I don’t know what persuaded Julia Ormond to get on board the Hot Mess Express and play Lindsay Lohan’s mother in the thriller/slasher/torture porn/masterpiece that is I Know Who Killed, but I do know I’m forever happy she did. Without her commitment to the craft, the line “This is Mr. Jervis” would be a line about a teddy bear like any other; instead, Julia Ormond makes it one of the most dazzling, mind-bogglingly bizarre things I’ve ever seen committed to film. I mean, what in the world is she doing with her voice? And what’s going on with her face? No, seriously:
Pure FACE poetry is what’s going on with her face, y’all.
Sure, it’s all too easy to take a line delivered to the girl you believe is your only daughter–the daughter who’s been abducted by a serial killer, lost portions of her arm and leg through a brutal amputation process that involves dry ice and blue glass surgical utensils (don’t ask), and somehow managed to escape–like a she’s just gone through a serious trauma (so, you know, like a normal person), but it takes a special caliber of actor to play that line like you’re in the midst of an exorcism, and that caliber is BRILLIANT. Lindsay Lohan’s reaction shot pretty much sums it up:
Oh, and do be sure to click to enlarge and appreciate the bonkers-face fabulousness of it all.
Times are tough for J.O. post-Legends of the Fall, I guess. The poor dear . . .