Natalie Portman: 5 Awesome Performances and 5 That Sucked

3. V for Vendetta (2005)

Perhaps not Alan Moore€™s pick (not that he has anything against her personally €“ at least to my knowledge), but at number 3 is Portman€™s role as Evey in James McTeigue€™s version of Moore€™s politically-charged graphic novel, V for Vendetta. No stranger to movies involving strained relationships, V for Vendetta and Evey€™s unique relationship with Hugo Weaving€™s V is no exception. Shaving her head for the role, while not being the most dedicated thing anyone€™s ever done for a movie, did show a commendable commitment. She was taking it seriously. This wasn€™t to be any old vacuous Hollywood adaptation of a graphic novel or comic book, at least not as far as Natalie was concerned. Praise for V for Vendetta wasn€™t universal though it was largely positive and Portman€™s role in this is similar to Garden State in that she is the face of the movie. Yes V is eponymous but particularly to those unfamiliar with the source material she is the audience€™s window to the film€™s moral centre and a large part of whether the film stands or falls lies on Portman€™s shoulders. In line with the divisive nature of the film is the argument surrounding Portman€™s English accent though how important this is remains largely subjective. Whether it€™s accurate or not is one thing but even if it isn€™t 100% accurate, how much does that really matter? Dick Van Dyke€™s accent in Mary Poppins is notoriously terrible yet if anyone else played Bert it just wouldn€™t have been the same.
Contributor
Contributor

David is a film critic, writer and blogger for WhatCulture and a few other sites including his own, www.yakfilm.com Follow him on twitter @yakfilm