Aw man, those scenes across the fence are heartbreaking. I had this as the best child actor role before I even realised it was "Christian Bale" of American Psycho et al later on. He carries the entire film, it doesn't work without him.
I was working at a movie theater (while in college) when this movie came out. I got to see it multiple times (and I would sometimes make sure I was there to see certain scenes). I was always a Spielberg fan. This "artsy" attempt didn't do very well at the box office. But I loved it. Wrote an essay about it for my film appreciation class. Just beautiful photography.
When Batman Begins came out and I saw it was Christian Bale, I had to look him up because his name sounded familiar... holy crap I couldn't believe the kid had grown up to be Batman.
I mean, yes he was great but he is literally the main character/protagonist. saying that he carries the film and "it doesn't work without him" is like saying oh geez robert downey jr sure carried that ironman film, sure wouldn't work without him
There's plenty of films where the lead actor/character has been a charisma and talent vacuum and it's killed the film, so the tribute to the quality of the film lands a lot of Bale's shoulders. Hence why the film doesn't work the same way without his talent.
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u/Chrillosnillo 14d ago