Thursday, October 28, 2010

Retired, Extremely Dangerous

Hollywood is more forgiving on actors aging and still getting meaty roles. But actresses? Almost always, once an actress turns a certain age, they get relegated to the non-meaty roles: mother, grandmother, hags, aunts, the wife who dies 5 minutes into the movie.


Double standard is really evident but there are still some who gets more refined with age, like wine, they say. Meryl Streep can still kick the ass of a twenty-something actress and she can take the roles she want and it wouldn't matter if it is a hit or a flop in the box office.

Which is why I thouroughly enjoyed Helen Mirren's ass-kicking character, Victoria, when my husband and I watched RED last Sunday.


Imagine a sharp-shooting and machine gun-wielding 65 year old with the sensibilities of a Grand Dame and you would wish that your own Grandma is just as cool.


Of course, based on the title alone, employed a group of Hollywood Oldies But Still Baddies: Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, and Brian Cox.


John Malkovich's character is a hoot. He was literally a walking time bomb. I still see Bruce Willis as John McLane, except that he is a lot older now than when he started saying "Yippee-ki-yay, motherfucker!" to the Die Hard franchise villains.


For a movie that doesn't take itself seriously, I would prefer RED over the  The A Team and The Expendables put together anytime.


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