Ocean's 8 Movie Review

here is a moment in Ocean's 8 when Anne Hathaway throws up. Just full on vomits. Her character Daphne Kluger, movie star and Met Gala co-chair, is poised and unattainable, but it's in the moment that she throws up that Daphne becomes the standout character in a film of all-star actresses. The comedy up to that point is all one-liners and snark. But it's Anne Hathaway's full-body convulsions in a floor length gown that remind you that while Hathaway isn't the first to throw up for comedic effect, she might be the funniest person to ever do it. It's a small moment, but it counts.

Against an incredible ensemble cast, Hathaway gets the opportunity to play the most thought out character of the bunch: a vapid, biting Hollywood starlet who is much more astute than anyone initially gives her credit for. While vapid or biting aren't the words anyone would use to describe Hathaway, the actress too keenly understands Daphne's position.

Daphne spends more than half of the film separated from the rest of the star-studded cast because in this heist-comedy, she is not there for her expertise—she is the mark. It's the six pound diamond necklace on her neck that the seven women conspiring behind the scenes want: not her, per se. And that's always kind of been the problem with how society treats actresses like Hathaway. Daphne Kluger is the perfect meta role because she is on the outside of the action looking in, only useful to others because of what she can offer them. Without spoiling too much, Daphne finds her way into the fold. For Hathaway, it took a bit longer.

Some time in 2012, the public decided it didn't love Hathaway anymore. On the awards circuit for Les Miserables, she was deemed too earnest while receiving acclaim for her portrayal of Fantine. Then, somehow, she was deemed insincere. She faced criticism after criticism, and it seemed the more awards she amassed (and she amassed most of them), the more hate poured out. She eventually won her Oscar for Les Miserables, the crown jewel of film acting, and then disappeared under a series of oversized hats. It's a strange treatment we reserve for successful actresses: Jennifer Lawrence, Kristen Stewart, Anne Hathaway. Society decides that if they fly too close to the sun, we'll make sure they get burned. Meanwhile, Leonardo DiCaprio's campaign for an Oscar ran longer than both of Hillary Clinton's campaigns for president.

Typically in the aftermath of these backlashes, the actresses in question fade into the background a bit. Lawrence's moment came after her infamous parade of trips and "oh boy" moments. Mic declared that we had reached "Peak Jennifer Lawrence." Stewart's moment as a film star was always in jeopardy from the moment Twilight debuted. She was deemed polarizing, and though indie performances solidified her as a bonafide actress, both she and Lawrence backed away from a glaring spotlight determined to find the flaw in this new shiny thing we had started recognizing.