Jodie Foster Flicks
Happy Birthday Jodie Foster!
Few actresses in Hollywood come to mind when thinking about careers that have progressed successfully beyond childhood stardom. With several successful early film and TV roles, think Disney’s Freaky Friday (1976) and even Scorsese’s Taxi Driver (1976), Jodie Foster’s career has resulted in a collection of memorable films and fantastic roles. To celebrate her birthday, we came up with a list of some of our favorite Jodie Foster films. Enjoy!
Tallulah in Bugsy Malone (1976, dir. Alan Parker)
This musical gangster film takes place in a bizzaro world in which adults are nonexistent and society is populated and run by children. As a child star basically considered from the outset to be a thirty-year-old in a child’s body, Foster was born to star in this film. Even among the massive ensemble cast of kid-adults, including Scott Baio in his first film role, Foster’s genius shines through in particular. Not only is her delivery natural and sophisticated, but she also adeptly masters the tone of the witty repartee that was so intrinsic to films of the 1920s and 1930s, the period in which this film is set. With a vast array of film credits to her name, I consider this to be one of Foster’s most impressive performances as a child. 🍹💋 – Bailey
Casey Brown in Candleshoe (1977, dir. Norman Tokar)
This is a lovable coming-of-age story was one of my all-time favorite films growing up! The cast and expert comedic timing are what make this film so memorable. David Niven and Helen Hayes (in her last film role) are perfection as Priory (the butler) and Lady St. Edmund, playing off each other so well with their constant eccentric shenanigans, all while living in genteel poverty at a British country estate known as Candleshoe. In this film, Jodie Foster plays a scrappy American foster child, Casey Brown, who gets involved with a couple of con artists who are after a fortune rumored to be hidden at Candleshoe. Passing herself off as the long-lost granddaughter of Lady St. Edmund, Casey joins the motley gang of orphans that Lady St. Edmund and Priory have taken in, and begins to search for the hidden treasure… A must watch family film! 👵💰⚔– Sarah
Clarice Starling in The Silence of the Lambs (1991, dir. Jonathan Demme)
Who else could go toe-to-toe with the great Anthony Hopkins during some pretty intense dialogue and still hold their own? I love Foster’s performance in this film because her emotions are so layered beneath her words. This is due in large part to Demme’s unique and plentiful use of close-ups, as his subjects are angled so that they almost (but don’t quite) address the camera directly. The technique allows the audience to see the subtleties of expression that Foster employs. While the words from the script indicate that she’s all business, it is in her expression and vocal tone where you can see that she’s saying about three other things at the same time It’s like she’s playing the piano with three hands, but on her face. You see all at once her objectives and her personal emotions, which are entirely separate from each other, and yet they coexist in time on screen. It’s remarkable. They should give her an Oscar. Oh wait. They did! 🦋📛🐑 – Bailey
Annabelle Bransford in Maverick (1994, dir. Richard Donner)
Arguably, this is Mel Gibson’s film, as central protagonist Bret Maverick, but Jodie Foster’s feisty character provides many scene-stealing moments in this otherwise male dominated western comedy! Here, Foster plays Annabelle Bransford, a young con woman and poker player, who gets the better of Mel Gibson and James Garner (as ‘lawman’ Marshall Zane Cooper). Maverick is based on the 1950’s TV series of the same name, but director Richard Donner, known for many popular action films like Superman (1978), The Goonies (1985), and Lethal Weapon (1987), brings his own comedic spin to the western genre, creating this delightful throwback romp. Pay close attention to the background characters, as there are countless cameos that television, film, and country music fans won’t want to miss! 🐎🂡🛀 – Sarah
Nell in Nell (1994, dir. Michael Apted)
Foster’s performance shines through this otherwise flawed film. Not only is she able to present a believable character in a unique situation, with Nell having grown up isolated from society with limited exposure to the English language, but she also develops the character naturally as she accumulates interactions and experiences. She does all of this while delivering impossibly difficult lines of dialogue, as Nell speaks in a version of English all her own. Bonus points for this performance as she so accurately depicts the ecstasy of eating Smartfood for the first time. You may not want to stay for the film’s Hallmark Hall of Fame-level of writing or the questionable sense of ethics, but there’s a good chance Foster’s work will keep you, at the very least, riveted. 🍿– Bailey
Jean Thomas in Hotel Artemis (2018, dir. Drew Pearce)
There is something fascinating about Jodie Foster’s performance as Jean Thomas, aka ‘The Nurse,’ in this film. The “Hotel Artemis” is a secret hospital in the middle of a dystopian Los Angeles that caters only to criminals, and Jean is the agoraphobic nurse who lives by a strict set of rules, “no weapons,” “no non-members,” and “no killing other guests,” in an effort to keep some semblance of order in an otherwise chaotic world. The film could benefit from a bit more background info, as opposed to dropping viewers into this gritty setting, but you get swiftly caught up in the precise routines and quirky mannerism of Nurse Jean. A truly wonderful performance by Foster! 🏨💉🔑 – Sarah
What are some of your favorite Jodie Foster films? What are your thoughts on our selections? Don’t forget to watch the November film club pick-of-the-month, Home for the Holidays (1995), coincidentally directed by: Jodie Foster!
Copyright © 2019 Sarah Crane & Bailey Lizotte
