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tMF CONTROVERSIAL: Do you hate Abbie Cornish, the person or the actress? Don't know (care) about the difference...

Written by Jed Medina

Sunday, 20 September 2009 23:39

We never venture into gossip, but we certainly like to tackle controversies - and while critics and a certain type of movie goers are praising Jane Campion's latest film - Bright Star - and its lead cast, Abbie Cornish (currently ranked #2 at the Top 50 Hitlist) and Ben Whishaw (coincidentally also ranked #2 at the Top 50 Hitlist), Cornish has to endure a certain 'backlash' as a result of a relationship. Unlike Fanny Brawne, who gets to recite poetry and is the heroine in the movie, Cornish is being branded by certain people as a real-life 'villainess'.

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The Good News: Before we dampen some people's spirits, let me quote The NY Times A.O. Scott in his review of Bright Star and what he said about Abbie Cornish's performance:

Ms. Cornish, an Australian actress whose previous films include "Stop-Loss," "Candy" and "Somersault," has, at 27, achieved a mixture of unguardedness and self-control matched by few actresses of any age or nationality. She's as good as Kate Winslet, which is about as good as it's possible to be.

To be regarded as being 'as good as Kate Winslet' is probably one of the best compliments Ms. Cornish has ever received as an actress - and that the compliment came from a NY Times critic!

But Mr. Scott is not alone in praising Ms.Cornish. Let us see...

From Screen Daily:

Australian Abbie Cornish is also obliged to adopt an unfamiliar accent but passes that test with flying colours. She captures all the youthful impetuosity of the English Fanny and portrays her as a young woman trying to maintain control of a life torn apart by all the fresh emotions and new sensations that she is experiencing. It is a performance that should win her awards season consideration and emphatically underlines why she is one of the most highly regarded performers of her generation.

From Variety:

With brown hair pulled tightly back and a tad more filled out than before, Cornish is made to look plainer than she actually is, which better emphasizes the importance of Fanny's character for Keats. The majority of her performance's success rests in her eyes, which are remarked upon by Brown for their amber hue and which, one senses, see and process so much. All of Campion's films center upon strong, complicated women, and Cornish's Fanny takes her place among the most memorable of them.

As a summary, here's The Guardian for you:

Cut to the present, where the movie has just received its North American premiere in Toronto (where I swear the people who were ambivalent about it in Cannes had performed an inelegant volte face) and earned the kind of review in the New York Times that filmmakers dream about. Suddenly Bright Star is in the Oscar race.

And so, as the five-month long red carpet ride to the annual Academy awards on 7 March 2010 unfolded in Canada, Abbie Cornish emerged a best actress contender for her role as Brawne. The trick now is to keep the movie in theatres and get people talking about Cornish, the costumes, the script, the invisible effects and back to Cornish again, regardless of whether or not they've seen the movie or if they even know why they're talking about it. [ read more ]

Note: Of course, there will be bad reviews, and certainly some analysis of Ms. Cornish performance in the negative. We shall update this article to include the more relevant of such reviews.
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The Bad News: Says the very reliable, very objective and very factual People.com -

While she may be top-billed in the new movie Bright Star, Australian actress Abbie Cornish first rose to prominence in the U.S. two years ago, when she costarred in the real-life domestic drama involving the then-married Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon.

Cornish, now 27, and Phillippe, 34, met on the set of the movie Stop-Loss, and today they share a home in Los Angeles -- "where it was love that brought me here, not work," she tells W magazine for its September issue. "I think the city feels and looks a little bit different because of that."

The fact that the article started with an emphasis on Cornish's involvement with Ryan Philippe, a married man (emphasis times two) and NOT about her performance in Bright Star, I can't help but wonder, is there malice somewhere?

Continued the author, Stephen M. Silverman:

While Witherspoon has publicly called divorce humiliating and isolating, Cornish - whom W says was "cast as the culprit" - looks back on the period when the spotlight first fell on her as "a really difficult time for me."

Suddenly, she said, she was forced to enter a realm of paparazzi and tabloid coverage "that I'd never been exposed to. In a normal successful career, someone usually learns these things bit by bit. For me, it was like night and day. I woke up one day and there was this whole new thing I had to process and deal with."

Since then, she has moved in with Phillippe and spends time with his and Witherspoon's two children: Ava, 9, and Deacon, 5. [ read more ]

I hope Mr. Silverman had the guts to actually write himself and not mention W magazine in proclaiming Ms. Cornish as 'the culprit'. He certainly painted a similar picture.

Oh, while there are no comments from the article, there are lots of 'philosophical' discourses going on at The Huffington Post, where the article was also mentioned.

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What's on your mind? Do you think your perception (positive or otherwise) of the Australian actress will affect your decision whether or not to watch Bright Star? Do you consider Abbie Cornish, the person as being different from Abbie Cornish, the actress? Let us know what you think!
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If you Like this article, we have more :

» Spotlight Review: Bright Star - Jed Medina

» STOP LOSS: Showcasing Hollywood's top young talents!

» Spotlight Review: Bright Star - David DiMichele

» UPDATES: Top 50 Hottest Young Actors - Shake, Rattle & Roll!

» Cannes 2009: Jane Campion's Bright Star shines so brightly!

» tMF HITLIST: It's the Girls' Turn! (Latest Updates!)

» tMF TALKBACK: Jane Campion's Bright Star 'not so stellar' says IndieWire - a fair analysis?

» Top 50 Hottest Young Actresses - TOP 10

» tMF OSCAR WATCH: Carey Mulligan and Abbie Cornish: Best Actress Contenders?

» Oscar-talk: Best Actress contenders! Is it too early for Saoirse Ronan to win an Oscar?

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