THE GEENA DAVIS REVIEW

By Nate Lee

BEST FILM: Beetle Juice / Thelma and Louise ... Take your pick of these two classics. Certainly T&L was propelled completely by the pairing of the cynical Sarandon with a flighty irresistible Davis. That same sweet innocent energy is instrumental to Beetle Juice’s hilarious comedy.

 

GREAT PERFORMANCES YOU MAY NOT HAVE SEEN:

Accidents Happen (an eccentric mom)

The Accidental Tourist (Oscar-winning performance opposite William Hurt)

Thelma and Louise (Oscar-nominated performance as Thelma, with Susan Sarandon)

Stuart Little (and 2) (Stuart’s mom)

A League of Their Own (Dottie, a semi-pro baseball player)

Hero (reporter)

Quick Change (Bank robber Bill Murray’s girlfriend)

Fletch

BLOCKBUSTERS:

The Long Kiss Goodnight (amnesiac assassin living as housewife)

Cutthroat Island (pirate captain)

Beetle Juice (the haunter of a haunted house)

Tootsie (soap-opera actress)

The Fly (Mrs. Fly, opposite Jeff Goldblum)

ACTING STYLE:

A genuinely sweet nature that amplifies her sexiness, makes her a first-rate comic actress, and mostly works as ironic juxtaposition in her action films. “Long Kiss Goodnight” works because of Davis’s remarkable physical transformation from wife and mom to hit woman. (Her thin voice, though, added to the thinner plot weakens her work on “Cutthroat Island.”) And her bubbly innocence propels “Stuart Little” and, as above, makes her best films anyone’s best films.

THE REAL GEENA:

A League of Their Own ...

Success in a business that regards women as second-class citizens – while still keeping her integrity, cool and dignity.

BITS AND QUIRKS:

The funky smile. The shrug of the shoulders. Loosey goosey arms. The slouch.

GREAT SCENES:

THELMA AND LOUISE -

Realizing she’s been robbed by Brad Pitt > The final car scene

LONG KISS GOODNIGHT -

Hurling the knife like a trained killer when she’s supposed to be making dinner > Skating across to catch the bad guys > Transforming herself back into the assassin

STUART LITTLE -

The adoption agency scene > The sailboat race in Central Park > Dealing with her son’s frustrations

BEETLE JUICE -

First conjuring up and dealing with Michael Keaton as Beetle Juice > Discovering, with Adam Baldwin, that they are dead > First attempts at scaring the new owners of their house > Dealing with Winona Ryder’s curiosity > The Day-O dinner table scene

CUTTHROAT ISLAND -

The battle scene at the end must have inspired “Pirates of the Caribbean,” which copies a lot of it.

IF YOU LIKE HER, YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T LIKE:

Transylvania 6-5000

GO TO THE... GEENA DAVIS BIO