People are almost constantly worried about what Kristen Bell is going to do next because she gained a huge nerd following with one television series and hooked a larger comedy nerd audience as Sarah Marshall. However, even though it might sound like blasphemy, I’ve never really been terribly impressed with her acting. She’s cute, and she’s funny, and she’s beyond endearing, but she’s right where she belongs in rom-com land.
However, we might see her get to break out a bit with a new role in Whales over at Universal where she’ll join Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film is…
Set in Cold War-era 1988, “Whales” tells the true story of a small-town news reporter (Krasinski) and a Greenpeace volunteer (Barrymore) who enlist the help of rival superpowers to save three majestic gray whales trapped under the ice of the Arctic Circle.”
I’m assuming those rival superpowers are the USSR, Cuba, and Krypton (a known communist planet that JFK hated).
Bell plays a star reporter who flaunts her good looks. Might she get a come-uppance at some point to show her the error of her ways? Probably. So, yes, we get a little bit of a different story than she’s been in recently, but for the most part it’ll be the same role she’s played at least a half dozen times. The girl is stuck in a type cast rut – but I’m not so sure she doesn’t belong there. Probably because no one will let me see her do anything else.
It’s a vicious, vicious cycle.
However, here are two important points that should make you shudder:
- The movie is based off a book entitled: “Freeing the Whales: How the Media Created the World’s Greatest Non-Event.” The key phrase there is non-event. It could be like Wag the Dog or could be, you know, not an event.
- Ken Kwapis is directing. If that name alone doesn’t make you instantly turned off to this film, maybe this list will: The Beautician and the Beast, Dunstan Checks In, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, He’s Just Not That Into You.
Remember when you were all excited about seeing Kristen Bell and John Krasinski and Drew Barrymore in something together? That should be ruined just by seeing that hack’s name on the back of the director’s chair.
Looking forward to the mediocrity.
I know – Dunstan Checks In is actually hilarious.
