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3 Romantic Roles of Edward Norton

Posted on February 12, 2010 Written by ripitup

Yes, we know he can play a psycho, a gambler, a man who is going to jail the very next day or he can just star in the cult film Fight Club. It is so easy to get used to this diversity and we are not exactly surprised when he plays the nice, romantic fellow occasionally. But of course being Edward Norton, even his romantic parts are very different from each other. So here is a list of three (very) good movies and links to its reviews:

* Keeping The Faith

Edward Norton has directed this lovely comedy where a rabbi and a priest reunite with their old childhood friend (Elfman) and eventually both fall in love with her. Both these guys are very popular, modern and fun. But of course Norton’s character Brian Finn isn’t supposed to date. Or flirt. Or fall in love. Oops…

You can read the review below:

http://www.articlesbase.com/movies-articles/keeping-the-faith-with-edward-norton-jenna-elfman-and-ben-stiller-1852125.html

The Painted Veil

It is sad, romantic, touching, powerful and poetic. It is well-done in every way. Not your typical love affair either. An unfaithful wife (Watts) is forced by her doctor husband (Norton) to go the most dangerous place (1920s, political chaos- combined with a cholera epidemic) in China. But maybe they were both too quick to judge and despise each other? Produced by Norton and Watts. A must-see. To find out more about the film (no spoilers there either):

https://pinartarhan.com/blog/the-painted-veil-with-naomi-watts-and-edward-norton/

The Illusionist

The Illusionist takes you to a magical Vienna with fine cast: Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Paul Giamatti and Rufus Sewell.Romantic, mystical, mysterious and lovely. For the review:

https://pinartarhan.com/blog/the-illusionist-with-edward-norton-and-jessica-biel/

Would love to hear what you think of these movies. You can comment here, on their individual pages.

The Illusionist with Edward Norton and Jessica Biel

Posted on February 9, 2010 Written by ripitup

The Illusionist with Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Paul Giamatti and Rufus Sewell. I take this magician over The Prestige's two competing ones any day...

When Eisenheim was a young boy, he had two life-defining experiences. First, he met a magician that opened his eyes to a mysterious and alluring world. Second, he became best friends and fell in love with a girl called Sophie, who was way above his social class.

When he grows up (Edward Norton), he comes back to Vienna. He starts putting on sold-out shows that amaze and entertain everybody. His success intrigues the chief police (Paul Giamatti) and pisses the hell out of the crown prince (Rufus Sewell) who is usually quick to expose any “magic” and he has the services of the chief at his disposal.

The Illusionist, Edward Norton — Edward Norton as Einsenheim. He is just...well..magical.

Eisenheim isn’t intimidated by either of them. He is extremely frustrated to realize that he still has deep feelings for Sophie (Jessica Biel), who is expected to marry the crown prince.

I dare not say any longer- I am scared to give any spoilers.

Why should you see this?

* From the moment this movie starts, it takes, it takes you in. Edward Norton is absolutely amazing and graceful as the smart, talented and romantic Eisenheim.

Paul Giamatti in The Illusionist. He creates more than enough trouble for Eisenheim and Sophie.

* Paul Giamatti is just brilliant as the police who we can’t tell whether he is going to go all evil on us to serve the prince or he will respect intelligence, love and true character.

Rufus Sewell in The Illusionist — So you are telling me there is a mysterious movie with a beautiful setting and a clever script and the cast has Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti. I have nothing against Jessica Biel- she is lovely. And you also have Rufus Sewell as the bad guy? Boy, I love this movie!!

*Oh, the Crown Prince is evil. The performance of Sewell is really cool as usual. Shame that he had to cover his face with all the mustache and beard but hey, all the (male) charm and beauty belongs to Edward Norton here.

What you need to know about the movie is that, it is a smart)drama/ thriller/romance. I love it much, much more than The Prestige. Prestige plays all its smartypants cards to soon, drives up your expectations- only to disappoint in the end. This movie does not have one irrelevant line or scene. It might have fewer twists but it never disappoints. I’d say at 7.7 on IMDB, it is underrated.

Other Edward Norton

https://pinartarhan.com/blog/the-painted-veil-with-naomi-watts-and-edward-norton/

Other Giamatti

https://pinartarhan.com/blog/shoot-em-up/

https://pinartarhan.com/blog/duplicity/

The Painted Veil with Naomi Watts and Edward Norton

Posted on February 7, 2010 Written by ripitup

Just beautiful. Nothing is over the top. One of the best emotional journeys on cinema. A Painted Veil with Edward Norton and Naomi Watts.

1920s. Kitty (Naomi Watts) and Walter (Edward Norton) have absolutely nothing in common. Walter is a shy, smart, and awkward bacteriologist who falls in love with Kitty at first sight at a party.

Kitty is the ultimate social girl: she loves going out, playing the piano and being the center of attention.

She probably wouldn’t even consider marrying Walter if she hadn’t been dying to escape her dreadful mother; who was already announcing news of engagement even when Kitty wasn’t remotely interested in Walter. So she finds herself in China, bored to death with her nerdy husband. That’s when she finds herself having an affair with and falling for the charming but married diplomat Charlie Townsend (played by Naomi’s real life partner Liev Schreiber).

When Walter finds out, he gives her two options: he can divorce her right away or she has to go to the cholera struck region of China with him. She has overestimated Charlie both as a man and a lover. He refuses to divorce his wife, just as Walter predicts.

This is the perfect punishment for an unfaithful wife: isolated in a country with only one native English speaker as neighbor. The marriage isn’t a happy one for Walter either, but he is mostly busy with his patients. As Kitty makes an effort to redeem herself and mingle with people of the church, the couple begins to see each other for they really are and the coldness is eventually replaced with love and respect.

The Painted Veil with Naomi Watts and Edward Norton — Kitty and Walter, Belatedly in love

The Painted Veil is absolutely beautiful. It is delicate and sincere. The scenery is amazing and the acting is top notch. But then again, I wasn’t expecting any less from Edward Norton and Naomi Watts. I have been an admirer of Norton’s ever since I saw him in Primal Fear. Still, it was the first time I saw him as a romantic lead in a romantic period drama and he is just excellent at this. I also like it more if the movie is produced by the leading actors so they have more say in scenes and Watts and Norton have made brilliant choices.

The movie was directed by John Curran in 2006. Based on the novel by W. Somerset Maugham.

This is one of those movies that if a guy doesn’t like it, you can rightfully dismiss him as heartless. Well, kidding aside, it would be a very shallow attempt to label this one as a chick flick. It is a multi-dimensional story with multi-dimensional characters. Don’t miss out on it, regardless of your genre preference and gender.