each time I've gone in to see the film, I arrive with new assumptions and knowledge about the film. So his indecisiveness actually helps with the film itself. However, unless that was his intent, it is not a sign of good acting.

Lemme try to explain what I mean. The first time I went in, Josh was just the victum. Plain and simple. I took most everything at face value, assuming this horrible witch ghost was terrorising them and Josh is the first one to be taken out.

The second time I started seeing some different possibilities. I'd seen the Scifi Channel special again, and for some reason the actress playing Josh's girlfriend in that thing just looked to me like she was lying, or hiding something. What if Josh and his girlfriend had decided to pull a prank on Heather, due to some deepseated vendetta they had against her? Something unrelated that we know nothing about? What if the prank went too far? There's a couple places in the movie where Josh really digs at Heather. "She's still makin' movies!" He seemed to have alterior motives there. You can watch this film with the assumption that Josh is not the victum: he's the killer. His girlfriend followed them up there and set up the stones and the stick figures and things just got out of hand.

My point is, Josh's portrayal, as well as much of the film, is very open to interpretation and you can read into the movie a number of possibilities. Now, did Josh MEAN to do this, or is this a matter of luck? It's probable the whole movie is sheer luck. Luck doesn't deserve praise or recognition. It's just there.

Mike's a bit different. Mike, like Heather, seems to have thought through his character. Being the sound guy, he could be the voice of reason. When Heather was filming everything, he could be the first to tell her to turn it off and take this seriously. He wasn't interested in researching or investigating. He wouldn't get out of the tent that first or second night when Heather practically ordered him to.

The next day when they're discussing it his basic reaction was, "if there's locals around here messin' with us I don't wanna get into that." And Heather says, "well what if they're not people?" and his response was, "well if they're not people I don't wanna get into THAT either!" His reaction is very real: or rather, it's the way we might imagine ourselves responding if we had been in the same situation.

In the movie Die Hard with Bruce Willis, the one saving grace of that film is Bruce Willis' response to the goings on. Without Willis, the film would have been JUST another blow-em-up action flick. Willis is running around in crawlspaces and maintenence wells near the elevators. He passes the same place twice which happens to be where somebody posted a girly centerfold on the wall. The second time he passes it, while the baddies are hot on his heels, Willis kisses his fingers and taps on the girly picture. Now, most guys probably look at that and go, "yeah! I woulda done that too!" It's an indication that the character was alert and human. Something rare in most action flicks where the good guy is larger than life.

Michael does not play a larger than life character. He's real. He's believable, in a way that very few actors in Hollywood could ever be. Compare Keanu Reeves in Point Break or Johnny Depp in Nick of Time. They don't quite match Michael Williams realism, although they were aiming for the same sympatico response from the audience. Granted, Depp and Reeves were fighting with less than believable scripts, whereas Michael was given much more leeway.

Which brings up one of many important lessons that Hollywood must learn from Blair Witch if it is to improve its productivity as it faces the 21st century. Modern-day audiences are much more savvy. The days of Tarzan and Flash Gordon are long gone. Audiences want characters on the screen with which they can empathize. God-like perfect good guys are no longer pulling in audiences. Compare how poorly Wild Wild West is doing now, to how Mystery Men will do in just a couple weeks. People want real, normal people in unreal, extraordinary circumstances.

In summary, Joshua Leonard's performance is interpretive and vague. Michael Williams' performance is raw, believable, and a welcome change from Hollywood's usual display.

Heather? Heather deserves an Oscar nomination. Plain and simple.

*sigh* In a world of Heather fans, how do I explain why Mike is my favorite?

I have only seen it once, but as soon as I get the chance to drive back out, I will. Or maybe it'll come to a closer theater Friday. Heather.... she was the one who I analyze quite a bit. She is the one who was the driven character at the center of things, and does deserve an Oscar for that performance.

But in my mind, Mike deserves one too. Josh was okay, he served as the unpredictable element, the foil, and acting I think was decent, especially with the circumstances. But so many I know focus hard on Heather, when I believe's Mike's performance was wonderful! He is the one the average viewer can relate more with. The voice of reason, the innocent one. His performance pulled off the believable portrayl of how I and many others would respond. We also saw his descent more into letting into fear, he had subtle stubborn qualities. I don't know, something about his performance struck a chord with me. But I think he was a great actor, and not to be overlooked come award nominations.