I know if you’re reading this with any sense of familiarity, you’re probably thinking, “oh not another rant about Daniel Radcliffe and his acting!” Well, not quite.. Okay, maybe a little bit… Alright, this is EXACTLY what it is. I promised you controversy in the opening post after all.
Allow me to deviate for a moment; fairly recently, I was watching The Shining on DVD. This film is seen by many as the holy pinnacle of Horror-fiction and still ranks within the top 100 films ever made in numerous “best-films-ever-made” lists. For those who haven’t seen it, I can’t be bothered summarising it so just look it up on Wikipedia. However, while watching this film, I had three separate revelations: Firstly, I should never stay at the Overlook Hotel; secondly, all work and no play certainly DOESN’T make Jack a dull boy (although perhaps a little grumpy…); and finally, what a surprisingly simple film this is (even for the early 80s). There aren’t any special effects, complicated plots or sub-plots. By modern standards, the picture quality isn’t great and the set isn’t especially memorable; it’s just a house. Instead, it’s the acting that makes this film breath-taking.
Jack Nicholson delivers a performance that is truly chilling and by the end of the film, you’re thinking to yourself, “wow, I realise Jack’s an actor, but I’m not sure I would like to meet him on a dark night..” I’m not saying that the acting is the only thing that makes this film great; it was based on a wonderfully-written Stephen King novel and had a very talented director. These all aided in making this film great, but it was Nicholson that made it into a phenomenon. Now, let me direct your attention over to the Harry Potter series (you can probably see where I’m going with this already).
The Potter books will probably be regarded as the most successful young-adult series of all time and for good reason. Each story is ideally suited for the Big Screen and with an ensemble of classic actors (like Richard Harris, Maggie Smith, Alan Rickman, and so on) coupled with a stream of experienced and versatile directors and state of the art special effects and CGI, Potter is ideally placed to deliver the experience that The Shining never could. But it doesn’t. Without question, the book series will be remembered as some of the most popular works of fiction in the history of our millennium. But when asked to name the top 100 greatest films ever made, is a Potter movie like to make the cut? Even in the top 200? 300? I doubt it, and there is one reason why I think this.
If you have a script that has proven to be a hit, supporting actors with a long and successful career and a special effects budget that is essentially unlimited, there is no reason whatsoever for the final product to be anything short of brilliant. But when you are in the situation where the lead character is about as emotionally engaging as the staircase that Jack occasionally walked down in the Shining, then you are doomed from the outset. And I don’t mean a staircase where lots of drama took place; simply a staircase that was very briefly in shot for a split second with little-to-none distinguishing features. This metaphorical staircase is the most mediocre staircase in all of mediocrity; the steps are the blandest shade of grey to ever grace a colour spectrum and it’s shape can be described with a rather passable “Meh”. This is the level of credible performance Daniel Radcliffe is capable of bringing to the role of Harry Potter. You have a person who certainly looks the part (just like our lacklustre staircase certainly looks like a perfectly valid staircase), but adds little more than the most basic of functionality: he’s on the screen, he talks, he waves his wand. In the first film of the series, when confronted with the revelation that he was a wizard by Hagrid, Dan’s response was closer to indifference than surprise. In Chamber of Secrets, if any terror was to be emoted when Harry realised that Tom Riddle was in fact Lord Voldemort, then I think it was chopped from the script. In Prisoner of Azkaban, we may as well of called that Hermione Granger and the Other Two for all the charisma Dan managed to display. Things marginally improved over Goblet of Fire and Order of the Phoenix (although I remain unsure if Dan – or the script for that matter – even bothered to try and incorporate any of Harry’s anger into his performance). Half Blood Prince and Deathly Hallows part 1 improve still to the point where we reach mild satisfaction with Harry as a believable film character. Not great by any means, but enough to satisfy the casual fan, and THAT is my biggest problem.
Fans who are quick to defend Radcliffe’s performances are doing so because of their love of the character he portrays rather than a genuine happiness with his acting. But why should we be merely satisfied with an acting performance of one of the highest paid young actors (if not THE highest paid) in Hollywood? Why should we unquestioningly applaud a portrayal of a brilliant and deep character who should come alive on the big screen and instead, sinks into the background of a more talented cast? Each time I re-watch a Potter movie, I’m always filled with the same feeling: “Sigh, what if..”. But what fills me with a bigger concern is the thought that: never before have I watched a major block-buster film series and been unimpressed with the acting of the lead character. I’ve noticed poor quality scripts, sure. Poor CGI, definitely. But bad acting from a lead actor? That one is a newbie. What if this becomes the trend? What if studios become more concerned with finding someone who looks the part than someone who can act the part? That terrifying scenario would leave us in an uncultured and uninspired age and films like The Shining would never have had the monumental effect that they did. Originally, Stephen King protested that Jack Nicholson was being offered the lead role in that film, thinking he wasn’t suitable enough. Well King was well and truly proven wrong. When we first saw the preview poster for the first Harry Potter movie and saw Daniel Radcliffe dressed as Harry Potter, we all got excited for what should become something truly great. We, too it seems, were proven wrong.
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