Actors of the future

In 2009 I saw a performance by a relatively unknown actor that blew me away. The actor was Carey Mulligan and the film was the excellent An Education.  I hoped that based on that performance, Mulligan would have an interest career ahead of her.  So far I have not been disappointed. She has made interesting choices as opposed to popular ones.  She has continued to show quality work in movies like Drive, Never Let me Go, and most notably in Shame with Michael Fassbender.  2015 has been a good year for her.  She is getting good reviews in Suffragette, and earlier this year she starred as a more conflicted Elizabeth Bennet type character in the costume drama Far From the Maddening Crowd.  In this film her character Bathsheba Everdene (she knows it is a terrible name) was not two but three men vying for her attention, but we know in the first five minutes who she should ultimately choose. The audience cheers for the brooding sexy sheep farmer played by Matthias Schoenaerts. With any luck Schoenaerts will be in every movie from now until the end of time.  There is nothing new here, but the leads have great chemistry.  It's charming, entertaining and comfortable.   It's streaming and on DVD now so check it out.

I bring Carey Mulligan up because 2015 has another fairly new performer blowing people away with an amazing performance.  Indie film lovers noticed Brie Larson a couple years ago in Short Term 12 and this summer she charmed larger audiences as Amy Schumer's sister in Traunwreck, but she may have just entered Academy award nominee with a great future ahead of her territory with an excellent performance in the new movie Room.

Room was a popular book a few years ago, and it is a hard book and movie to review without giving too much away.   Basically, it is a story told by a young child, played by Jacob Tremblay in one of the best performances I've seen a child actor ever give, about growing up in a small room with no contact  with anyone except his mother (played by Larson).  If you don't know the story that's as much plot as I am going to give away.  It is a riveting, harrowing and ultimately uplifting film and  Brie Larson will show you why she is one of the most interest actors to watch right now.  It is also great to see Joan Allen back again in a strong supporting performance.  Even if she a Little bit over botoxed these days, she is also an actor who has taken an interesting path and hopefully she will continue to get character roles like this as she gets older.

The subject matter of Room is a little tough, but it would be a shame to miss out on one of the best performances of the year by Brie Larson.  Get ready! This is an actor we will be hearing a lot more from!

Far from the Maddening Crowd 8 out of 10
Room 9 out of 10