Actress Spotlight: Jennifer Lawrence

Plus, mini-reviews for Wes Anderson's latest!

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Jun 23, 2023

Hey, folks. Sorry, for this newsletter’s inconsistency over the past couple months. Our excuse is twofold: a) We’ve had some recent life changes, and b) we’ve been working on some exciting new things for DYLA. Look out for an announcement on that soon. Now to your Friday recommendations.

Opening in theaters today is a very rare thing in 2023, a raunchy comedy starring an A-lister. Jennifer Lawrence produces and plays the lead in No Hard Feelings, so it’s a good time to shine a spotlight on J-Law’s career. Her rise from the daughter on The Bill Engvall Show to major movie star was remarkably swift, even by Hollywood’s standards. After her breakout in 2010’s Winter’s Bone, she would be a 4-time Oscar nominee, the lead of The Hunger Games films, and a key part of the X-Men franchise all within five years. Then there were a few lean years of risky choices and audience misses, so she took a brief hiatus before returning a couple years ago in Don’t Look Up and Causeway.

We’re fascinated by Lawrence’s career path so far and actually were surprised to learn we haven’t recommended many of her movies. Check out our J-Law recommendations and then read on for our mini-reviews of Wes Anderson’s latest Asteroid City, which opens nationwide today as well.

Drew recommends…

Winter’s Bone

Who would have thought Winter’s Bone, an indie drama with a $2 million budget set in rural Missouri, would be so successful and launch its lead to superstardom? This unassuming 2010 Sundance film about poverty and meth addiction in the Ozarks made relatively good money at the box office and earned four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. Debra Granik, the co-writer and director, can certainly take much of the credit for this success, but it was a 20-year-old newcomer that generated the you-gotta-see-it buzz around Winter’s Bone.

With only TV work and a few small movie parts to her name, Jennifer Lawrence introduced herself to the world with a strong and authentic turn as Ree Dolly, a teenager older than her years due to taking care of her poverty-stricken family. Ree’s father is missing and she must find him to avoid her family getting evicted from their home. Lawrence’s performance drew universal acclaim, with Roger Ebert praising her “fierce, still center” and New York Magazine critic David Edelstein boldly claiming, “As a modern heroine, Ree Dolly has no peer.” At that year’s Academy Awards, Lawrence became the second-youngest Best Actress nominee ever at the time.

At a very young age, Lawrence was capable of playing a grounded and realistic character while still clearly possessing movie star chops. Everyone who saw her in Winter’s Bone knew that for a fact. In the next couple years she would be Mystique in X-Men: First Class and Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games. As she left behind the type of role and film that launched her career in Winter’s Bone, she became one of the most recognizable faces in the world. Last year, however, she starred in and produced Causeway, a quiet and modest drama with a first-time director about a wounded soldier returning home to New Orleans. It was probably the closest character she’s played to Ree Dolly in the 12 years since her big break. Those of us that enjoy seeing Jennifer Lawrence show her versatile talent in different types of movies are hoping for more.

Available to rent on digital platforms

Billy recommends…

Red Sparrow

Red Sparrow came out when I first was trying to see everything I could and write about that experience. I probably saw at least 10 movies in the theater to start the year and the quality of January and February are notoriously lacking for major releases. Writing about all of those was mentally exhausting. And then a sneaky great stretch of a few movies came out in a two-week span. First Game Night and Annihilation came out the same weekend and then Red Sparrow. Game Night and Annihilation have deservedly been far more remembered than Red Sparrow, but those trio of movies harken me back to a time not that long ago where studios were still hanging on to a release model that didn’t quite work anymore, but I miss it dearly. And how was Jennifer Lawrence in the one that is the most forgotten?

Lawrence was fresh off the last Hunger Games two years earlier and her time right after was a clear effort to separate herself from the teen movie icon she created for herself. Red Sparrow is a trauma-filled and sleek espionage thriller that was sold as Lawrence’s sexy turn as an action-thriller star. What we got had her scantily dressed as a trained assassin that seduces her victims, but not much about this movie is sexy. All of her training to be a seductress is created through psychological, physical, and sexual abuse. Not exactly the sexy thriller we were billed.

Once that expectation left my viewing experience I was impressed by her performance as a ballerina turned assassin. She tapped into places I had not seen her go before (I hadn’t seen mother! yet) and the old school thriller structure helmed by director Francis Lawrence was handled exquisitely at times. It was intense, gripping, and despite some exposition-filled twists that didn’t work, we have a film that works and just came out about 15 years later than it should have. Red Sparrow is not great, but came out at a time where the pressure was on for Lawrence to differentiate herself. We are in an interesting comeback for Lawrence this year and I think the effort to make interesting/fun movies is more seamless this time around. She is one of our most special talents and will give her a chance whenever she is in something new.

Available to rent on digital platforms

Mini-Review: Asteroid City

Drew: At this point, every Wes Anderson movie is the most Wes Anderson movie he’s ever made. You likely already know if you’re in or out on the Anderson experience. But, Asteroid City argues that his distinct vision still has more to offer. With each recent film, his writing and visual storytelling has only gotten more dense and ambitious. And yet, Asteroid City is an absolute delight from start to finish. Not only is the humor and heart present in true Wes fashion, the all-star cast charms in both big parts (Tom Hanks is as wonderful in an Anderson film as you’d expect) and small. It’s awesome to see one of the most singular minds in cinema still operating at such a high level. - 4.5 / 5 Apples

Billy: Asteroid City is the funniest movie of Anderson’s career so far and it reaches gentle and profound depths unlike any of his other movies. He’s clearly been listening to outside criticism of his style/career and leaned in even more, to my pleasure. A singular voice that has such an obvious style that people feel the need to pervert and “recreate” by using art corrupting technology. But in reality we just have people who are too inept to realize what style is and have no idea how skillful Wes Anderson is at filmmaking. And this movie felt like his attempt to reason with his own celebrity and criticism.

Towards the end of Asteroid City we have a character played by Jason Schwartmann obsessing over the meaning of a small decision his character made. Very meta commentary that is a bit disorienting in the moment and Adrien Brody kneels gently in front of him and says, “It doesn’t matter. Just keep telling the story.” The scene felt like a release for Wes and certainly was for me as a viewer. Asteroid City is such a joy. - 4.5 / 5 Apples

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