I sure didn’t add this to my Netflix queue for its plot. Here’s the synopsis: “While she spends her days filing papers as a harried office temp, Myra returns home each evening to an even more chaotic world, where her eccentric younger brother, Ludlow, staves off manic episodes through his art. But when Myra opens her heart to a shy but endearing co-worker, her love for her brother finds a rival…and Ludlow fights back for her affection.” Meaningless jobs? Shy people with problems? Mental illness? Bonding against all odds? Stinks of Eau d’Generic Indie to me.
No, what drew me in was Alicia Goranson, better known as Roseanne’s Original Becky. I hadn’t seen her in anything since Boys Don’t Cry, so I thought she might have sacked acting for, I don’t know, data entry. My Netflix search turned this up, I popped it in, and surprise! She’s pretty good. As Myra, she’s able to be tough, tender, angry, sad, happy, and hopeful, often in the same scene. (Watch for the moment just after she argues Shy but Endearing Co-Worker out of her apartment.) She also has a pleasant, goofball screen presence that isn’t too polished to allow real emotion (see: Streep). I do have a hard time not hearing Becky when Goranson opens her mouth, but she pulls off a credible Brooklyn (?) accent and maintains it during her variety of moods. It’s always nice to see an old TV friend doing well for herself. Her cast bio says she’s spent a lot of time in theater; I hope that’s not because no one wants to cast her in movies, because if Jennifer Aniston gets to have a career, there’s no reason Goranson shouldn’t.
4 Responses to Love, Ludlow (2005)
Becky #1 was in “Boys Don’t Cry”? I should really watch that movie.
I loved the first Becky (and, of course, Darlene, who also doesn’t have enough movie roles to suit my taste). Becky Two went on to be whats-her-name on Scrubs (note the high level of research that goes into my comments). The cool thing about that was that the other actors on Roseanne kept telling her, “You look different . . . doesn’t she look different?” A little meta-humour.
I understand following fave TV characters. “Underworld” is not a good movie. But it was cool to see Ben from Felicity fighting werewolves (insert laughter at my Felicity watching here). And Slither, also, was not a “good” movie, per se. But it had Mal from Firefly, which automatically bumps up the watchablility factor 2000%.
Becky #1 was the single mother who got shot along with Brandon Teena at the end. Apparently, she had been up for the Chloe Sevigny role, but the director thought her audition was too humorous. I believe that information comes from IMDB, though, so maybe I should take it with a grain of salt.
“Slither” no good? Damn, I had high hopes. Well…higher hopes than I have from “White Noise 2” anyway.
I am trying to remember the first Becky. Didn’t she come back? In which case, would she be the “first and last” Becky? Kinda puts a twist on the phrase, I think. Or am I completely thinking of somebody else? On another show?
And now for some Completely Unrelated and Way-Out-Of-Date Reccomendations:
[Game] God Of War=fun fun fun
[Movie] Intacto=weird and cool
[Book] Alexander McCall Smith’s “Heavenly Date” = touching and affecting. Especially the story “Bulwayo”.
It’s sad that I know this: First Becky was replaced by “Scrubs” Becky (Sarah Chalke), who left in the eighth season or so and was replaced by…First Becky (now aka Third Becky). Then First/Third Becky and Second Becky alternated for a while, until First/Third Becky left again and was replaced by…Second Becky (now aka Fourth Becky).
Not just the original Becky switch, but the later toggling between the two, gave extra depth to D.J.’s psychosis in the flash-forward episode where he kept repeating, “They say she’s the same but she isn’t the same.”