stateside wrote:

A.O. Scott's comment on James' performance "Mr. McAvoy does what he usually does, which is mime wet-eyed, stricken, lovable innocence, but this time in a more Russian way than he has before."

Though I do not agree 100% with this, there were some emotions, movements, tilts….that were familiar to me. Right from the beginning….so I can only think that Scott, picked up on that also and dismissed really watching the rest of his performance. If that not be the case, then Scott should realize that this role was exactly that of a young man coming of age and learning / experiencing love for the first time.

A.O. Scott is an idiot and we wouldn't know good acting (and good films - see his stupid review for Atonement) if it hit in on the face. And he said bad things about all the actors in the cast, not only James. Anyway, he obviously doesn't know a thing about James' career; maybe watched him in a couple of films and believes he now discovered the "formula" of James' acting. I bet he never saw him in Macbeth and as Rory O'Shea. Dumbass.

I think that all the greatest actors in the world, and I'm talking even about the so-called "genius", have their own mannerisms and James wouldn't be different. There's something that he does with his eyes that is very much his trademark, but it's also wonderful to watch because it makes the characters he plays come so close to us. It's like we're seeing a real person instead of a character, and this is maybe what bothers some critics who want to see "acting" (method acting, maybe) and not someone who's turned real because of acting. Their loss.

Thank you for the review, state, it was great and very detailed! I'm really excited to see the film...my hopes that it'll be released here are getting higher!

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