Indeed, she has her merits. This photograph could definitely be an esthetic improvement on the usual ZOT photographs.
A photograph of Miss Portman’s finer attributes can be seen here:
Lucas absolutely lucked out in casting the first trilogy. Unfortunately, his luck hasn't held through the second set. Hayden Christensen can barely speak English, much less act. Natalie Portman is cute, but has acting skills better suited to Days Of Our Lives. She also affects an accent that comes and goes at random, a malady known in our household as "PLS", or "Princess Leia Syndrome", in honor of Carrie Fisher's come-and-go accent in the original. And now we're promised an epic bummer of a tragedy featuring these canned hams? I wonder if Lucas knows his audience as well as he thinks he does.
Personally, I blame Lucas's directing for the lameness of the romance between Anakin and Amidala.
Both Christensen and Portman intermittently got across convincing emotion even within the confines imposed by the conceit that both Jedi and Republican Senators spoke in very formal language. Lucas should have pushed them and reshot scenes so the level of acting which intermittently glimmered through was maintained throughout. He didn't, and as a result dragged down what would have been a very nicely plotted movie about power politics.
Here's hoping that either a few years of maturation by the actors or a revitalized commitment to directing on Lucas's part for the finale got rid of the problem for Episode III.
The story behind PLS (and of course there IS one) is that Fisher started the part, as directed, with a British accent.
A little way into filming, she decided she sounded ridiculous, plus it wasn't making her any more regal-sounding. She figured that at 19, she might as well play up her youth to put herself in stark contrast with Peter Cushing (who, let's face it, has an accent that puts her effort to shame). So she ditched the accent.
Lucas missed out bigtime by not including sex scenes between Natalie Portman and Yoda...
Indeed, she has her merits. This photograph could definitely be an esthetic improvement on the usual ZOT photographs.
A photograph of Miss Portman’s finer attributes can be seen here:
