Nothing says “take me seriously” for an actor more than impersonating a real-life legend on-screen. This season, whether it’s image rehab or straight-up Oscar bait, we’ve got an especially interesting crop of biopic roles, from Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln to Lindsay Lohan as Elizabeth Taylor.
But how successful are these ventures likely to be? Three of our movie reviewers, who in many cases haven’t yet seen these films, weigh in.
RELATED:BIOGRAPHICAL ROLES THAT TOOK HOME THE OSCAR
Daniel Day-Lewis as Abe Lincoln in “Lincoln” (Friday)
Sara Stewart: The most method-y of Method actors takes on the most iconic American president. If anyone can cleanse our memory of Abe Lincoln as a vampire hunter — from this summer’s action-flick dud — and restore the Great Emancipator’s dignity, it’s D-Day.
Kyle Smith: D-Day is one of the finest actors alive, and he won’t miss a chance to make the original Log Cabin Republican as fresh as a shiny new penny.
Lou Lumenick: I’ve seen this. Day-Lewis is wonderful, and sometimes surprisingly funny, as the folksy, angst-ridden Great Emancipator. But Tommy Lee Jones, as an abolitionist congressman, steals the picture.
Overall critic reaction: 4 stars
Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh in “Hitchcock” (Nov. 23)
Stewart: I think we can safely say this is the actress most Americans want to see in a shower scene, regardless of the negative outcome (spoiler!)
Smith: Dammit, Janet, Johansson is all wrong for this part. She doesn’t look like Leigh, doesn’t have her primness and ScarJo’s smoky voice is very different from Leigh’s flat intonation
Lumenick: ScarJo’s never come close to living up to her early notices, but she’s OK in a small supporting role here — Helen Mirren, as Hitchcock’s wife, is the female lead.
Overall critic reaction: 1 star
Lindsay Lohan as Elizabeth Taylor in TV movie “Liz & Dick” (Nov. 25, Lifetime)
Stewart: Who could be a better choice to truly get inside the skin of former American tabloid fixation Elizabeth Taylor than Lindsay “Fully Loaded” Lohan? Sure, Liz spent her time racking up husbands while LiLo’s mostly worked on a mile-long rap sheet, but there’s a simpatico sentiment there, no doubt.
Smith: LiLo does Lifetime! What’s next, selling autographed “Parent Trap” DVDs on QVC? I’m sure this will be Lindsay’s big comeback — just like “Machete,” “Georgia Rule” and “Bobby” were.
Lumenick: Lohan was once a very promising actress, but this sounds to me like another one of her train wrecks waiting to happen.
Overall critic reaction: 2 stars
Bill Murray as FDR in “Hyde Park on Hudson” (Dec. 7)
Stewart: I think I speak for comedy nerds everywhere when I say Bill Murray as president is a longtime dream realized.
Smith: I’m glad Bill managed to dust off those cigarette holders he used as Hunter Thompson in “Where the Buffalo Roam,” but the earthy Midwesterner we all know as Carl the Gardener is a terrible choice to play the patrician prez.
Lumenick: Murray nails the president in a mostly straight performance with subtle humor — and does a spectacular, Oscar-caliber job suggesting Roosevelt’s physical limitations due to polio.
Overall critic reaction: 3 stars
Jane Fonda as Nancy Reagan in “The Butler” (2013)
Stewart: Pinko liberal feminist plays arch-conservative first lady. This may be the most brilliant bit of casting from director Lee Daniels (“Precious,” “The Paperboy”) yet.
Smith: Sure, they probably had slightly different views on the cuddliness of North Vietnamese communists, but at least Jane probably knows as much as Nancy about having your face tightened so many times that you start to look like a Halloween mask of yourself.
Lumenick: Wonderfully subversive casting, and Fonda is a smart enough actress not to end up a campy self-caricature like Nicole Kidman in Daniels’ “The Paperboy.’’
Overall critic reaction: 4 stars
Naomi Watts as Princess Diana in “Diana” (2013)
Stewart: She looks the part to an uncanny degree and, as a Brit, has the accent down already — this seems like a pretty surefire winner.
Smith: Watts has the perfect icy blond elegance to do the Di, although the movie’s focus on the last two years of her life sounds misguided. What, no scenes about whether any princes were in the room during Harry’s conception?
Lumenick: Yet another not-favorite of mine, this second-string Nicole Kidman’s perhaps a bit long in the tooth for the role. One thing for sure: Watts cries in all her movies.
Overall critic reaction: 3 stars
Click below to view the stars in character.
