Holmes has her moments as the ultimate bad party guest. There just isn’t enough depth in this role to do justice to the inner turmoil she nicely expresses.
Katie Holmes does the finest work of her career in the college-reunion dramedy “The Romantics”
The Romantics premiered Wednesday, and I think has potential to be one of the festival’s breakouts.
As the deeply wounded Laura, Holmes does some of her strongest acting in years. Her tabloid-friendly marriage to Tom Cruise may have obscured the fact that she was once considered an actress of some promise, but with The Romantics she returns to the direct, honest performances of her early career.
Katie Holmes in ‘The Romantics’
It’s no secret that Katie Holmes has taken some time off from acting to take care of her young daughter, churning out only one forgettable performance (Mad Money) in the past five years. But now Holmes has proven how much she belongs in front of the camera after absolutely knocking my socks off in The Romantics, a Big Chill-ish type dramedy about a group of old friends who reunite for a wedding.
In the film, Holmes plays the Maid of Honor (to Anna Paquin, who turns in the film’s second best performance), though an old relationship with the soon-to-be groom (Josh Duhamel) begins to wedge itself into the marital festivities. Playing a girl who, on one hand, wants her old friend (and college roommate) to find happiness, but on the other can’t seem to shake the feelings she still has for her old flame, Holmes is equal amounts charming, sincere and emotionally explosive. She seriously makes the film, and I won’t be the only one who demands more from her after The Romantics eventually hits theaters (hopefully) later this year.
http://www.fandango.com/movieblog/sundance-surprises-malin-akerman-and-katie-holmes-588559.html
You filmed Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark with Katie Holmes in Melbourne last year, and hung out with Katie and Tom Cruise. Did that reaffirm your desire to not have a Tom Cruise kind of career?
(Laughs) Well look, the press with those guys, it’s just extraordinary what they have to deal with. There I was in my home town, and I suddenly felt like a visitor in their world. When we did anything it was left up to them and their organising – as it sort of has to be. We did a couple of things together, and it was all very military in its execution, as far as getting to places and stuff.
Even going to the footy with them?
That’s right. I go to the footy the way we just go to the footy! But having said that, at the heart of it is those two. And she is just delightful, she is so funny and lovely and hilarious, and really takes the piss out of all that stuff. Tom’s great, too – I didn’t spend as much time with him obviously because he would come out for a week, go home for a week. But I really like Tom, he’s a great guy. He has a lot weighing on his shoulders, it’s an incredible corporation that he runs, but he’s really amenable and lovely.
What about your experience on-set with Katie?
She was so much fun to work with, I had such a great time with her. You forget the silliness while you’re actually working together. Then all of a sudden the paparazzi will turn up at one of the locations, and you go, “Oh, that’s right”. There were like 500 people lined up on this country road in Macedon where nobody ever usually is. We had this funny incident, Katie and I were filming in this car – they were setting up, we weren’t even on set. When they called us on set, I said “What took so long?” and they said, “Oh there was some electrical fault with one of the cars, something burnt out”.
It was nothing, a tiny little thing the size of a match. Well, the press got on to that, and before we knew it, Katie was getting emails from people in the States saying, “Oh my god are you all right? I hear you were in a fire in this car on set”. Katie was laughing, “What’s this about?” It was ridiculous. So yeah, I don’t really want that life. A bit of notoriety’s good because it helps you keep getting work. But when it’s too far, it’s mad.
So happy for her. Will her films be wide releases or just limited?