25 thoughts on “WCW: A Vindication of Carey Mulligan

  1. Well Kendra didn’t address my biggest complaints about Carey Mulligan — The Great Gatsby, Madding Crowd, & Suffragette — plus she ignored smaller roles like P&P&Pigs & Bleak House, then she reviewed modern movies & those which came out after I wrote my Snark Week post. So my assessment still stands, hah!

    1. With you 💯- she’s a total drip. I was astounded they cast such a milquetoast as Bathsheba!!

    2. Both opinions stand! I did mean to mention Suffragette — I thought her performance was fine, it’s the movie itself that’s ho-hum. And yes, the smaller roles either don’t resonate (P&P&PIgs) or I haven’t seen them (Bleak House).

    3. The Great Gatsby sucks as a book and the movie isn’t much better (although this movie was definitely filmed in Technicolor LOL). This book/movie is trying to place a positive spin on men stalking women — sorry — I’ll take a hard pass on anything normalising toxic male behaviour.

      Suffragette was a meh movie. How’s that Mulligan’s fault?

      I haven’t seen the other movies (that I can recall).

      1. Daisy is a far more nuanced character than Mulligan bothered to play her as she sleep-walked thru that version of Gatsby. Suffragette was meh because of Mulligan’s lackluster performance — the plot was solid, the other actors were trying, but she had the pivotal role & didn’t show any motivation or fire in it. I have yet to see her give an engaging, entertaining, believable performance in a historical role!

  2. Ha ha ha ha ha, y’all are great! I am absolutely going to roast/recap the next season of Sanditon and I am touched that you liked my review.

    I thought Far from the Madding Crowd was a nice movie and she was pretty good- but I think I must go read the book to feel the true outrage. I think she does such a great job being understated characters- but that there was a luminosity missing in Gatsby.

    1. Looking forward to your roasting/recapping posts on prolonging our suffinging ‘Sanditon’. Your posts saved me having the watch it on BBC.

      I didn’t think there was really so much wrong with ‘Far from the Madding Crowd’ either. Even having read all of Hardy’s novels. Maybe I have to re-read this particular novel…?! And see what the F.F. Ladies saw, and what I missed.

      Really liked Baz Lurhmann’s take (I’m a die-hard fan of his work) on ‘The Great Gatsby’…but agree that Carey Mulligan missed something of what Mia Farrow brought to the role of Daisy Buchanan.

      Loved Carey’s performance in ‘Suffragettes’ (2015) and her portrayal of Edith Pretty in ‘The Dig’.
      Plus I hope to, one day, see Paul Dano’s Directorial debut ‘Wildlife’ (2018), set in 1950s rural Montana, with Carey Mulligan & Jake Gyllenhaal.

  3. I highly recommend seeing Carey Mulligan onstage, if you ever get the chance! Many of the actor-quirks to which Trystan objects read COMPLETELY differently to a live audience. I saw her opposite Bill Nighy in “Skylight” several years ago and she was breathtaking.

  4. I loved The Dig, and because someone in here pointed out she was wearing Pools of Light earrings (first picture above), I now have a pair PLUS a necklace. (Small one, if you’ve looked online to buy one – woof!). 20s Completist, must be complete. So there.

  5. I actually like Carey Mulligan and enjoy her performances. I think she gives thoughtful, in-depth, and nuanced portrayals of her characters. But maybe I am biased because of Promising Young Woman — that whole movie is simply amazing.

    1. She was iconic in Dr Who so I love her. Blink was incredible. I think she infuses her acting with beautiful sensitivity, femininity and grace, and I don’t see any other actors doing the same. It’s all showy stuff like Margot Robbie (who I love) or masculine plodding like Keira Knightley (who I also love.) Carey is special and when she has a good script she shines.

  6. I refuse to watch “Never Let Me Go” as I’ve already read the book. I rather doubt the movie will compare well.

  7. I haven’t seen many of these but I have generally liked Carey Mulligan. The first time I took note of her was in Blink, an episode of Doctor Who which hinged entirely on her as a guest star, and put its actual regular stars in the background the whole time. I also did like Bleak House, although she’s supporting to Anna Maxwell Martin’s main character. I don’t blame CM for P&P&P haha. I’d definitely like to see the Sutton Hoo movie. :-)

  8. I think she’s a good actress. Never Let Me Go is one of the MOST DEPRESSING movies I’ve ever seen in my life.

  9. I’m always amazed that this actor has a career. I’m even more amazed when they cast this person as a character of unparalleled beauty. Obviously the casting agents needed glasses.

  10. I first took note of her in the astounding PBS/BBC(?) miniseries The Amazing Mrs. Pritchart in which a whip smart, middleclass everywoman decides to stand for parliament and ends up winning the whole enchilada and decides to enact very, very progressive policies. Carey Mulligan was her sullen, rebellious vindictive daughter.

    (this also has the terrifying Janet McTeer as a brilliant, ruthless Tory MP who was brought in to bring. her. down.)

  11. I re-read Gatsby not long before seeing the Baz Luhrmann version, and I thought Mulligan did a nice job of conveying the nuance that the Daisy of Gatsby’s imagination doesn’t really exist; the real Daisy is kinda meh and weak and … crushed under the weight of Gatsby’s fantasy (and stalking).

    YMMV obviously, but I do think it was a deliberate choice.

  12. I liked her in Northanger Abbey and The Dig (and Pride and Prejudice, but I actually prefer the 2005 to the 95, which I know is a minority opinion around here lol.

    Technically, Promising Young Woman was a good film, but it was so damn bleak that I hated it. Maybe it’s unreasonable! But I hate that movies about women seeking revenge always seem to involve the woman dying or being raped or otherwise getting her comeuppance. It seems disproportionate to the number of movies about men seeking revenge that end with him riding off in a blaze of glory.

    1. “Technically, Promising Young Woman was a good film, but it was so damn bleak that I hated it.”

      This. So many times this.

    2. I prefer the 2005 version as well. I thought she did a good job in both Pride and prejudice and Northanger Abbey.

  13. I really like Carey Mulligan, and am more likely to tune in if she’s in a film (I totally watched The Dig for her alone, and I personally like her as Bathsheba in Far From the Madding Crowd). In P&P&Pigs, she’s miscast as Kitty for sure, not reading at all younger than Keira Knightley or a simpering subservient sister to Lydia.

    Anyway, enjoyed your take!

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