I'm going to come off as a bad guy no matter how delicately I try to address this.
Basically you can't talk smack about an 11 year old and still come off as a decent person.
But I have to bring this up because it's been bothering me so much.
Let me start by saying this, "Modern Family" is the funniest show on TV. Period. It's become a can't miss in our house. Every episode has at least a couple laugh out loud moments and the show, in general, is cast brilliantly. Ed O'Neill leads the way, thrusting off the chains of trashy-trashington Al Bundy to become the well to do patriarch with a taste for younger (MUCH younger) women. Ty Burrell, who you might remember as doofy reporter Gary Crezyzewski from Kelsey Grammer's short lived "Back To You" is the even doofier but lovable dad, Phil. The standout is Eric Stonestreet's flamboyant, Donna Summer loving gay dad Cameron (how do you know he's a good actor? He's not even gay). Among the kids, Rico Rodriguez is hilarious as "old soul" Manny.
Of course no show is perfect. Julie Bowen could tone down the harpy bit a little as Phil's wife. We get it, he's a completely clueless goofball. But her reactions to and treatment of him regularly make you wonder how the head cheerleader ended up with the weird kid who sat in the back of the class eating his boogers.
Now comes the part where I punch my ticket to hell.
Ok so we obviously don't expect child actors to give award worthy performances (although don't tell Tatum O'Neal that), and Nolan Gould's character Luke, Phil and Claire's son, is supposed to be a chip off the doofy block. But the kid can be distractingly bad sometimes, this past week noticeably mouthing his co-star's lines while waiting for his cue. Half the fun of a really engaging show is the willing suspension of disbelief and really buying into these characters as "real" people. It's kind of hard to do that when one of them seems to know what the other person is going to say as they're saying it.
I know, I know, he's just a kid. It's mean to criticize an 11 year old. But hey, I noticed it, which means other people likely did too. I'm not saying the kid should get fired or recast (a la Teenie in "Big Love"), just maybe someone should mention it...that's all I'm sayin'
-Justin
UNDER CONSTRUCTION!
8 years ago
I totally agree, and definitely don't think you're punching your ticket to hell. It's not like you're unnecessarily berating the kid for his awful acting ability (which would be wrong, because he plays a great kid). I don't think there's anything wrong with a little healthy criticism.
ReplyDeleteAs far as Bowen goes, I think half of that problem is the writers. They make her out to be the shrew, but her acting escalates her to rank of Nightmare Wife. You can tell that as an actress, she's pretty skilled given her role in NBC's "Ed" so I think it would help if the writers toned it down.