Christina Ricci plays a dead girl in the horror flick After.Life (new on DVD). I'm not trying to be cheeky when I say that I wish her performance were more lively.
It's justifiable, as a characterization decision, to play this role like a corpse even before the death (for reasons you'll have to watch the movie to understand) but it doesn't exactly make for an exciting star turn.. Perhaps she was counting on her body -- she's quite naked -- to do the heavy lifting. Maybe Justin Long just wasn't the right scene partner? But even so. When will this girl get her mojo back? I feel like we almost got there with Black Snake Moan... but then. No. As child and teen stars go, there were few that felt more regularly inspired. She's adult-sized funny and showstopping in Addams Family Values, my choice for 'best in show' in the pretty formidable ensemble found in The Ice Storm and amazing (duh!) in The Opposite of Sex. But that's a long time ago now. Where'd that (cold) fire go?
Any suggestions for her career? Maybe she needs a fresh young auteur to find her a-MUSE-ing
