Word: mortons
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...solo release doesn't match the freshness and energy of that early work, Rakim's rich-as-gold rhymes are as smooth and full of groove as ever. He flows effortlessly in funky tracks like "Uplift" and "All Night Long," and his silver-tongued baritone plays skillfully against Nneaka Morton's soft vocals in "I'll Be There." But it's in "When I Be On Tha Mic" that Rakim proves he is still master of tight verbal syncopation, complex rhyme schemes, and unforgettable lines: "DJs display tricks like the Matrix/Make the record fly undetected by the naked eye/So just...
...real jewel of the film is Samantha Morton as Hattie, a mute laundress who tries to tries to take up Emmet as a lover. Looking like she just stepped out of a silent film, Morton gives a performance that, without a single line of actual dialogue, matches Penns in intensity and sheer entertainment value. Her expressive eyes and Groucho Marx facial expressions make her the perfect foil for Emmets self-absorbed rambling. Its so clear that the two are right for each other that when Emmet totally fails to realize the value of Hatties unconditional love, we realize just...
...Despite its short running time the movie does occasionally become tiresome in its second half, when Morton drops out of the picture to make way for a fancier enchantress. Unfortunately, Uma Thurman disappoints as Blanche, an Anais Nin wannabe with a fetish for performing geniuses: the amusing concept of her character doesnt justify her time on screen. The period detail, though sumptuously photographed by Chinese cinematographer Zhao Fei, doesnt hold interest on its own. Happily, the film finds its way back again in the end when Emmet shows up outside Hatties laundry. A lovely scene between Penn and Morton...
After her baby is born in January (the father is actor Charlie Creed-Miles--another off-limits topic), Morton, now 22, intends to get back to work as soon as she can. But she wants it known she won't take just any job. "I'm not going to sell out," she insists. "I'm not." When Morton speaks--and even when she doesn't--people listen...
Penn does bold justice to this lowdown giant. But Samantha Morton, as Emmet's "mute orphan half-wit" of a girlfriend, is the sweet revelation. Rarely has a performer mined such complex and potent emotion from such simple materials: a smile, a shrug, an attentive winsomeness. She hardly nods or shakes her head in response to a question, yet always conveys the meaning and feeling. In an age of actors' tics and rantings, such austere clarity is worth cherishing. The interpretive magic that Emmet Ray achieves with six strings, Morton conjures with none...