It’s no secret, Kirsten Dunst is certainly not my favorite actor. She’s a one trick pony, one of those actors who has the same character they play over and over again no matter the part. Now that I’ve got that out of my system she does have quite a list of films that she’s played supporting roles in like Interview With A Vampire, Deeply, Spiderman 1 & 2, Mona Lisa Smile and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, just to name a few.
Here’s a quick overview of some of the films Kirsten Dunst has played supporting roles in.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – In this crazy love story, Kirsten plays Mary, Dr. Howard Mierzwiak’s (Tom Wilkinson) assistant and lover. Of course the good doctor is married and has used his procedure of mind erasing on her a few times, cause she repeatedly falls in love with him over and over again. Finally, she realizes the whole thing is a fraud and ultimately not safe and leaves him and is immoral ways. Along the way Joel (Jim Carry) and Clementine (Kate Winslet), the two main characters to the story, are going through this mind erase procedure to forget the love they had for each other. While the “good” doctor’s assistants Patrick (Elijah Wood), who has a crush on Mary, and Stan (Mark Ruffalo) are erasing Joel’s memory of Clementine they spend their time drinking and getting stoned paying no attention to Joel coming in and out of consciousness and wanting the whole thing to stop. Joel realizes halfway through the procedure that he doesn’t want to lose his memory of Clementine, but he can’t stop what is happening to him. By the end he has lost all memory of her; but here’s the great part, he finds her all over again, like they were meant to be together. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of Jim Carrey’s best films ever; he plays the part of sad Joel perfectly. The film boasts plenty of talent and some brilliantly thought up scenes like a grown Carrey in his mother’s kitchen sink getting a bath or hiding under her kitchen table. With wonderful visuals and an eye witting story line, this is a great date film.Interview with the Vampire – Here we have it, one of the very firsts for Kirsten and where it all begins. Dunst plays Claudia, a child vampire brought over by Lestat (Tom Cruise); she plays the part perfect and carries that same character throughout the rest of her films. Interview with the Vampire is a little different take on typical vampire films, yes there are erotic, scary and bloody moments, but more over, the film concentrates on the meaning of it all. Louis (Brad Pitt) is interviewed by a young reporter, Daniel Malloy (Christian Slater); he just about had for dinner. Through out the interview he tells the story of his birth into darkness and how he had a choice, but what choice was that and why is his questioning. Lestat tries to teach Louis how to rid himself of his conscience and kill without a thought, but Louis takes years before he can adapt to this way of life. After Lestat changes Claudia, because Louis got a little hungry, there is an instant attachment between her and Louis. As time goes on Claudia becomes restless and doesn’t understand why she can never mature and become a beautiful woman. Lestat’s constant taunting aggravated her to the point of slitting his throat; the one thing a vampire never does is kill their own kind. Louis and Claudia dump Lestat in a swamp and travel the world looking for the eternal answer to why. They run across a vampire theater and their leader Armand (Antonio Banderas), the cast realize what Claudia has done and takes her life, leaving Louis very pissed off. He kills the whole cast, all but Armand, hoping he can answer some questions. Towards the end of the interview Daniel requests to be changed over, but quickly changes his mind when Louis scares the wits out of him. However, there is a surprise waiting for Daniel in the car. Interview of the Vampire is one of the best vampire films ever and is just as entertaining to watch today, as it was when it was released in 1994.
Spiderman 1 – I could not imagine anybody else playing Spiderman. I don’t think that Jude Law or Freddie Prinze Jr. could have pulled off a geeky and shy Peter Parker and change into a witty and fit Spiderman. Toby Maguire plays it straight and perfect, loving, caring and handsome all in one little well shaped package. I wouldn’t have minded seeing a real red head with a little more spunk and zest for acting in the role of MJ (Mary Jane). Kirsten Dunst just didn’t do it for me. William Defoe pulled off the Green Goblin like maybe this character really is in his psyche; the mirror scene was most eerie. The movie magic that went into this film was beyond belief; it was so cool seeing Spiderman flying through the air, almost like you were attached to the web with him. However, it did take a while to see the web crawler finally show up and that made the movie seem long and drawn out at first, then it just exploded off the screen. I did not want to see it end, “Doesn’t Spiderman have someone else to save, someone else to kiss” (upside down kiss, gives chills) Soundtrack wasn’t there, unless I got so wrapped up in the film, that I didn’t hear it. Overall go see it, maybe even more than once.
Spiderman 2 – Is it possible to make such a brilliant action comic book hero come to life on the big screen again? Yes it is! Toby Maguire reprises his role as the web slinging trapeze artist who saves the day and himself. Spider-Man 2 boasts an eight-legged villain, a deeper look into Peter Parker’s psyche and a gut wrenching train speeding battle. The CGI in the action scenes is so impressive that the viewer forgets that people really can’t fly on a web-line through skyscrapers, hold up buildings and suction themselves to speeding subway trains with their finger tips. Peter Parker questions his roll as the masked hero for the masses and finds himself wondering what it would be like to just be Peter Parker again. Longing to be the geek with the thick-rimmed glasses and delicate physique, wanting to be able to go to work, college and have a relationship with Mary Jane. Toby Maguire plays the perfect Peter Parker/Spider-Man split personality. He has a persona about him that convinces the audience he could be that geeky quiet guy, but willing to be the gorgeous super hero out to save the world. It’s curious to find out how close of a comparison his life and reality is to Spider-Man, minus the super powers. With all the characters returning from the first film, a strong continuing story line keeps the two films in sync. Spider-Man 2 promises an emotional look into being a super hero and what could happen if someone isn’t there to save the day. It also proves that you don’t have to darn a costume to be a hero. Relationship hikes and secrets revealed give the audience more of a relationship with the story and brings out strength and conviction in the characters. Alfred Molina plays an awesome villain; even though Doc Ock didn’t seem to be as viscous as The Green Goblin, he certainly demanded our attention. Kirsten Dunst returns as the timid Mary Jane, “oh, I love you Peter, but I am marrying someone else”, whatever, something went wrong in the casting room that day. I still stand behind the idea that Mary Jane should have been played by an actress with a little more gusto behind her, more conviction and not just pretty on the screen. James Franco’s character, the son of The Green Goblin, Harry Osborne, should prove to be a great advisory in the next Spider-Man to come. Spidey fans will be drooling for the 3rd installment of the film after watching the newest release, let’s hope the creators can keep up the facade.
Deeply – Here’s a quiet little film where Dunst doesn’t play as much of a supporting role, but a main character. The best reference that can be made about Deeply is eerie, odd and a little weird; it’s not a fast paced film, that’s for sure. Silly (Kirsten Dunst) is a troubled and curious girl who tries to uncover the past and curse of the fishing island off the coast of Nova Scotia where she lives, before she is sacrificed to the waters so the fish will return. Along her path she meets a young wealthy boy, James (Trent Ford), who becomes her protector from the locals, until he is busted by his family and forced to leave. The whole story is told by Celia (Lynn Redgrave), the island’s local crazy writer, to a girl, Claire (Julia Brendler), who is visiting and trying to forget about the loss of her boyfriend. Claire finds a small amount of comfort in the story and shows up on a daily bases to the crazy old ladies house to gather more information and try to solve the mystery, along the way patching up her own troubled spirit. Deeply is an interesting film, but Kirsten’s role leaves less to be desired, the part required an actor that makes you feel for their situation and Kirsten didn’t make you care if she lived or died.
Mona Lisa Smile – Ever watch wallpaper dry? Mona Lisa Smile is just like that, what a boring film. Set during the oppression of women in school and business; a free thinker, Katherine Ann Watson (Julia Roberts), tries to teach her students to take that extra step and reach out past domestic slavedom. How odd that women actually believed that the only reason to get an education was to meet your husband, geez. Mona boasts a full cast with Kirsten playing Betty Warren, a real so and so that tries to keep control of the girls club and their train of thought. I do have to give her credit; she can play a snobbish bitch pretty good. Other members of the class include Julia Stiles, Maggie Gyllenhall, Jennifer Goodwin and Marcia Gay Harden. Ode to the good old times when women where merely window dressing; wait a minute, isn’t that still our main roles today?
Other supporting roles include Small Soldiers where Kirsten and Gregory Smith fight off some suped-up toys who try to detroy the neighborhood, in the dark comedy Drop Dead Gorgeous Kirsten takes on Denise Richards to win a small town beauty pageant, Kirsten plays actress Marion Davies in The Cat’s Meow about the murder aboard Hearst’s yacht in 1934, she co-stars in Get Over It as the sister of Ben Foster’s best friend (read Alan’s review), and she worked with Sofia Coppola in The Virgin Suicides as the luscious Lux Lisbon (read Alan’s review).