Jennifer Connelly: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

5 Awesome Performances...

5. Sarah Williams - Labyrinth (1986)

With Muppets Most Wanted still hanging on in there at both the UK and US box office, it's good to know that the legacy of the late great Jim Henson lives on, with new generations falling in love with his creations. But Henson didn't always enjoy such commercial success, with Labyrinth taking barely half its $25m budget on first release. Fortunately, the film has since been rehabilitated and found the audience it deserves, and Connelly deserves a certain amount of credit for this. Scripted by ex-Python Terry Jones, Labyrinth stars Connelly as Sarah Williams, a moody teenager who hates her parents for making her babysit her younger brother Toby. After Toby damages one of her teddy bears, Sarah resentfully declares that the Goblin King (whom she has been reading about) should take him away. No sooner has she said those words than the self-same King (David Bowie) appears, and informs Sarah that her brother is hidden in the middle of his labyrinth. If she cannot rescue him within 13 hours, he will remain in the goblin kingdom for all time... Labyrinth is a film steeped in fantasy lore which is ultimately sustained by its central performers. The plot may be a jumble of Don Quixote, The Wizard of Oz and every fairy tale under the sun, but Connelly has a resourcefulness to her performance which makes us enjoy or at least forget all the narrative inconsistencies. She also has very good chemistry with Bowie, particularly in the ballroom dream sequence and the chase through the M. C. Escher-like stairs. If nothing else, she's charismatic enough to distract us from Bowie's tight trousers, and that is quite an achievement.