[ad_1]
Anyone who has seen a movie within the past 20 years likely knows Scarlett Johansson. Johansson has been a movie star since she was a teenager and a part of critically acclaimed and well-regarded movies like Ghost World and Lost in Translation. In 2010 her career took a major turn when she joined the MCU in the role of Black Widow in Iron Man 2. Becoming part of the MCU and a star in some of the biggest films like The Avengers, Avengers: Infinity War and her own solo film Black Widow catapulted her to a new level of superstardom, and she became one of the most in-demand performers.
In 2019, she achieved a rare feat by being nominated for two separate acting Academy Award nominations in two different movies, for Best Actress in Marriage Story and Best Supporting Actress for Jojo Rabbit. She will next be seen in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City and is currently working on Disney’s Tower of Terror movie as a producer and possible star. In her extensive filmography, Johansson has many great performances that have gone underrated. Audiences turned out for films like The Prestige and Vicki Christina Barcelona, but there are more that flew under the radar, either underperforming at the box office or people not knowing she is in them. Here are six underrated Scarlett Johansson movies that are worth checking out.
Chef
Chef marks the second of three collaborations Johansson has with director Jon Favreau, having previously worked on 2010’s Iron Man 2 before lending her A-list voice acting talents as the snake Kaa in 2016’s Jungle Book. Chef very much is a film about Favreau working through the difficult time he had with studio notes on Iron Man 2 and Cowboys & Aliens, and returns him to his earlier roots of Swingers and Made. While Johansson’s role in Chef is a smaller one, playing the role of the hostess and the lead character’s girlfriend Molly, and is only in the film’s first act, but she still manages to leave an impression and shows that even in a smaller role she is a star.
Hitchcock
Hitchcock is a biopic of director Alfred Hitchcock that explores the creation of the film Psycho, Johansson steps into the iconic role of actress Janet Leigh. While a majority of the movie is focused more on the relationship between Hitchcock (Anthony Hopkins) and his wife and producing partner Alma Reville (Helen Mirren), the movie does dedicate a great deal of time to showing the making of Psycho including recreating key scenes. Johansson perfectly captures the persona and cadence of one of cinema’s most iconic leading ladies.
Hail, Caesar!
Going from Hitchcock to another film about the glory days of Hollywood, Johansson plays DeeAnna Moran in The Coen Brothers’ Hail, Caesar! Johansson’s character is inspired by Esther Williams, particularly her aquatic musical numbers which featured elaborate performances with synchronized swimming and diving.
Johansson works great to distinguish her character on-screen star persona contrasting it with the more cynical real-life persona, a woman hiding a pregnancy with a high-profile director that the studio needs to cover up. Johansson hits every comedic beat and helps make Hail, Caesar! an underrated comedy.
The Man Who Wasn’t There
The first time Johansson worked with the Coen Brothers was in 2001’s neo-noir The Man Who Wasn’t There. Johansson was only seventeen at the time of the film’s release, and her character Rachel “Birdy” Abundas is the daughter of a friend of the film’s lead character Ed Crane (Billy Bob Thorton). Her function in the film is the source of hope for the lead character, a light in the darkness of the world. Even at 17, Johansson proved herself a formidable performer able to hold her own in a Coen Brothers movie alongside an actor as well established and regarded as Billy Bob Thorton. Johansson showed she was a born star and just getting started.
Rough Night
Rough Night sees Johansson in a genre she doesn’t get to play often, a straight-up comedy. Rough Night focuses on Johansson’s character Jess Thayer, who is running for public office and goes on a bachelorette weekend with her friends in Florida; when they accidentally kill a male stripper, things obviously begin to spiral out of control. Johansson is supported by an all-star cast that includes Jillian Bell, Ilana Glazer, Zoë Kravitz, and Kate McKinnon along with a scene-stealing performance from Paul W. Downs.
Rough Night got a little lost upon release due to being overshadowed by Girls Trip that same summer as well as being marketed like The Hangover when it, in fact, is more of a cross between Weekend at Bernie’s and Arsenic & Old Lace. Rough Night is a laugh-out-loud comedy and a great showcase for Johansson outside of superheroes, high-concept science fiction, and awards drama.
Under the Skin
Filmmaker Jonathan Glazer’s Under the Skin was a box office disappointment but received positive reviews by critics making it Johannson’s most underrated movie in terms of reviews against audiences who saw it. Johansson plays Laura, an alien who preys on men and explores humanity through a different perspective. It premiered in 2013 at the Telluride Film Festival and was released in theaters in 2014 making it the fourth film from the star released that year after Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Chef, and Lucy, and worked to showcase just how versatile she is as a performer being able to walk in a variety of genres and work with different roles.
Under the Skin serves as a great companion piece to Her. Both Her and Under the Skin see Johansson play inhuman beings observing humans and learning from them, but Her is a performance that is solely a vocal one and much more warm and human, while Under the Skin is a physical performance with minimal dialogue that is disturbingly colder. Under the Skin is a breathtaking movie and one worth checking out.
[ad_2]
Source link