Actress of the Year - 2005

Originally Written

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

The following is a retro post for the 1st Annual Actress of the Year award for 2005. The only actresses up for this honor are those that were selected by myself as Answer's Angels.

The time has finally come to award the first annual The Answer's Actress of the Year Award! A very interesting year where I honestly did not know who was going to come out victorious for a while, but my prediction from the beginning ended up being correct. The 2005 Actress of the Year goes the Rachel McAdams. Rachel has demonstrated over the past year her versatility in acting playing in three very different films with completely different characters. I'm always impressed by her ability to act in some of the really emotional roles which really showcases her talent. Overall she's a great actress and I hope she continues to choose the roles that prove that.

If you have been following along with the scores throughout the year you will remember that Rachel and Jessica Alba were tied for the number one spot. I had a tie breaker in place which would be to drop the lowest movie score for each and then average that, but unfortunately both girls had three films and three matching ratings so it was a completely identical outcome either way. Then I thought about naming them both, but I wasn't really into the idea, so I made a decision based on whose film's I liked the best overall and whose performances were the best. Rachel was the no-brain decision, while Alba is a rising star she still isn't at a great point in her acting career. She was a recent add to the section and I was actually quite surprised I enjoyed some of her films as much as I did, but again its about the acting and not only the overall quality of the film, and Rachel excels in the acting.

The following is a quick summary of my thoughts on Rachel's three films for 2005:

Red Eye - Really enjoyed this and it was the first film I had seen Rachel McAdams in. Very intense story, the acting was great, and Rachel's emotional reactions were very authentic.

Wedding Crashers - The storyline was awful, the film wasn't funny most of the time, and it was way to long for a comedy. Best part of the film was the side story between Owen Wilson and Rachel, which I would have much rather seen an entire film about than one surrounding crashing weddings.

The Family Stone - An average comedy about a dysfunctional family. The problem is there are way too many issues that are thrown out and none of them are developed or expanded upon during the film. Then with about 20 minutes left they throw the mother's disease on you without much warning. Overall the film wasn't organized very well, but still managed to be fairly entertaining. Rachel does a great job of acting like a jerk to Sarah Jessica Parker (whom I don't like).