I don't think her performance in Buffy is overrated, since it's written to her skills.
she spends much of the episodes talking in that cutesy, baby talk voice that drives. me. bananas.
As a (mostly former) actor, the conclusion I'm drawing from this (and from listening to the commentary tracks on the HIMYM DVDs) is that she actually has a ton of range, but she needs to be with really good directors.
On
Buffy
she had writers who wrote to her strengths, but she also had good, thoughtful directors who both thought the world of her and didn't hesitate to push her hard when they thought the scene demanded it.
On HIMYM, everyone thinks the world of her and thinks she's completely adorable as is and I didn't get the feeling from the commentary tracks that anyone demands much from her at all -- the directors and writers say over and over how adorable and great she is, and that they love making sure that she says "Bitch" at least once per episode because it cracks them up.
If any of her current directors bothered to say, "Aly, too shrill, push harder, don't rely on the cute," she could easily make the adjustment. But nobody's saying that--which isn't her fault; they're the directors, that's their fucking
job.
My HIMYM heresy is that, much as I love NPH and love the Barney revelation at the end of S3, Barney in general is really problematic and unpleasant and almost derails the show for me. I actually think both Robin and Lily are pretty great characters (Aly's just under-directed), but 99% of the Barney storylines make me question what the showrunners really think of women. It bugs me that I can't just shut down that part of my brain and enjoy the funny, but...well, I can't.
There. I'm a filthy humorless feminist heretic. Prepare the stake; I'm ready to be burnt.
For instance, Millennium was a better show than the X-Files
Liked Millennium better myself. My all time favorite episode was the "Selfosophy" episode, utterly skewering Scientology (and featuring David Duchovny in a few background poster cameos as a Cruise/Travolta).
I liked S3, but thought 1 & 2 relied too heavily on shock value. But S3 was awesome.
AH depends too heavily on cute. She is prone to simpering. She would have made a good Jane in Coupling. I have seen her in a lot of things, and agree that she does have range that she doesn't use, but it has been a good while since I saw it in action.
"Selfosophy" episode, utterly skewering Scientology (and featuring David Duchovny in a few background poster cameos as a Cruise/Travolta).
Mr. Happy-go-lucky!
Also known as the Jose Chung Millenium episode.
AH depends too heavily on cute.
I wouldn't disagree with that. But I do think the showrunners on HIMYM have contributed to that. Seeing the first season episodes it was surprising to see how much more focus her character had. She's really been allowed to drift. I think they're just letting Lilly be Aly, which is a mistake.
I have seen her in a lot of things, and agree that she does have range that she doesn't use, but it has been a good while since I saw it in action.
I'd agree with that too. She needs somebody to push her because she won't challenge herself. Unlike SMG who has taken some wacky indie movie chances aside from her more commercial Scooby Doo fare.
It kind of comes down to my earlier assessment that it was ballsy of SMG to rise to the challenge of the musical and wussy of AH to beg off. Nick Brendon also got points for stepping up to the musical and nailing it, without any background in singing or dancing (and partnered with Emma, who clearly has a lot of experience there.)
However, one of Aly's virtues as an actor is that while her tendency is to cute it up, if pushed she will go to the dark, unlikeable parts of a character. Some actors (Marsters comes to mind) will never give up the "please love me" impulse in his acting.
"Selfosophy" episode, utterly skewering Scientology (and featuring David Duchovny in a few background poster cameos as a Cruise/Travolta).
"All right! My gun jammed!"
and
"Hey, don't try it! You'll never make it!"
"Not with that negative attitude I won't!" (jumps, misses, dies.)
edited to fix quotes
The episode also took a big swing at Deepak Chopra as well (the Selfosophy guru was named
somethingsomething
Gupta).
James Berardinelli has his Dark Knight review online, and it's four stars. He is not one to hand out four stars easily--since 2005, he's given only three other four-star reviews.
Didn't the Yuri Geller-esque phony psychic from "Clyde Buckman's Final Repose" also make a reappearance?
