The "Can Natalie Portman Act?" Conundrum

The "Can Natalie Portman Act" Conundrum

I haven't found her characterizations convincing in any movie but Garden State, but what does that matter? Bottom line: she has acted well enough to persuade the Academy members that she can act.

How many great actors are there, really? Except for a few versatile geniuses like Edward Norton, DDL, Depp, and Ken Brannagh, acting success depends on casting. Audrey Hepburn had one character, but people loved her performances. John Wayne would have sucked as Valmont, but he won an Oscar for playing Rooster Cogburn. (Any of those other four guys I mentioned could play either of those roles.) Sure, Portman often talks in a robot voice and has the diction of a whiny Valley Girl, and she always seems to be either crying or posing with ironic detachment, but many people are like that and sound like that. Find a role where that works and she gets her John Wayne Oscar. Maybe she'll win even more. But I reckon that don't make her Meryl Streep.