Meet the Contenders: Chris Pine "Into the Woods"
Saturday, December 27, 2014 at 4:15PM
abstew in Chris Pine, Into the Woods, Meet the Contenders, Oscars (14), Supporting Actor

Abstew continues the contenders series highlighting one performance per opening weekend

Chris Pine as Cinderella's Prince in Into the Woods
Best Supporting Actor

Born: Christopher Whitelaw Pine was born August 26, 1980 in Los Angeles, California

The Role: After a labored development over the years (the musical opened on Broadway how long ago?!?) and much controversy before it was even released (they cut what songs exactly?!?), the film version of Stephen Sondheim's beloved musical Into the Woods finally made its way to the big screen courtesy of Disney and Chicago's Oscar-nominated helmer, Rob Marshall. The story interconnects classic characters from fairy tales (Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, and Rapunzel) and shows how the story continues after their happily ever afters. Joining in the colorful cast of characters is Chis Pine playing the charming Prince to Cinderella.

During an initial table read to gain funding, the role was played by Broadway musical vet Patrick Wilson. Pine, who has performed on stage before, but never in a musical, had to audition for Marshall, using Frank Sinatra's "Fly Me to the Moon" as his audition song. Pine was initially cast in the smaller part of Rapunzel's Prince with Jake Gyllenhaal playing Cinderella's Prince, but when Gyllenhaal dropped out to appear in Nightcrawler, Pine was upgraded to the larger royal role and Tony-nominated actor Billy Magnussen took over Pine's part. 

Previous Brushes With Oscar: Pine made his professional acting debut with a guest spot on the Emmy award-winning television show ER and the only films he's appeared in so far to be recognized by the Academy just happens to be based on a popular television series. Staring as the young Captain Kirk, both Star Trek reboots have been nominated in the technical categories: Star Trek (2009) has nominated for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, and won for Best Makeup. Last year's Star Trek Into Darkness received a nomination for Best Visual Effects.

What Critics Are Saying:

More surprising are the essential contributions of Chris Pine, whose preening, poising and pompadoured prince initially struggles to sweep Kendrick’s Cinderella off her slipper-shod feet. His experience as that self-adoring intergalactic womanizer Capt. Kirk in the current “Star Trek” franchise more than serves him well. “Agony,” the duet he shares with Rapunzel’s prince (Billy Magnussen) as they compare their female troubles, is the one number during the film that draws actual applause—usually a rare event in movie theaters and one that I experienced as well at my packed screening.

-Susan Wloszczyna RogerEbert.com

As the Prince who confesses, "I was raised to be charming, not sincere," Chris Pine is a hoot, preening and posing with self-satisfaction, and baffled that any maiden might resist him.

-David Rooney The Hollywood Reporter

Chris Pine, who doesn’t just play Captain Kirk in the new “Star Trek” franchise but could be on his way to becoming the next William Shatner, savors playing Prince Charming’s fatuity and self-satisfaction. 

-Mick LaSalle San Francisco Chronicle

Speaking of Pine (and with all apologies to the perennial Oscar nominee Meryl Streep), he's the best thing Into the Woods has to offer. His Prince Charming is the perfect mix of bluster, charisma, and empty-headedness.

-James Beradinelli ReelViews

My Take: In a story populated by a diva-transforming witch, a klutzy Cinderella, and a sarcastic Little Red Riding Hood, the role of Cinderella's Prince on stage has never really been a stand-out. True, he has the comical "Agony" along with its reprise, but the character can't compete with the more fully-formed female characters. So in a film version that stars one of the greatest actresses in the world taking on the witchy role and an Oscar nominated new star of movie musicals taking on everyone's favorite ball-going, slipper-forgetter, it seemed that the women would once again dominate the story. So it comes as a pleasant surprise that Pine, whose previous work in a Sci-Fi franchise and mostly forgettable romcoms and action films hadn't really prepared us for his remarkable ease wih comedy, emerges as the film's best performance. In this transfer to the big screen, a lot of the humor of the stage show hasn't been maintained. (Lines that are normally guaranteed laughs seem to fall with a thud.) Luckily Pine's pompous princely airhead is the film's shining source of playfulness and the actor has a ball playing the chauvinist womanizer. The Prince might not be the heart of the story or really all that deep, but Pine's cartoonish take on the role is a welcome delight.

Fun Fact: Answering the age-old question of what exactly Chris Pine tastes like, co-star Anna Kendrick who shares some kissing scenes with Pine as Cinderella, lets us know: cinnamon in a meadow. Chris Pine flavored chapstick will be available for purchase in time for Holiday Season 2015...

Possibility of a Nomination: Outside Shot. If we're being honest, that Supporting Actor category seems pretty much set (Duvall, Hawke, Norton, Ruffalo, and Simmons)...and is kinda snoozy. Duvall seems to be a default nominee on name alone at this point, as his film was not favored very kindly by critics and never found an audience. If the Academy is looking to shake things up, Pine's Prince would be a welcome addition to the lineup. Since they'll be watching anyway for Oscar-favorite Streep, perhaps some members will also jot down Pine's name as well (especially after his movie-stealing duet "Agony" - without a doubt, the film's best number). The role is small, but memorable and might just be what this category needs.

Into the Woods opened nationwide on Christmas Day.

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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