Quandary: Keira Knightley
After all of this pirate talk, I’ve been thinking a little about Keira Knightley. She’s one of those actresses: young, obnoxiously thin, beautiful, sweet but slightly airy on Letterman. There are, it seems, a lot of people out there who don’t like her for exactly those reasons, for being a perfectly un-bookish casting choice for Elizabeth Bennet, and for generally acting in a bland but starletty manner.
I see why, sort of. But I just can’t bring myself to dislike her.
I’ve been trying to figure out what it is that makes her appealing. I’m pretty sure it’s not her acting; she’s too self-conscious onscreen to be really natural. I’d place her in about the same dramatic class as Kirsten Dunst, who has a similar manner and drives me crazy with all of the smirking and weird vocal tones. Maybe it’s the movies she chooses? I do love Bend It Like Beckham, and Pride and Prejudice was fine, and obviously there’s the Pirates trilogy. I can’t stand Love Actually as a whole (I know. Please don’t take away my Female Gender membership card), but I don’t mind her in it. Who knows? Maybe I’m shallower than I thought, and she’s just very, very pretty. It’s hard to say.
I’ll report back after I’ve had a little Keira Knightley film festival. Maybe Elizabeth Bennet and an L.A. bounty hunter will have something to reveal.
June 12th, 2007 at 10:00 pm
I think she’s a good actress, and I’ve liked her in everything I’ve seen her in. But more than that, she’s absolutely stunningly gorgeous, yes I’m a straight guy, and she makes the Pirates films worth watching just for her looks.
And before you complain, tell me you don’t lke to see Orlando cavorting in next to nothing!
June 12th, 2007 at 11:52 pm
Oh, there’s no complaining here, because:
a) I am shameless in my Orlando Bloom ogling, and
b) she really is astoundingly pretty.
So: gush on, my friend.