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Julianne Moore

 Julianne Moore plays people who are not particularly strong; the people face obstacles; the obstacles grow and grow. At some point, the facade crumbles; good manners are tossed aside; something feral pops up on screen.


Here are a few of the electrifying moments. A woman snaps at her husband, who refuses to acknowledge that dementia is "knocking on the door" ("Still Alice"). A woman breaks down because her spouse is dying, and the illness makes her consider how deficient she herself has been ("Magnolia"). A near-catatonic housewife sobs on her toilet as she confronts the fact that she can't "wear a nice face" for her child's party ("The Hours").

You might not think of Sarah Palin in this category, since Palin rarely cries in public. But Julianne Moore spotted something in Palin that others had overlooked. The embarrassing moments--the Couric interview, the reference to "Senator O'Biden," the allusion to Elizabeth II as England's "head of government"--these were bits of evidence. These were signs of a soul "under siege."

In Moore's hands, Palin is mishandled by a group of cynical Republican operatives; Palin is far from blameless, but also, Nicolle Wallace and even John McCain have a certain stench that wafts up, from time to time, if you're paying attention. So the Moore performance reminds me of Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada"; she is playing the villain, but oddly, at times, she is the one you root for.

Moore wouldn't attribute gestures or statements to Palin unless someone real had documented those exact gestures and statements, during the campaign. (This approach matches Moore's "Still Alice" work: "I won't do the thing on camera unless an actual person, struggling with Alzheimer's, has done that thing in front of witnesses.")

By the way, "Game Change" passes the Bechdel Test. I'm not sure Palin ever watched it, but--shrewdly--she said, "It would be great if Julianne Moore would take some of that Hollywood money and cover my kid's dental needs....."
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