The one movie Emily Blunt won’t stop talking about: “Perfect film”
Toeing the line between being a respected thespian and a popular movie star is a deceptively difficult balance to strike, not that anyone could tell given the way Emily Blunt has been effortlessly navigating both sides of the cinematic spectrum throughout her career.
Running away from monsters is hardly the territory of awards season success, but Blunt was nonetheless bestowed with a Screen Actors Guild Award for ‘Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role’ for her performance in husband John Krasinski’s anxiety-inducing horror A Quiet Place.
What makes that accolade even more impressive is that despite failing to be recognised by any other major awards body for her turn as Evelyn Abbott, she’s the only SAG winner in that category since 2008 that didn’t go on to win the Academy Award for ‘Best Supporting Actress’, which is fairly remarkable stuff.
Beyond that, she’s gone toe-to-toe with Dwayne Johnson in Jungle Cruise, battled aliens alongside Tom Cruise in Edge of Tomorrow, and survived the daunting prospect of stepping into Julie Andrews’ shoes in Mary Poppins Returns, all while delivering more understated but equally affecting work in Looper, Sicario, The Girl on the Train, and of course her Oscar-nominated outing in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.
It’s an impressive ability to navigate from effects-heavy blockbusters to powerhouse dramas and not just succeed but thrive in both, with Blunt using it as the springboard to A-list superstardom. However, her repeated dalliances with the far-fetched and fantastical probably have a lot to do with the classic that inspired her to chase her dreams under the bright lights of Hollywood in the first place.
If anyone calls themselves a fan of Blunt’s work and remains completely unaware of her obsession with Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, then they clearly don’t fit the criteria. The star has gone on record countless times over espousing her lifelong and unending appreciation of the shark attack thriller that changed the face of cinema forever, to the point where she’s been forced to acknowledge just how often she sings its praises.
When asked by Letterboxd to name her four favourite movies of all time, there are absolutely no prizes for guessing what instantly came out of her mouth. In fact, after inevitably going for Jaws first, Blunt conceded how “people are sick of hearing me say that,” but nonetheless reaffirmed her commitment for what she calls “an incredible, perfect film.”
Blunt is just as fascinated with what went on behind the scenes as the events to unfold on camera, though, which is understandable given that Spielberg endured one of the most nightmarish and troublesome productions in history, only to emerge on the other side with a stone-cold classic, the highest-grossing release cinema had ever seen, and a game-changing blockbuster under his belt.
Through Blunt’s eyes, “the more you see it, the more you learn about how extraordinary it is,” which means that she’s got to be regarded as something of an expert by now having copped to at least 35 viewings of Jaws from beginning to end, although the true number is probably even higher than that considering she saw it for the first time at the age of only seven.
Does Jaws still hold up?
Giant shark movies are all the rage to this day, but don’t expect to see Blunt appearing in any of them, because she knows full well it’ll never be able to hold a candle to Jaws.
Of course, over the years, many have tried to make a similarly positioned shark movie. Capitalising on a base fear of many humans, using the dead-eyed killers as the villain of a feature film is such a regular occurrence that it has become a sub-genre in itself. The meg, Deep Blue Sea, Bait and lest we forget Sharknado, have all given it a good crack in more modern times. But perhaps the reason they never truly get off the floor when it comes to critical acclaim is that Spielberg already nailed it.
And, surprisingly, despite a few gaps in terms of VFX, for the most part, Jaws still holds up. The reason is that Spielberg didn’t rely on action or gore to drive the movie. He took a leaf out of Alfred Hitchcock’s book and used suspense as the main draw. Monsters are scary when you see them, but knowing they’re there and not seeing them is far more terrifying. It means Jaws can be comfortable in being the best shark film ever made for a few more decades at least.
