Are they worthy of the accolades or should they be sent down...
The Accused:
CHARLIZE THERON
Theron is quite possibly the most famous South African actor of all time. I also think she is one of the most beautiful actors on the planet, I am not ashamed to say! Beauty though can often work as a curse, especially for female actors, as it is easy to become typecast or only offered roles that accentuate a person's good looks.
This I feel is true of some of the roles that Theron has taken during her lengthy career. Thankfully her acting abilities have also seen her in a wide variety of other, more interesting and appealing roles. She is not an actress who has been happy to be pigeonholed simply because she looks stunning.
Her first big breakout would have to be as Mary Ann Lomax in The Devil's Advocate. In this role we get our first glimpse of her Chameleon like abilities to alter her appearance. She goes from this drop dead gorgeous trophy wife to a complete shambling wreck of a woman and the transformation is quite staggering. Her performance definitely stands out; which is no small feat starring alongside Al Pacino.
After achieving this early success; Theron was to then star in a string of box office bombs. There was the underwhelming remake of Mighty Joe Young where she plays the surrogate mother to the titular Joe. This was followed by the slow paced The Astronaut's Wife which failed on lift off with what was potentially a good premise. The shining light amongst this string of poor choices is The Cider House Rules which is an enjoyable watch and one that sees Theron given some good material to work with.
Things reverted to form in 2000 though with yet more average fare although there was one that I do enjoy. Like the rest of that year's output; The Legend of Bagger Vance was not a critical or commercial success. Theron plays southern belle Adele Invergordon and gives a pleasant performance in this feel-good movie with a decent cast.
The next couple of years would see more forgettable films with nothing that particularly stands out. The upturn in fortunes probably started with The Italian Job. Now this remake of the English classic which starred Michael Caine takes a different tone to the originals cheeky chappy Rule Britannia atmosphere.
This is a straight up heist with cool tech and iconic Mini Coopers involved in fast chases and suspenseful thrills. Surprisingly it still works and makes for a good Sunday afternoon movie. It is also Theron's first real foray into action territory.
The Italian Job would be followed by Theron's most famous, highly praised and awarded role as Aileen Wuornos in Monster. Here again we see Theron completely transformed from her gorgeous model looks to a wild eyed unhinged serial killer. This is based on a true story and it is fair to say that Theron inhabits this role body and soul and certainly deserved all the accolades that were heaped on her for this portrayal.
It wasn't too long before another well received, acclaimed role was on the cards for her as Josey Aimes in North Country. Again Theron shines in a compelling story about fighting a case of sexual harassment in the work place and the obstacles she faces.
She was quick to get back on form though with 2007's In the Valley of Elah which is a great crime drama dealing with some really tough subject matter. Theron easily adapts to what is another different genre for her. Around this time she had a smaller role as Britt Ekland in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers. She is perfectly cast as the 60's & 70's bombshell.
Theron tried her hand in the superhero genre when she starred alongside Will Smith in Hancock. It might have made a fortune at the box office but I was not impressed. There were no surprises whatsoever throughout the plot. It is just a by the numbers outing that relies on its star power to bring in an audience which to its credit worked.
John Hillcoat's The Road is a very divisive film; there are those that hate it and those that love it; despite its dark, bleak subject matter. I fall somewhere in the middle, as it is a hard film to quantify on a simple love/hate scale. Theron plays the wife of the story who we only see in flashback scenes, but she gives a solid performance and her appearance isn't just a cameo.
Young Adult is one of the highlights of her career. Her character Mavis Gary is one of the most complex people she has played. There is plenty to despise about her but she is also someone with serious problems that make you feel real pity too. Theron again is perfectly cast and is able to show off her comic ability as there are some really funny moments.
I have already said how I felt about her as Ravenna in Snow White and the Huntsman in my previous post where I said she was good in the role. She is able to show her dark nature but also portray a woman scared of falling apart as age catches up to her. I won't repeat myself about Huntsman Winter's War and leave it to you to read my musings on that one below...
This brings us to Prometheus. The question still remains: is Meredith Vickers an android or a human? That isn't the only unanswered question though from this confusing mess of a film. It might look pretty but this is another one of her films that I just didn't connect with.
Moving on from a film that explored the beginning of life and God and many other deep topics; we come to one dealing with fart jokes and sexual innuendo with A Million Ways to Die in the West. You probably couldn't get two more different movies. Theron again shows that she can handle comedy; it is just a pity that the whole film isn't as funny to match the effort she puts in.
Finally we get to what will probably become her most iconic role as Imperator Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road. I don't want to go into too much detail here as I plan to cover this in a future article. Needless to say she is superb in this instalment of the Mad Max franchise.
There are some interesting projects on the horizon with Kubo and the Two Strings being the one that appeals the most. This will be her first foray as a voice actor; discounting the narrator role she had for Astro Boy. Brain on Fire also sounds promising which will be another biographical drama. She will also be joining the Fast & Furious franchise in Fast 8 but I won't be catching that one; it isn't something that appeals to me. Lastly is The Coldest City which is a graphic novel adaptation, I only hope it is better than Æon Flux.
While she has starred in some good films; Charlize Theron has also had her fair share of duds. Despite playing a witch on more than one occasion though, her good output is enough to keep her from the gallows for now.
Splitting a portion of this persons back catalogue into what I would "go to" and what I would choose to "avoid"; given the choices I would categorise this entertainers output as thus...
The Scorcher's:
The Torture's:
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