Everyone who reads my blog KNOWS that I love Benedict Cumberbatch.
With that said, as much as I love love love Cumberbatch, I absolutely had NO interest in seeing The Fifth Estate this weekend.
Why? Because I really didn't find the subject matter that interesting. And apparently, everyone in America didn't find it interesting either, because almost no one went to see the movie this weekend. I think it barely broke $1 million at the box office.
Honestly, I would pay to see a movie with Cumberbatch in it reading the damn phonebook. And I would drool over him while listening to him sound out people's names as he read them aloud. And totally love it. Why? Because it's him reading the phonebook in that wonderful voice of his. I would find that entertaining and interesting on top of that.
However, I didn't see The Fifth Estate mostly because I don't care about Julian Assange. Hell, I didn't even know what embassy he was being holed up in (read my post on S%$# I don't know if you like). I mean, I'm all for supporting my boy in whatever he does, but he really does have to make a film about a subject that I'm interested in, or make a film that gets really good reviews (if he reads the phonebook and it gets good reviews, I would go see that, lol). Which leads to my next talking point...
I went out with my friend Lisa and saw 12 Years a Slave today. It was good. Since some of my favorite people were in it (Pitt, Fassbender and of course, Cumberbatch) and it was generating a lot of Oscar buzz, I made my way to the theater, even though I'm no fan of watching minority groups get torchered on screen (especially my own group).
Chiwetel Ejiofor gave a strong performance, and so did Lupita Nyong'o, who is cute as a button. Fassbender's performance was good too (even though he was evil) and I was happy to see Brad Pitt in it as well (even though he is only in a few scenes).
Cumberbatch was not in the movie that much, but I thought that he did a good job in the few scenes that he was in. And his American southern accent was pretty good (love him!).
If you can handle the hard-to-watch scenes of slaves being beaten (I closed my eyes a lot), then I recommend seeing the film. It's quite good.
Anyhoo, Cumberbatch's failure to get people to the theater this weekend to see The Fifth Estate is quite the talk of the Internet. There is even an article in Variety on whether or not he is a leading man (click here to read).
My opinion? He's an A-lister for sure. Whether or not he can drive people to the theater remains to be seen.
I think he can, given the right role and given some critical buzz. The man is wonderfully talented, and regardless of him being able to open a film, he'll have a long career in Hollywood and in Britain. Could he be a movie star? Maybe. Even though he may be "unconventional" looking, he truly has a great on-screen presence and he's good in pretty much everything that he does. And he's got a crazy fanbase (me included, but I'm no Cumberbitch, or anyone's bitch, for that matter). I think that people who have heard of him and seen his work recognize his talent, but I don't think too many people really know who he is in the US for him to really be a star here at this point in time. That may happen after the rest of his movies come out this year.... we'll see.
He'll bounce back from this with no problem. Lots of stars make box office bombs, and they go on to have successful careers. I'm not worried about him.
Meanwhile, I'm just waiting for Sherlock season 3 (can't wait!!!) and for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (aka The Dragon Movie) to come out in theaters this fall.
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