Big Name May Lack Power To Save Flick If Star Is Miscast

When critics talk about specific filmmakers, they tend to credit them with more praise or blame than they likely deserve. The Hollywood platitude about moviemaking being a collaborative exercise is more than just a cliche.

Consider: The screenwriter, either working on his or her own or at the behest of a deal maker (who could be a producer, director, star, studio head or anyone else with an idea and the influence to get it financed), figures out the characterization, plot and dialogue.

Then, as the project takes shape, the actors take those lines of dialogue and imbue them with feeling. The cinematographer decides how the film is lighted. The editor works on fitting millions of feet of spent film into a coherent whole.

There are others, too - the production designer, the line producer, the sound man, assistants of all sorts, grips and electricians, etc. And over all of them the director looms, conferring with each one (as well as, in most cases, the producer).

But the one person who seldom gets mentioned is the casting director - the person responsible for finding the actors to play, if not the primary roles, then certainly those that are secondary. In fact, no matter who is ultimately responsible for casting a certain film, this area is crucial to the final feel of any movie project.

I mention all of this because of Debra Winger, an actress who, given the right role, is as good as any actress working today.

The flip side, of course, is that when Winger isn’t right, she can be easily dismissible or even fairly horrible. And in the Billy Crystal-directed “French Kiss” (see capsule review below), Winger is about as believable as… well, as Emilio Estevez cast in the role of an uptight lawyer (see both of “The Mighty Ducks” films).

Winger on (and presumably off) the screen is a strong, opinionated and utterly feminine presence who managed to project those attributes as well as sexiness in “An Officer and a Gentleman,” vulnerability in “Terms of Endearment” and all the above in “The Sheltering Sky.”

She is not at her best when strength is eliminated from her character (nor, for that matter, when she is forced to affect a phony accent, as in “Shadowlands”).

Of course, she isn’t alone in this limitation. Miscasting has had a prominent place in Hollywood cinema. John Wayne, after all, was forced to play Genghis Khan in “The Conqueror” (1958). Michelle Pfeiffer was forced to play a lonely, dumpylooking (yeah, right) waitress in “Frankie and Johnny” (1991).

And Sharon Stone in any number of films has been confused with someone boasting more acting talent than mere good looks.

Miscasting, of course, is sometimes unavoidable. No major studio would have made “Frankie and Johnny” starring the actress who played the role on the New York stage, Kathy Bates. No, Hollywood saves her, indeed even rewards her, for playing demeaning horror roles (“Misery,” “Dolores Claiborne”).

Some movies get made only because an inappropriate star is attached to the deal. Maybe that was the case with “French Kiss” - as in, “Sorry, Mr. Crystal, but Meg Ryan has decided to pass on your project.”

The obvious question then is: Can the movie survive? Sometimes, as in the case of “Forget Paris,” the answer is a qualified yes.

Often, though, it cannot.

Forget Paris ***

In the manner of Woody Allen, Billy Crystal directs and stars in this look at the difficult side of marriage. Especially difficult is the fact that he (Crystal) is an NBA referee and she (Debra Winger) knows nothing about basketball, so there is trouble galore once the romantic glow wears off.

Winger is miscast in a part so clearly perfect for Meg Ryan, but everything else about this thinkingperson’s comedy smoothly traverses the ground between laughter and loud sighs.

Especially good are Cynthia Stevenson and Joe Mantegna as a couple contemplating marriage despite their respective fears.

Rated PG-13. , DataTimes