Jessica Chastain is what you might call a rags to riches story since her parents were just teenagers when they had her and she didn’t have the easiest of times growing up. She doesn’t speak much about certain parts of her past but it has been made evident that there were times that she would either rather forget or not speak about all that often. But as of now she’s become one of the hottest actresses in Hollywood and has become a true success story since she’s been nominated for two Academy awards and won a Golden Globe in her time. That speaks a great deal of how far she’s come from her beginnings and how ambitious she’s been in furthering her career. One can’t blame anyone for wanting to reach new heights, but with a little bit of background it becomes evident why it’s so important to start with.
Here are some of her best movies so far.
5. Mama
Typically in any movie when a person dies and becomes a spirit, that spirit is usually seen as vengeful and unhinged in some way as they often die in the grip of some powerful emotion. Mama, a woman that was admitted to an insane asylum nearly a century before the movie begins, is a very vengeful spirit that takes care of two young girls after killing their father before he could murder them. There’s much more to it than this of course, but when the girls are found years later and taken in by their father’s identical twin, Mama is anything but pleased, and allows her anger to become known when she perceives that her children are about to be taken from her.
4. Lawless
When the sale of alcohol was a big deal and thereby a big business there were people that were willing to do just about anything to get their way and those that sought to make a living and stay out of the way. The latter wasn’t always possible obviously since the more that some gained the more they wanted, almost like a sickness. When three brothers that ran their own operation felt the law and those that ran the law closing in however they decided to take matters into their own hands and started a war that took place almost entirely in the backwoods where they came from, but was no less vicious for the out of the way location.
3. Zero Dark Thirty
This movie can be summed up within the historical context of what many Americans would gladly reiterate for anyone that is listening. “We got him.” If you have to ask who ‘him’ is then you’ve been ignoring the news for years on end, but the movie is based upon the story of how Osama Bin Laden, the man that was responsible for the 9/11 tragedy, was discovered and finally taken down. The movie does depict how torture of certain figures was used to find the information that would eventually help lead to him, and while torture is not something that many condone, it was in fact approved, at least in the movie. The ends justified the means as the saying goes.
2. Miss Sloane
If you enjoy political thrillers this one will probably strike your fancy as Sloane is someone that you just don’t mess with unless you really want to fight a losing battle. Of course the only problem with this reputation she has is that initially it’s under fire and as the movie continues forward her choices and actions make things decidedly worse. The attitude she keeps is still one of a woman that is willing to go to war with just about anyone that decides to come after her on a personal level, but by the end she’s been made to pay the price for the decisions she’s made and has lost her career in its entirety.
1. The Help
Oh Hilly. Hilly is that woman that thinks the sun rises and sets on her opinion and that nothing she does could ever possibly be wrong, or her fault. In fact she actually thinks that she’s doing the maids that take care of the children in Jackson, raise them, feed them, clothe them, and treat them like their own, a favor by giving them an outdoor bathroom in each house. Nevermind that it gets unbearably hot in the summer and abysmally cold in the winter, she would just like a thank you. But oh, when she eats Minny’s ‘special’ chocolate pie she’s given her just desserts in a way that is almost impossible not to laugh at, unless you’re a literal-minded individual without a sense of humor. This movie is about more than just the pie incident, but it’s a guilty pleasure to say that Hilly gets what she deserves.
Jessica Chastain is simply a superb actress and a lot of fun to watch in any role.
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