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06-19-2006, 06:14 AM
| #1 (permalink) |
| Lennon & Co   |  Did Last Summer  By Charles de Olim There is something that irks about Jennifer Love-Hewitt. It's not the annoying way, when off-screen; her cast members refer to her as "Love". It's not the fact that in Ghost Whisperer, her character, Melinda Gordin, a newlywed who helps the dead deliver messages to their loved ones, repeatedly declines the opportunity to utter the words "I see dead people" (like creepy kid Haley Joel Osment did in The Sixth Sense). It's not even the fact that her large bust and tiny frame makes her a favourite pin-up among teenage boys/FHM readers despite her biggest movies since her breakthrough role as Sarah Reeves in Party of Five being the rather dubious I Know What You Did Last Summer, I Know What You Did last Summer 2 and Garfield. No, that is not why Jennifer Love-Hewitt rankles. Rather, it's the head-slightly-tilted, doe-eyed-look of faux timidity she adopts when answering questions from a group of journalists. It seems at odds with an actress who has never shied away from countless magazine cover shoots which, let it be said, has her cleavage as the major focus. Researching for the show, Hewitt had something of a revelation. Working with series consultant and executive producer James Van Praagh, a well-known paranormal expert in the US, she believes she made contact with her friend Alan, who died when she was 12. It is from such personal experiences - that it offers hope - Hewitt attributes the show's popularity: "I think the one thing that we all want to do is have one last chance to say something that we didn't say and Melinda (Hewitt's character) gives people that opportunity every week. Whether they're dead or alive, she gives people that one last chance," she explains. Not done yet, and like an evangelist spreading the Good News, she embellishes: "I think that it is really a show about living better, and what we're trying to say in this show is: Don't have a Melinda Gordon one day, don't have to meet her, don't have unfinished business. "Say everything you need to say and live your life completely to the fullest." It's all becoming a bit too serious and self-indulgent . Ms Hewitt is beginning to heave her heavy chest with alarming emotion and, I think I can see tears starting to well in her eyes. A change of tact is required. So naturally, I cut to the chase and ask her if this lead role in a hit TV series (yes, in the US it seems, everyone is fascinated with the paranormal) means that the launching of a musical career a few years back was stillborn. "I love singing, and it's great and I have enjoyed making the records but it has been tough for me to find people that would take it seriously, to be quite honest, just because the acting thing sort of took off before the singing thing," she says, very honestly. In the pilot episode viewers should look out for hunky Wentworth Miller (who plays Michael Scofield in Prison Break) making a guest appearance as a Nam soldier's ghost still wearing militaries trying to make contact with his family. Miller was cast for this role before Prison Break. However, what's scarier (than his ghostly character) is that Miller offers exactly the same wooden Scofield performance. It does ask some questions about his scope as an actor. Unlike Hewitt, not all the cast members, it seems, are converted. Actor David Conrad (who plays Melinda's husband Jim) and Aisha Tyler (who plays friend and business partner Andrea), when probed about their personal views on the paranormal, matter-of-factly state they are "non-believers'. Both appear apathetic and indifferent when asked about the show, and one suspects that for the two supporting leads, the belief in the paranormal is not an issue, rather, it's the dodgy script and lack of artistic satisfaction. Then again, who cares? As long as Jennifer is having fun, and we get to see her heaving her heavy chest in low cut tops. That's what makes great TV, doesn't it? Ghost Whisperer premieres on the Go Channel (DStv, 84) on June 21 at 8pm. |
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06-19-2006, 09:24 AM
| #2 (permalink) |
| Member | That review was a bit harsh  but he was right about why a major portion of the male viewers watch GW, "... and we get to see her heaving her heavy chest in low cut tops.".  He may, also, offer a clue as to why Aisha Tyler is leaving, "... it's the dodgy script and lack of artistic satisfaction."  |
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