Is Julianne Moore the right choice to play Sarah Palin?
HBO casts the flame-haired actress as America's most famous (and most pilloried) conservative. Was Tina Fey not available?
HBO and director Jay Roach (Meet the Parents, Recount) are bringing the gossipy 2008 campaign book Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime to the small screen, and they've already made the most-anticipated casting decision: Julianne Moore, a lauded actress who's been nominated for four Oscars, will portray Sarah Palin. Is she really the best choice to portray the former Alaska governor?
Palin should be pleased: At the very least, "Moore will make for an interesting Palin," says Nardine Saad at the Los Angeles Times. Whether or not her Sarah can "compete with the gal from [Tina] Fey's spot-on 'Saturday Night Live' spoofs" is an open question, but Palin could do much worse. Being portrayed by a "classy redhead" like Moore will certainly be more flattering than the upcoming Palin-like character Kathy Griffin will play on "Glee."
"Julianne Moore to play Sarah Palin — but can she compete with Tina Fey?"
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Moore may have trouble exuding folksiness: The role is "a little too serious" for a straight-up "Palin-impersonator" like Fey, but there were better choices than Moore, says Drew Grant at Salon. Mary-Louise Parker or Laura Dern would be great, and Megan Mullally "would have nailed it." Sure, "Moore is an amazing actress who rarely fails at conquering a character," but her on-screen "brittleness" seems a poor match for Palin's "aw-shucks" persona.
"Julianne Moore to play Sarah Palin in Game Change"
No one could triumph in this thankless role: Moore might not be "great at doing convincing accents," says Jaime Weinman at Maclean's. But even if she were, "it's hard to do a non-caricatured Palin impression." And given that the film should drop just when Palin would be ramping up her 2012 presidential bid, nothing about Moore's portrayal will go unscrutinized — especially with Palin's strategic assaults on any and all "pop-culture criticism of herself."
"HBO wants to make blogs explode"
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