Over the vacation, I had a chance to catch Mean Girls, which was really good. It provoked this reaction in me, which I know to be wrong: Lindsay Lohan's disintegration is so much more tragic because she's got so much talent. Now, really, if anything, Britney's disintegration is more tragic than Lindsay's because there are kids involved. And yet, as Britney fades into obscurity, I can't say I'll miss her work. Anybody with producers, songwriters, and choreographers behind her can fill Britney's shoes. Well, let's just say I hope they both get their shit together sometime, and I hope that Britney, in getting her shit together, realizes that life in the spotlight has damaged her terribly and she needs to fade into obscurity. Could happen.
Speaking of young actresses, the whole family watched Amanda Bynes in She's the Man over the weekend. The movie was a loose modernization/adaptation of Twelfth Night, albeit with much reduced roles for Sir Toby Belch and Andrew Aguecheek. (Too bad--they didn't even have the Toby character give a loud belch as a shout out to those of us who know the play). Nobody was cross-gartered, either, which I suppose is just as well--there's really no way to play Malvolio's complete humiliation as comic, especially in a modern setting. Still, it was a really funny movie, and definitely true to the spirit of the play. Also David Cross was the principal, and he's really really funny. We all really enjoyed it, and I was struck by the fact that Amanda Bynes is a really gifted comic actress. She seems to be managing her career pretty well, (or somebody's managing it well for her, anyway) but I think it might be time to step out of the teen movies and try something a little more grown-up. Of course, the problem with that is that there just aren't many roles for good comic actors who are female. I mean, I think Lisa Kudrow is pretty good, and Jeneane Garafolo, but nobody's exactly building movies around them. (Well, I mean, there was Marci X, I suppose, and that one with Jeneane Garafolo in Ireland, which did contain one of my favorite movie lines: "Is being stupid just like being high all the time?") (And they were both in Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion, which might be why that movie was so good.)
I think Amanda Bynes could be the next Ben Stiller or Jim Carrey or whoever if she gets offered the kinds of movies where she can really shine and doesn't, as an adult, get relegated to the wacky girlfriend or funny best friend roles that most funny women seem to get stuck in.
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