My Richard Harris rant

[caliburncy at yahoo.com]

[Responding to several complaints about Richard Harris' performance 
as Dumbledore...]

Well, now you've done it.  I'd been promising and promising myself 
that I was going to reserve final judgment until I see the film, but 
it seems I will be breaking that promise . . .  now.

>From the moment I heard about Richard Harris being cast as Dumbledore 
I have thought it was a mistake.  At first my opinion was largely 
based on the fact that I can assure you that Richard Attenborough

(http://us.imdb.com/Name?Attenborough,+Richard)

would be far more apt for the role than Richard Harris would be.  
Attenborough has the cheerful eccentricity, the paternal sensibility, 
and the *twinkle*.  In addition to this he is frankly a damn fine 
actor, and his name carries at least as much prestige with it in 
Hollywood as Harris's does, if we're going to play the "Big Name" 
game.

Of course this fact alone is not what has slowly biased me against 
Richard Harris as Dumbledore.  That only meant there was a *better* 
choice out there, in my opinion, not that Harris was a bad choice.  
But there has been a steady downward progression of my expectations 
as I read interviews with Harris.  The man clearly has a sharp, 
sardonic wit and I suspect we might even get along well, but quite 
frankly he takes such a *jaded* view of the role that he is pretty 
near doomed to failure.

When asked why he wanted to take on the role of Dumbledore, he 
responded, "Who knows?  It's a job."  In later interviews he has gone 
on to tell the story of how he only took the role because his 
granddaughter threatened him.  It's a cute story, I guess.  And I do 
entirely appreciate that there is a great deal of a professional 
aspect to acting.  Not everyone is going to feel passionate about 
every role they play; and sometimes one can turn in fine performances 
despite this on the basis of pure skill.  But it does put a distinct 
dent in my impression of Harris as Dumbledore, because he can't seem 
to muster up any enthusiasm at all, and that's often a bad sign.

Then he goes on, to my extreme dismay, to explain how he saw no value 
whatsoever in reading the books or talking to JKR about his 
character.  He claims this is because the script makes Dumbledore's 
personality clear enough.  Far be it from me to gainsay that 
statement, but I do have to wonder if it's because he simply doesn't 
care enough to bother.  He has given the impression in some 
interviews that he holds the HP books in a sort of mild disdain.

If that's the case, then that's fine with me, but I have to wonder 
why on earth he is hanging around since he apparently doesn't wish to.

I expect his performance to be quite suitable, because he posesses 
enough professionalism, I think, to make it so.  But I also expect it 
to lack heart, and that's a poor thing to lack indeed.

So much for my reserving final judgment.  I will not totally discount 
any possibility until I've seen the film (and probably several times 
before really feeling confirmed), but I must admit I do not hold out 
much hope.  Harris is going to find *this* audience rather difficult 
to play to.

Still, I realy do hope he surprises me and wins me over or, at the 
least, improves his disposition for the filming of the sequel(s).

Either that or they replace him with Richard Attenborough. :-D

-Luke