BEAUTIFUL GIRLS - Marty
Nat plays Marty in this brilliant comedy by Ted Demme.
A group of old school friends get together for a school re-union in a snowy town in the middle of nowhere. Only Willie (Timothy Hutton) has to come from out of town, all the others have never moved on. He meets up with old friends Tommy (MattDillon) and - (Michael Rapaport), who drive Snow Ploughs for a living. Willie, though, is very intrigued by his father's next door neighbour, a young girl by the name of Marty. Seemingly older beyond her years, with a quick tongue, she seems more knowing than Willie's immature friends, and he takes a liking to her.
  The high-school re-union is a disaster, with Tommy's lover turning up to cause trouble with Tommy's girlfriend, he gets in a fight etc.
  This is a fantastic film, with good performances from all of the cast, especially Nat and Timothy Hutton. Also from  Mira Sorvino, Rosie O'Donnell, Uma Thurman and Max Perlich.
It's genuinely funny, sad, warming and just good fun. And Natalie really shines through in a role that she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
HEAT - Lauren Gustafsen
Nat joins an all-star cast for Heat, including Al Pacino, Val Kilmer, Robert De Niro, Tom Sizemore, Diane Venora, William Fichner and Ashley Judd. Although Nat only has a small role it's important, and Michael Mann needed an actress who could get her story over in the least possible time and Nat does this.
  The story revolves around Robert De Niro's thief McCauley, in a build up to an armed robbery and one of the most amazing fire-fights in film history. Tracked by Vincent Hanna, Pacino's cop, it's a game of who's the best at their job. Nat plays Pacino's wife Venora's troubled daughter Lauren, constantly let down by her real father and not feeling any love from her mother, eventually leading to her trying to take her own life.
  This is a fantastic action film, well written and well acted by all, a re-make of Mann's L.A. Takedown. Full of great acting, great lines, great action and of course it has Nat in it! Not for long but enough to make a difference. Well worth a watch, and most definately an entry for the greatest films of all-time.If you've not seen it, you're missing out.
COLD MOUNTAIN - Sara
CLOSER - Alice
GARDEN STATE - Samantha
....continued
Nat plays a rather ditzy gal named Sam in this terrific film by Zach Braff.
On returning to New Jersey for his mother's funeral after nine years of being away, Andrew Largeman (Braff) realises that nothing's changed, not the people nor the place. His relationship with his father is still non-exsistent, and his friends still spend their spare time getting high.
  On a trip to the doctor's Andrew chances upon Sam in the waiting room, as well as an over-friendly dog! Sam seems to be a breath of fresh air in a place that seems to have been stuck in a time-warp, and they form a relationship over the next few short days that Zach will be in town. Zach starts to see something in Sam that he's been missing all these years, and in turn starts to wonder if what he had figured his future would ammount to was just what he'd have made do with. In Sam he's see's what it could be.
  This is so well acted, and isn't exactly the most original quirky love story, but it works so well! You get the impression it could so easily fallen flat on it's face had it not been for such great characters and a wonderful performance by Nat. She's so great as Sam, the kinda girl a man would love to have, and at the same time every girl would want as a friend. Braff has come up with a killer script too, with some great lines and great situations such as the hamster buriel scene!
With no huge names other than Nat or Ian Holm, Braff has made great choices with the actors he chose to play the characters, including Peter Sarsgaard as Andrew's best friend from high-school.
  As I said before, it's not the most original of stories, but that's what makes it better. Because if you can get away with that then it must be something good! A good script, good acting, good production etc etc. So I think Braff is on to bigger things, I surely hope so, and Nat just goes from strength to strength.
Nat plays Alice, an American just arrived in London but with no particular plans on what she wants to do.
  Whislt walking down a busy London street Alice exchanges a glance and a smile with Dan (Jude Law), just before she gets knocked down by a taxi as she crosses the road. Although not badly hurt Dan takes Alice to the hospitol, and once patched up, on a short guided tour of London. This sparks off the first of two relationships between the four main characters of the film, also including Clive Owen and Julia Roberts. But it's not as simple as all that with the two relationships inter-mingling as they all fall in and out of love, the in love, then out etc etc.
  Nat is brilliant as Alice, a stripper by night and a waitress by day. Clive Owen is absolutely great as Larry, with some brilliant lines, which owes something to the fact that he was in the original 'Closer' when it was a play. Law is not at his best, but does a good job none-the-less, and Julia Roberts just looks sad all the way through which is pretty much her area anyway.
  Nat and Clive Owen make this film as good as it is, and all Law and Roberts have to do is tag along for the ride There's a great scene with Larry and Dan on the Net in an adult chat-room, Dan posing as a woman! As often as the relationships change, you can always keep up with it, but they change like most people change their underwear.
  As enjoyable as it was, I was left wondering at the end. Of what I will not say as I don't want to spoil it, but it's still a great film and should not be missed. Great performances from Nat and Owen, some brilliant lines, great scenes, and Nat looking amazing! Plus, Nat won a Golden Globe for supporting actress! Quite how she was only the supporting actress next to Roberts is anyone's guess though.
In V Nat plays Evey Hammond in the screen version of David Lloyd & Alan Moore's Graphic Novel; V For Vendetta. Set shortly in the future, Britain has become a fascist country, ruled by the dictator Chancellor Sutler (John Hurt). Everyone has strict rules to abide by and curfews to keep, many things are ruled out totally such as personal items such as paintings, antiques, music etc. so as not to sway anyone's view from how the political party want to think.
Nat is Evey Hammond, an office worker who generally gets caught up in the middle of a plot to overthrow the government. She meets a vigilante by the name of 'v' (Hugo Weaving) one night when she is late for curfew and is set on by the local police ('Fingermen'). V wears a Guy Fawkes mask and talks in riddles, Evey is initially scared but soon realises V means her personally no harm. He takes Evey to show off some of his handywork, as they climb to the top of a building and watch buildings explode and fall which, to V, is a symphony. V embarks upon a mission to change people's minds, to let them become free-thinking citizens again, to overthrow the government, and to blow up more political landmarks! Once Evey is in on it V can no longer let her roam around freely and therefore has to keep her as a willing prisoner for her safety as well as his.
V is a great film, well written and adapted, although fans of the Novel might not be so convinced. Natalie is very good with a very passable English accent and most noted for the fact she had her head shaved for a key scene in the film. All in all this is well worth seeing and has an amazing final scene worth the ticket price alone!
V FOR VENDETTA - Evey Hammond
Nat only has a very small role in Cold Mountain, as Sara, a single mother who has lost her husband to the Civil War in America. Cold Mountain stars Jude Law as WP Inman who, after becoming wounded during the war, attempts to make his way home to his love, Ada Monroe (Nicole Kidman). Ada is tending her father's farm with some help from a drifter called Ruby (Renee Zellweger), whilst having a bit of trouble from the local law enforcement (Ray Winstone). Cold Mountain shows the journey of Inman as he makes the long trek home, sometimes seeming an impossible task, to Ada who never doubts his return.
Cold Mountain is impressively directed by Anthony Minghella, and has a great cast including Donald Sutherland, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jena Malone, Giovanni Ribisi, Brenden Gleeson and Jack White. Jude Law is terrific and so too is Nicole Kidman. Natalie's small role is a moving one, of how hard it was to raise a baby in Civil War era America when a husband is lost in the fighting. She meets Inman as he passes her cabin on his journey home, offers him food and a bed for the night, and he's able to repay her the next morning as soldiers attempt to take advantage of her frail state.
Cold Mountain is a real epic, and well-worth seeing. It avoids the mushyness of alot of love stories and has enough of eveything else on offer to keep people hooked. A great film!