Glenn Close

In Reversal of Fortune (1990), Sunny von Bülow narrates from a coma, and Glenn Close makes the arrangement funny enough to be troubling. We laughed and felt uneasy about it, because she keeps the bitterness audible beneath Sunny's wit. She lets the joke work without making the situation comfortable. That is the precision we value in her: the humour gives us no reason to dismiss the unhappiness. It is a difficult assignment, handled without trying to make Sunny easier company.

Her early supporting parts in The Big Chill (1983) and The Natural (1984) were followed by leading roles in Fatal Attraction (1987) and Dangerous Liaisons (1988). The latter pair established her screen presence and the association with formidable women. Cruella de Vil in 101 Dalmatians (1996) and the ruthless lawyer Patty Hewes in Damages (2007–2012) continued that association. Her theatrical scale is useful for such characters. The risk is that formidable becomes a casting instruction, with little curiosity about what else she might do.

The problem with Sunny is how little the film lets Close's work change our attention. Barbet Schroeder's detachment keeps the men discussing her more prominent than the woman we can hear. Close supplies wit and bitterness, but narration alone cannot give Sunny the dramatic weight she lacks. We recommend the performance with that reservation: anyone hoping to feel close to her will have a less satisfying evening.

In Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025), Rian Johnson gives her Martha Delacroix, a parishioner who has devoted her life to the church and to Wicks. Close gets the strongest material among the less favoured members of the ensemble, and makes it count. Bob Ducsay's patient editing suits the first hour, but the repeated interviews later make the shortage of substantial parts harder to ignore. We rate Close's contribution to a good mystery that has hired more actors than it can properly use. The next ensemble director to hire her might consider giving her less company.