Remember when Leelee Sobieski was an actual up-and-coming actress?
Okay, maybe that is a stretch, but back in like 1999/2000 she had just had a role in Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut, which was following a turn in James Ivory’s A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries. She had just been nominated for a Golden Globe for the TV movie Joan of Arc and was then nominated again in 2001 for Uprising.
Hmmm… 2001? That was when she read the 9/11 poem on “The Tonight Show”. Did any of you see/hear/read this thing? I tried to find a YouTube clip or some audio, but all I could find was this transcript. It is easily the worst poem I have ever heard someone give. Reading over it again I can’t say it is downright awful, but when you hear those words read with so much pretension it really makes the stomach turn a bit.
Even in my searching I found an article at Entertainment Weekly in which the headline reads “Whatever happened to Leelee Sobieski’s career?” The article is primarily about Sobieski getting second billing in Uwe Boll’s In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, but even in the comments we find:
The only time I saw a hint of talent was in “My First Mister”, with Albert Brooks. Other than that, all I associate her with is that pretentious mess of a “poem” she read on the tonight show after 9/11. The ghosts of Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost probably cursed her to an eternity of straight-to-dvd-films after that one! (posted by LF)
She read a poem on the Tonight Show is what happened. (posted by TL)
Is it possible the pompous reading of one poem seven years ago caused Leelee to be virtuatlly absent from feature films for almost four years? It really should be considered five since it wasn’t until 2005 and The Wicker Man that I remember her name mentioned.
Recently I was asked by someone why I don’t like her. They asked me this because of my review of 88 Minutes in which I so adeptly wrote:
One final complaint… Leelee Sobieski spells disaster film. Seriously, this girl makes you cringe just watching her.
Outside of Eyes Wide Shut, a film in which her role did not require her to do much, can you even think of a movie in which she did anything of note? The reason I ask is because she has just joined the cast of Michael Mann’s upcoming film Public Enemies and I am none-too-happy about it.
Variety reports she will play the last girlfriend of bank robber John Dillinger, played by Johnny Depp. This means if the film is told in a linear fashion I won’t have to endure her performance until the very end. However, that means she will play a part in the final outcome (I am guessing), which does not make me smile.
I am not saying this film is doomed due to a small bit role Sobieski is about to play, but I love Michael Mann and a film by him is a treat even if it does turn out to be a stinker such as Miami Vice. As a fan you want it to be as perfect as can be, and considering all the actresses in the world it just bothers me that she had to be the one chosen.
