LILLY and PATRICIA CLARKSON

If there has ever been a time for inspiring true stories about women, this is it. LILLY, on Netflix, is a true story about Lilly Ledbetter, the factory worker turned national hero as she became a courageous advocate for fair pay, which led to the passing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. Who better to star in this role than Patricia Clarkson, who has left another indelible mark in her acting career playing Ledbetter with characteristic unflinching emotional honesty, precision and grace.  

LILLY is a film about a quiet, hard-working, southern gal, deeply sure of certain values, which include love of her family and the importance of fighting for what's right even in the face of great opposition. The film has a solid cast that also features actual footage of Supreme Court Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg sharing her dissenting opinion and lending insight into this important case. And once again, Clarkson steals the show with her sure portrayal of an undervalued woman who knows the score.

It's a part New Orleans-born Clarkson, who is now 65, has spent a lifetime honing. I first noticed Clarkson in the 1998 flick, High Art, in which she portrayed a German, drug-addled lesbian so flawlessly, in a role so alternately ferocious, nuanced and absurd, that she stole the entire movie, which featured two other starlets as leads. 

She has acted in numerous quirky, low budget films and in big flicks as well, like Delirium and Shutter Island. My preference is for her quiet films like the Station Agent, Last Weekend, The Book Shop. Clarkson has a special gift of slowly but surely endowing invisible personages with vitality, character and heft, so by the time you leave the theater, both the character and actor playing them have left a deep impression. 

I really can't say enough about this actress, who I liken to the French arthouse queen, Isabelle Huppert, as they both exude unmistakable intelligence and authenticity in roles that seem effortless but remain memorable long after the films they appear in have come and gone. Like Huppert, Clarkson stays away from fakery and is noted for her style in her private life, for example, offering no excuses for remaining single and refusing to use botox. Most remarkably, as a pro, she keeps stealing the show in all the movies in which she stars, without making much ado about it. Watch her films!

                                                                


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