Word: portman
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...clear that the White House is ready to match its rhetoric with action. Some observers have suggested that outgoing budget director Rob Portman resigned unexpectedly last week because he doubted the Administration's commitment to fighting Congress' proposal to boost spending on veterans' medical care...
...Still Portman's replacement, Jim Nussle, former chair of the House Budget committee, is expected to take a hard-line approach. Many Democrats view him as a particularly combative foe who could push for a standoff after Congress sends its spending bills to the President's desk. "They've put the guy in charge who is the Congressional architect of this mess," says Rep. Obey of Nussle. "To me that is a recipe for confrontation...
...Memphis to Las Vegas and back again-lurches in and out of plausibility without ever quite weaving the slo-mo magic Wong brings to his homegrown fare. But then, just as the viewer's patience is being tried by the relentless despair Jones' character appears to live in, Natalie Portman shows up and injects a bolt of life as a gambler trying to wheedle her one big win. She's just the defibrillator this languishing movie needs, and we thank Portman for her saucy radiance...
...Natalie Portman - Best Actress? Yup. For once she's not playing a waif or a child princess but a mature, full-bodied woman, probably a decade older than Portman is (25). She looks great, in a blond rinse and come-hither outfits, but she's not coasting on her looks; they are only accoutrements to Leslie's natural salesmanship. She uses her appeal to simultaneously flirt with and taunt the gambler across the table. And when the cards turn against her, Leslie is quick to hit on Elizabeth, who has naively mentioned a $2200 stash of her own. Thus begins...
...There are other sweet scenes in the film - notably the (perhaps imagined) kiss of a (possibly sleeping) woman. But the memory we'll cherish is that of Portman's vibrancy, grittiness and ache, all performed with a virtuosa's easy assurance. She, not Jones, is the savory dish of movie magic in a mostly bland Blueberry Nights...