Drew Barrymore Is No Sigourney Weaver... Or Is She?
Drew Barrymore, blonde siren of science fiction. That's not the way it turned out, but looking back at her career, that's where we thought she was headed. Think about it: In 1980, the five-year-old Barrymore hit the big time with Altered States then followed that up two years later with E.T. At nine, her third big screen film, Firestarter, (though neither as brainy as the first, nor as blockbusting as the second) continued that scifi theme. A Carrie copycat with a pyrokinetic twist, Firestarter has an almost Philip K. Dick concept at its center via The Shop, the evil government agency set on conducting inhumane experiments on people with paranormal powers. If that last bit sounds more classic scifi than classic Stephen King, there's a good reason.
The idea of The Shop originated with The Weapon Shops of Isher, a fix-up novel by A.E. van Vogt, himself one of the primary forces from the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Vogt's idea proved so appealing to King that he revisited it The Tommyknockers, The Stand, and the miniseries, Golden Years. As for Vogt himself, his original ideas never made it to the big screen unless you count Alien, which was the subject of a plagiarism lawsuit that resulted in Vogt getting a screen credit years after the movie was made. To date, the source material, The Voyage of the Space Beagle, has never been officially adapted by Hollywood. But maybe that's where Barrymore can step in: Aside from Donnie Darko, her involvement in the genre has been minimal. The Voyage of the Space Barrymore would be a welcome return.
Interesting. Personally, I like Drew I think shes a great actress. However, I don't think she falls along the same level as say sigourney weaver. While she has the ability to do darker films I think most people perfer her not to. It's kind of like trying to put a comedian in a drama it doesn't always work. Although, I'll admit she was attractive and in Donnie Darko. She did well. It just didnt seem quite right. Her more dramatic portrails have been minimal. I think the majority of the audience are used to seeing her in 'cute' movies like ET. You have to be pretty amazing to go from like Charlie's angels to a more dramatic film. Basically,.. she has the ability (like she did in Mad Love, & Riding in cars with boys), to take on such a role. In fact, I'd like to see her in more diverse films. That would be intriguing. For now.. unless, she gets an amazing script, I think she may be better off sticking to films that are more along the lines of like '50 first dates'.
Mostly, I agree with Aliceinhorrorland with one caveat: At 35, Drew Barrymore is starting to get a little old for the cute girl next door. Maybe Charlie's Angel's isn't such a great leap to a real action hero role. After all, Indy has a sense of humor.