None of you (who worried about the blonde bimbo to portray Ennis) had seen him in Monster's Ball???
No, I hadn't. Prior to BBM I had only seen Heath in AKT (in the movie theater) and really liked him in that, but didn't really have much of a sense of him. I had seen Jake in more stuff--City Slickers, The Day After Tomorrow (on a plane, argh) and that "kids who wanted to be rocket scientists in West Virginia" thing. I was more curious about Ang Lee as a director since I really liked Crouching Tiger. And Anne Hathaway....I knew her from the Princess Diaries movies.
Interestingly, about three days before I saw BBM, I had watched "The Baxter" on pay per view. Michelle Williams is one of the leads and is quite good and that is sort of a fun, quirky indie film. So, when I saw BBM I felt like she was the actress with whom I was most recently familiar.
I think everyone has heard this a million times but I'll repeat myself. I went to Boston to see BBM on 12/27/05 since it wasn't playing in Maine yet. It opened here a week later and I went with my daughter Hannah, but the theater was sold out. So, we ended up seeing Casanova since that was playing and tickets were available. Seeing Heath in that, a week after seeing BBM, then seeing BBM five more times in the theater, really cemented Heath and this talent for me.
At the time I was annoyed that BBM was sold out and we were "forced" to watch Casanova. But now I am profoundly grateful that things worked out the way they did. I probably would not have gone and seen Casanova by choice, but seeing Heath back-to-back in those two movies--and seeing both of them somewhat "unprepared" (although I had been lurking on the IMDb BBM boards prior to seeing BBM) was a really good thing. I am glad I have that in my memory to look back at and reflect on.
L
PS. I would suggest that those of you with Netflix or whatever try to see "The Baxter." It's a fun little movie. Michelle sings.