By, John Nathan
1 min read
ByJohn Nathan, John Nathan
There is something inevitable about the faint whiff of anti-climax here. Which is not to say that Lindsay Lohan - a film star with a talent for self-destructive scandal and the reason why this revival of David Mamet's searing 1988 comedy about Hollywood has been the most anticipated West End show of the year - is a disappointment. She's not.
With the biggest stars there is always a moment when everyone adjusts their eyes to brighter wattage. And so it is with Lohan as she makes her entrance. Never mind that her character, Karen, a temp secretary to Hollywood boss Bobby Gould (played by former West Wing star Richard Schiff), is only delivering the coffee. Her big scene comes later, in the second half of Lindsay Posner's unnecessarily divided production - the play is easily short enough to be performed without an interval - when Lohan persuades Gould to ditch the blockbuster brought to him by Nigel Lindsay's lowlier film executive Charlie Fox.
That movie would launch Fox into the big league. He and Gould have until 10am the following morning to land the deal with their studio head. Although with Hollywood's biggest star attached, it's a shoo-in. Or that's until Lohan's big scene, where Karen persuades Gould to instead make the movie version of an esoteric philosophical novel about radiation.
With reports that Lohan had forgotten lines during previews, the scene has an extra charge of tension. And there was a moment when Lohan dried and had to be prompted by a little voice from the wings. But it was no big deal. And in her stage debut she'll become more sure-footed during the play's run, assuming she stays the distance.
But while her Karen transmits a slightly terrifying mix of steel and naivety, it's a performance that stays well within a very safe emotional range. Even Karen's defence of the book she so desperately wants Gould to adapt into a film is delivered in Lohan's flat, smoky tones.There is plenty of sincerity but not much passion.
Plenty of sincerity but not much passion
This is not entirely Lohan's fault. Karen is not a demanding, complex character. Although the role has a track record of being played by stage play virgins (most famously Madonna), anyone who saw the 2008 Old Vic production starring Kevin Spacey and Jeff Goldblum knows that pivotal though Karen is, it is Gould and Fox who are the driving forces of Mamet's hard-hitting, endlessly witty dialogue. It's through them we get through to Hollywood's cynical heart.
With the pugilistic Lindsay exuding the clammy, tight-suited desperation of a film exec seeing his big chance slip away and Schiff as the boss blinded by mid-life crisis brought on by Karen's allure, Posner's fine, if hugely hyped production takes flight.