There's that Word Again: Underrated

Nicole Kidman had any sexual chemistry with any actor on screen was Birth. I wouldn’t necessarily blame Jackman who is a fine actor who makes bad films.

She is ‘icy’ because of her skin tone.
All that is necessary in film is a tension that has the potential of a release.
‘Chemistry’ suggests some kind of bonding, which in this story would change the narrative ‘feel’ too much…..maybe.

“? Nicole Kidman. She’s literally never given me anything to emotionally connect to or performances to admire. Can’t see what Luhrmann sees in her”

Maybe that’s why she worked in To Die For. maybe.

but overall i do find her cold and uninteresting. even when she is being ‘cold’ and ‘icy’ on purpose, it never really works, because i never get the feeling she really understands her characters that well.

“doesn’t really have much of a problem fitting that mold as his sort of style is more about likability or personality than “acting”,

agree, he isn’t much of an actor, but he is likeable, and as they say, likeability is 3/4 of the battle.

funny in films we demand chemistry in life few people have it.
Even couples who have been together decades have very little.
Most couples look awful together

^^Co-sign that Den to the fullest. Most couples look pretty bored to me. but hey, maybe that is just the people i know or the cynical projection of my own romantic frustration ;-)

“agree, he isn’t much of an actor, but he is likeable, and as they say, likeability is 3/4 of the battle.”

Joks, did you ever see Erskineville Kings? I saw it at a film festival when it was making the rounds and I remember the film was forgettably mediocre but coming out of it incredibly impressed by Jackman’s performance (having obviously no idea who he was). It wasn’t too surprising to me that he got X Men shortly after. Based on my memory of that performance alone, I’d say he’s largely wasted talent. I guess he has undeniable charisma. He seems to be single-handedly saving Broadway.

It’s odd that if a film sets itself up as an epic romance about love, we wouldn’t want some semblance of “chemistry” between leads. Perhaps it’s an ineffable, undefinable quality (thus that it’ll drive Peabody to madness) but there’s some sort of magic watching, say, Bacall and Bogart interact in a way that you generally don’t see today.

Yeah, the problem with chemistry is that it is contra-epic.
Bacall and Bogart never did an epic, did they?

Not even Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor in A Place in the Sun?

What are you using for a definition of epic?

..in films we demand chemistry…

…in life few people have it. Even couples who have been together decades have very little.

Most couples look awful together

We got to the movies to see unlikely situations and unlikely couples. Hence our demand for chemistry in films. And even rivals have chemistry, it’s just a different sort.

Most couples look pretty bored to me…maybe that is just the people I know or the cynical projection of my own romantic frustration

Most people are scared. They jump into the first half-decent thing they see, whether it be a relationship, career, what have you. They don’t want to be left in the cold or on the shelf, so they team up with the first like-minded desperado they meet. Happens in nightclubs all the time.

Relationships can be fun but there is nothing wrong with being single—when you see all of the losers who end up in relationships together, it actually makes you feel pretty smart that you’ve avoided other people’s bullshit.

I’ve nothing but good things to say about ideally-matched persons in a relationship. But a lot of people settle for a partner with no manners and class, and a lot of women that I see like boring types. They don’t like clever men who think with a mind of their own because that means arguments and bitching. Women love to tell their men what to wear, especially if the guy is eccentric. That’s me all over and it proves my point that women don’t want a guy who’s different, they want a mannequin to manipulate, tell him what to eat, what to wear.

Some guys will sell out for a chance at the honeypot, but once you accept that fact that most women are boring in bed, and once you recognise that there are some seriously messed-up people in relationships, ergo being in a relationship isn’t a badge of honour, being single is nothing to be ashamed about.

There’s a serious shortage of women who are intelligent, kooky, funny and with a good imagination and kink factor. To most women “adventure” is getting a new tattoo on their ankle, people set the bar for such things extremely low.

Not a great film but very enjoyable. But that also maybe because of my gender.

I don’t think “gender” has anything to do with liking this film…nor has it anything to do with liking any film, for that matter.