Despite what many people say, biopics don’t live and die based solely on how much actors look like the real-life people they are portraying. It’s surely the easiest element to pick at, but a skilled actor or actress can inhabit anyone, no matter how much they may or may not look like someone.
Of course, I said “skilled.” Deadline Fort Collins has provided us with yet another official still from Lifetime’s hilarious Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton biopic, Liz & Dick, and, unlike the first still from the Lindsay Lohan- and Grant Bowler-starring film, this one is in color. It does not help. Whereas that first black and white vampire neck-lock made it seem as if just anyone was playing Taylor and Burton, this one removes all doubt – it’s Lohan and Bowler, and damn if they don’t have even an ounce of the spark that Burton and Taylor did.
What these (posed, blank, studio-shot) looks show is that Lifetime is desperate to prove that they can make Lohan and Bowler look like Taylor and Burton (too bad they can’t) and they’ll rush these stills if they have to (apparently, they thought they had to). With a number of highly unflattering paparazzi stills of the production hitting the internet over the past few days, who can blame them? But these are boring, bland skills without context. Lifetime, ease up. Sit on it. Wait. Then release some clips or trailers that can help prove once and for all that Liz & Dick was the horrible mistake we all think it is or an unfairly mocked, totally brilliant film for the ages. You can check out larger versions of both pictures after the break.
