The terrible movie Uma Thurman will defend to the death: “A fantastic experience”
Uma Thurman is one of the few actors who has experienced the bizarre phenomenon of starring in a film in which her image is perhaps more famous than the film itself. The notorious poster for Pulp Fiction that shows Mia Wallace smoking a cigarette in bed became a battle cry for film bros and a symbol of cinema itself. The actor has starred in some of the most culturally significant films of all time, forming a long-lasting collaborative relationship with Quentin Tarantino through Pulp Fiction and the Kill Bill series.
The scenes in which her character fights her way to freedom and dances with Vincent Vega on the dance floor will remain forever burned into our memory, as well as her work with auteurs like Lars von Trier and Paul Schrader. However, despite reaching dizzying levels of success, Thurman has also taken a fair few creative risks that haven’t always paid off, with one colossal flop that she doesn’t regret at all.
Joel Schumacher has had an interesting career, flitting between a number of eclectic genres over his many years behind the camera. Whether it be courtroom drams like A Time To Kill, which was Matthew McConaughey’s breakout role alongside Samuel L Jackson or the existentialist nature of Falling Down, the actor has never been pegged down by a single box or style, embarking on a constant creative evolution.
However, despite his many achievements in the business, some of them were overlooked by the commercial failure of his 1997 film Batman and Robin, starring George Clooney, Uma Thurman and Chris O’Donnell.
The film follows the iconic duo of Batman and Robin as they battle relationship issues while preventing Mr Freeze and Poison Ivy from attacking Gotham City. Despite the fact that it has some fun and kooky qualities, the film was widely considered to be a box office failure and one of the worst films ever made, with people criticising it for being messy and chaotic. However, some people have grown to enjoy this aspect of the film, enjoying it for its sprawling and extravagant nature, appreciating it for being a campy and over-produced children’s film.
While many people ripped into the cast for starring in such a film, Thurman has fiercely defended her role in the series and the technicalities of playing a comic book character. Famously, the film required extensive costumes and makeup for the cast, who had to mold themselves into these beloved characters that often called for complicated prosthetics or masks.
When describing the production, Thurman said, “Oh my goodness, that’s amazing. I was just talking about Joel Schumacher, the director who is a friend I love so much. … I loved Joel Schumacher. That was a fantastic experience. I had to wear lots of rubber suits. I did not have a rubber mask, I had my own face. But I had some rubber appliances on my face sometimes. That was about as much rubber as I’ve ever worked with, personally.”
Despite the poor reception of the film, it has formed its own unique and devoted fan base over the years as people reconnect with the uncomplicated fun of a misunderstood film that was perhaps punished for not taking itself too seriously.
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