| FILM REVIEWS |
| In her first film role Natalie plays a troubled thirteen year old girl who chooses a life as a "cleaner" after her family is killed off by a crooked cop. The story starts with Mathilda (Nat) being taken in by a hitman (Leon-Jean Reno) who lives down the hall from her family's appartment, after crooked cop (Stansfield-Gary Oldman) has just killed her family including her little brother. Although Mathilda wasn't close to her family, her little brother she was, and so begs Leon to teach her the ways of a hitman, or "cleaner" so she can kill the cops who took her little brothers life. And so begins Mathildas training, but along the way she finds she is falling in love with Leon, and Leon finds in her the friend his lonely life has yearned for. But this takes Leon's mind off his work and makes him careless, all the while being pursued by Stansfield who wants Mathilda dead. This is a truly great and unique film from Luc Besson, with great performances from the three main cast.The right amount of laughter, tears and action, with a grand finale that really wraps the film up perfectly. This is truly a great piece of film making. |
| STAR WARS; EPISODES l & ll - Padme' Amildala |
| WHERE THE HEART IS - Novalee Nation |
| ANYWHERE BUT HERE - Ann August |
| LEON / THE PROFESSIONAL - Mathilda |
| Nat plays a pregnant Southern-gal named Novalee Nation in this amusing little story. It starts out with the pregnant Novalee and her boyfriend (Dylan Bruno) leaving the small town they live in, in search for greener pastures. They stop at a Wal-Mart for some new shoes, but when Novalee goes back to the parking lot......her boyfriend has gone. With no money, and no-where to stay, she seeks refuge in the Wal-mart every night when it closes. Then one night baby decides it wants out, and Novalee gives birth to a little girl right in one of the eisles! The guy from the local library hears her screams and breaks in to deliver her. When the newspapers find out they all want to know about little Americus, the "Wal-mart baby"! This is a really good film, showing the highs and lows of Novalee's life, how she copes with being a single parent, and the strange little twists that are thrown at her, the triumphs and the touching ending. Nat plays the part very well, and co-star Ashley Judd is also very good as another mother Novalee meets at the hospital, who's life is also full of ups and downs. This is well worth a look; inspiring, happy, sometimes truly sad and moving, and all together very enjoyable. |
| Nat plays Ann August in this story of conflict between mother and daughter. Adele August (Susan Sarandon) wants what's best for her daughter, and being her mother she knows best. Ann and Adele don't see eye to eye, Ann knows what she wants but her mother thinks otherwise. They leave the little town where Ann grew up, and head for better things, Adele believes her daughter is worth more than a small-town life can give her. They end up in BelAir, where Adele finds work as a teacher, and takes Ann to auditions for acting parts, as this is what she believes Ann would be good at. All the time Adele tries her hardest to be the best mother she can be, with Ann trying to prove she doesn't need her help. This is a very moving film, with the audience being able to sympathise with both mother and daughter,Adele only wants what's best for her daughter, and Ann thinks she knows better. Nat and Susan Sarondon are great together, with a definate on-screen spark between them. Finally things work out, with a very tearful ending! |
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| In the first two prequels to the Star Wars Trilogy Nat plays Padme` Amildala. In The Phantom Menace she is Queen Of Naboo, but in Attack Of The Clones she has resigned that position to become Senator, believing she can better help her people in that role. In the Phantom Menace Amildala struggles to protect her planet from attack, whilst being forced to sign a treaty she does not see fit. She manages to avoid signing, and with the aid of The Gunguns is able to fend of the invasion. All the while the Jedi are under great danger from a Sith Lord of the Dark Side, the "Phantom Menace". Posessing skills that the Jedi thought were long gone, this enemy threatens the very existence of peace in the Galaxy. We see young Anakin for the first time, he is taken by the Jedi to be trained, as Qui Jon Jin (Liam Neeson) believes he could be the one who brings balance to the force. In the Attack Of The Clones it's pretty much the same. This time though it's a huge clone army that are the threat. Anakin has now grown up, and is learning the ways of the Jedi, being trained by Obi Wan Kenobi (Ewen McGregor). They are to protect and escort Amildala, and along the way Anakin falls for her. Both films are equally good fun, the second being a little better than the first. Unfortunately the script suffers at the hands of the special-effects, which are without a doubt very impressive. But then that can be said for all five movies. Nat does the best she can, but there's only so much an actor can do when the script is not up to scratch. Hayden Christensen is very good as the older Anakin, and brings alot of character to the part. Cries for less Jar Jar Binks in the second one were answered which made a big difference, only to have the "annoying character" part being taken by C3PO instead. All in all they are fun movies, good for the visuals and sound, the scripts were never the strong point, that's what Star Wars is about. Enjoy it! |
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| EVERYONE SAYS I LOVE YOU - Laura Dandridge |
| A film by Woody Allen, Nat only has a small part in this film. I had real trouble watching it as it's a musical and I hate musicals! It is well done though, and Nat's only singing part is quite funny as she messes it up! Good performances by Tim Roth, and Julia Roberts, if you like musicals this is your thing. It's not Annie or Singin' In The Rain, but more of a "film with singing in it". In between the singing the story is of Woody Allen's character who is lonely and needs a partner. He tries to woo Julia Robert's character by finding out all the things she loves and telling her falsely that they are his loves too. It's not only about Allen's love life, but most of the cast! They are all in and out of relationships, here there and everywhere. Good performances from a good cast, worth a look. |
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| " I can totally imagine myself not being an actress, but it's a little stranger now that I've started to get more recognition. If I want to be a doctor, it will be wierd for my patients to think, 'Oh, my doctor's the mother of Princess Leia'." ......on a change of career. |