A Steady Rain reviews - member and critics

[Laredo]

I think they should have given him a crew cut , he has never really been not Hugh in anything I have seen . Its like Dew Barrymore or Julia Roberts they always play themselves , except Drew did get ot of her acting box in Grey Gardens .

[Germangirl]

Thy are over 1.2 Mill this week again. Still highest play...results so far one page back

[icelemt38]

I think they should have given him a crew cut , he has never really been not Hugh in anything I have seen . Its like Dew Barrymore or Julia Roberts they always play themselves , except Drew did get ot of her acting box in Grey Gardens .

Errr, I tend to not agree (being the big Hugh fan that I am, lol), just Wolverine himself is miles away from Hugh. Then you have his different characters in The Fountain, The Prestige, Kate and Leopold, and his other films as well as his stage characters with Boy From Oz and Oklahoma! Personally I thought both Hugh and Daniel were magnificent in ASR.

[Laredo]

I disagree , to me he was essentually himself in all those films . I didn't see THE BOY FROM OZ so I can't say much on that other than playing a gay he stepped out of his box . In Oklahoma he did a good southern accent but he looked like Hugh . They say he sounds like a chicago cop but lookes like Hugh . Are they beat cops or detectives ? I don't picture him scratching his belly drinking a beer . He is always smiling and engaging and looks the same in all his films . He showed a little more depth in the film with Ewan being a bad guy . I mean DeNiro goes out of his box for good or bad with his comedies and when he gains weight for a roll or played catatonic . Charliez looking ugly . Renee gaining weight . I've seen almost every film of his on dvd and he is Hugh .

[Corellianjedi2]

I disagree , to me he was essentually himself in all those films . I didn't see THE BOY FROM OZ so I can't say much on that other than playing a gay he stepped out of his box . In Oklahoma he did a good southern accent but he looked like Hugh . They say he sounds like a chicago cop but lookes like Hugh . Are they beat cops or detectives ? I don't picture him scratching his belly drinking a beer . He is always smiling and engaging and looks the same in all his films . He showed a little more depth in the film with Ewan being a bad guy . I mean DeNiro goes out of his box for good or bad with his comedies and when he gains weight for a roll or played catatonic . Charliez looking ugly . Renee gaining weight . I've seen almost every film of his on dvd and he is Hugh .

I agree with this though to a lesser degree. He definitely shows a lot of himself in these movies but if you look at Erskineville Kings or Deception (despite how terrible it was) or Corelli, he does show he can be more than "just Hugh". And in the Boy From Oz he was incredible but yeah, there was HUgh there. An actor has to bring some of himself into the character to make it work. Even if its an infinitesimal amount. I think what makes it more difficult for the audience to separate Hugh and his characters is how much we see of him. He's constantly in the magazines and on TV; the media LOVES him. Daniel, at least to most people, is still a bit of a mystery.

For me, its even a little difficult separating Joey from Daniel, because I know so little about Daniel's true personality (other than what I see in clips and the few times I've interacted with him), I tend to think of his personality as being a little more like Joey's (though perhaps not as conniving); I'm able to fully immerse myself in his character/story more easily than Hugh, who I know A LOT about and have seen interact with others and have interacted with on numerous occasions with. I personally think Hugh is an amazing actor but yes, the bombardment of his image has decreased the effectiveness of that acting to some degree for me. Hope that wasn't too much rambling! HEHE!

[Cyanaurora]

Do you really think Joey was conniving? I thought of his actions as more accidentally blessed. I didn't think he intentionally fell for Denny's wife.

[Corellianjedi2]

Do you really think Joey was conniving? I thought of his actions as more accidentally blessed. I didn't think he intentionally fell for Denny's wife.

I've been debating that. The arguments I've read on various boards have been surprisingly convincing. I know he didn't intentionally fall for Connie but his actions after, gaining her trust and making her distrust Denny (granted Denny's actions just made it easier) were not the most honorable. I'll admit I thought the outcome (minus Denny's death) was justified but still, betraying your best friend so you can have his family? Well, he said he'd do anything for them, ANYTHING.

[Dunda]

Personally I thought both Hugh and Daniel were magnificent in ASR.

I must admit that I was very doubtful regarding Hugh's ability when I heard that those two are going to star in a play. I was not sure about Hugh being able to pull that off, I only knew the Wolverine stuff and one or two other movies.
I must say I left the theater with the impression that I've just watched two of the greatest actors who are arround at present. This play only works with two actors who are working on the same level. There is almost no stage design and no action going on on stage which distract the audience, so it is all reduced to the simple power of the spoken word. And if one of them would have failed to deliver just that, the whole play would have sucked (at least for the non-Daniel-addicted audience ). But those two guys brought life into the spoken word.

[icelemt38]

Personally I thought both Hugh and Daniel were magnificent in ASR.

I must admit that I was very doubtful regarding Hugh's ability when I heard that those two are going to star in a play. I was not sure about Hugh being able to pull that off, I only knew the Wolverine stuff and one or two other movies.
I must say I left the theater with the impression that I've just watched two of the greatest actors who are arround at present. This play only works with two actors who are working on the same level. There is almost no stage design and no action going on on stage which distract the audience, so it is all reduced to the simple power of the spoken word. And if one of them would have failed to deliver just that, the whole play would have sucked (at least for the non-Daniel-addicted audience ). But those two guys brought life into the spoken word.

I 100% agree with this. And yea, re the posts above, a movie to watch of Hugh's if you want to see him tackle a character study and raw role, it would be Erskineville Kings!

[icelemt38]

Do you really think Joey was conniving? I thought of his actions as more accidentally blessed. I didn't think he intentionally fell for Denny's wife.

I've been debating that. The arguments I've read on various boards have been surprisingly convincing. I know he didn't intentionally fall for Connie but his actions after, gaining her trust and making her distrust Denny (granted Denny's actions just made it easier) were not the most honorable. I'll admit I thought the outcome (minus Denny's death) was justified but still, betraying your best friend so you can have his family? Well, he said he'd do anything for them, ANYTHING.

This was very interesting to me and I tend to agree that in the end, Joey does come across as the eventual conniver. They eventually became the continuation of the other character and are both extremely flawed people. But their friendship transcend everything and that makes their interactions with each other so amazingly powerful!

And re Hugh, the reason I respect his acting so much is because I've seen everything he's done and I gotta say, he's done absolutely every type of genre out there pretty much. To conquer Wolverine and then win a Tony for Peter Allen in BFO, that's a true feat that isn't easy to do. But I do see the point that some of you are making and I respect that. Hugh is out there so much that the mystery left in him is almost zero, while with Daniel, there's always that feeling like he has more and more to him. Two different types of people, but that to me makes their rapport together so freaking fun to watch, and I gotta say I love seeing them together in real life. But yea in the play, for it to really really work as well as I thought it did, you would need two great performances, lopsided acting would not have worked for it what so ever.

[Germangirl]

Daniel must have thought high enough of Hugh beforehand to consider doing the play with him, which he obviously wanted enough to move it to NYC for that sole reason.
But I also think, that DC has raised the bar very high acting wise and Hugh has struggled at first but is getting better and better, when you believe the reports from audiences.

[icelemt38]

Contrary to the articles, Daniel has had more Stage Play experience than Hugh by quite a bit, lol, Hugh has a LOT of Musical stage experience but plays, this is his first post school. I've always wondered though if Hugh got a buzz cut or something if perceptions of his performance would be different, I'm thinking yes, though like you said, now it seems like the reviews have balanced out.

[JEC57]

Contrary to the articles, Daniel has had more Stage Play experience than Hugh by quite a bit, lol, Hugh has a LOT of Musical stage experience but plays, this is his first post school. I've always wondered though if Hugh got a buzz cut or something if perceptions of his performance would be different, I'm thinking yes, though like you said, now it seems like the reviews have balanced out.

I think this is something that has surprised America. When the play was first announced I had steam coming out of my ears with many of the reports from the US because they had not done their research and wrongly cast Daniel as the theatre newbie. I even managed to get two of the web pages to chance their information after complaining about it.

I agree with GG that Daniel raised the bar very high. It made it sink or swim for Hugh. But.....I can't for one minute see Daniel firstly agreeing to changing venues from London to NY to accommodate the other actor, nor moving his life over to NY for 6 or 7 months if that other actor did not have his complete respect and confidence. It's easy to think of Daniel as just Daniel and Sats, but we know he is close-family man and keeps his loved ones close to him, that meant they had to visit him while he was doing this as he couldn't visit them, not even for a flying visit.

With those serious considerations, Daniel obviously saw Hugh as the perfect partner in this because we know he will not stand for second best. That says an awful lot about Hugh, about his talent and his integrity as an actor and as a person. I love Hugh as Wolverine and couldn't imagine anyone else doing that role, but in other things I'm afraid he doesn't light my fire too much. But Daniel obviously thinks highly of him so I must be missing something!!

[icelemt38]

It's a shame that a lot of Hugh's earlier work like Erskineville Kings and Corelli aren't offered here in America, because for me his performances in those are just perfection. He was nominated for the AFI, Australian equivalent of an Oscar for his performance in EK and that was his first movie ever. I'm waiting for a role like that, the very raw character driven role for him to play and I kind of think in a movie version, Denny could be that role I've been waiting for. And he needs to do a movie musical pronto! But in regards to his American films, The Prestige and The Fountain and maybe Australia had great performances, and he charmed his way through Kate and Leopold earning the GG nod. I'm primarily a Hugh fan so he doesn't cease to amaze me pretty much ever (though I hated Xmen 3, lol) so whatever floats your boat I guess. (and I promise, this is the last Hugh post)

I can't can't can't wait for ASR movie, I think it has potential to be amazing stuff!

[JEC57]

It's a shame that a lot of Hugh's earlier work like Erskineville Kings and Corelli aren't offered here in America, because for me his performances in those are just perfection. He was nominated for the AFI, Australian equivalent of an Oscar for his performance in EK and that was his first movie ever. I'm waiting for a role like that, the very raw character driven role for him to play and I kind of think in a movie version, Denny could be that role I've been waiting for. And he needs to do a movie musical pronto! But in regards to his American films, The Prestige and The Fountain and maybe Australia had great performances, and he charmed his way through Kate and Leopold earning the GG nod. I'm primarily a Hugh fan so he doesn't cease to amaze me pretty much ever (though I hated Xmen 3, lol) so whatever floats your boat I guess. (and I promise, this is the last Hugh post)

I can't can't can't wait for ASR movie, I think it has potential to be amazing stuff!

I think I must make more effort to see Hugh's earlier stuff. Like with Daniel, there seem to be hidden gems in his back catalogue that are worth the effort to dig up. Do you recommend starting with Erskineville Kings?