Justin Time
I have to say, it’s been an excellent summer for catchy pop tunes—Nelly Furtado featuring Timbaland with “Promiscuousâ€, Gnarls Barkley with “Crazyâ€, and Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean with “Hips Don’t Lie†are three memorable examples—and it looks like the latter part of the season will continue in sizzling style.
While Fergie’s “London Bridge†wasted no time in landing in the top spot on my beloved Billboard Singles Chart, it’s been a little surprising to watch Justin Timberlake’s latest offering, “Sexyback†as it ever so slowly moves its way up the charts; at least until this week when the single suddenly jumped from 52-35 in its sixth week on the Top 100 chart.
Had I not heard the Timberlake song for the first time while watching the hot video that accompanies it, I would never have guessed that it was him. The direction he continues to be moving in musically is as admirable as the steamy image he’s created for himself with his solo videos and still photos; check out his Rolling Stone session with the late, great Herb Ritts to get a glimpse of his lean but toned physique at its finest. (You know the issue I’m talking about. Yum, yum, yum!)
But whereas he smolders in videos or on the pages of a magazine, the same cannot be said (so far at least) for his on-screen efforts in the world of feature films. Although having the good fortune of seeing him in person at the closing night gala of last year’s Toronto International Film Festival for the World Premiere of his debut feature film, Edison, that good fortune quickly turned sour once the film began. Given that Timberlake was in good company on-screen with the likes of Oscar winners Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey, and the always hot L.L. Cool J., it was a huge mystery to many of us in the audience how any of the talent could have thought that appearing in such a shitty movie would be a good career move. It couldn’t have looked good on paper even; the script sucked. Had they all been blackmailed into signing on the dotted line?
Edison has the distinction of being the only film (in a theater) that I have ever walked out on. Yes, it was that bad. And aside from my boyfriend, I wasn’t the only one who had the good sense to abandon that sinking ship in favor of getting a head start on the drinking at the Festival’s closing night party. People were leaving with such frequency that the theater took on the appearance of an evacuation drill instead of a film premiere. Needless to say, Edison became a straight-to-dvd casualty and even had its name changed to Edison Force.
But Timberlake isn’t the first pop star to have trouble making the leap from music video to the silver screen; he won’t be the last either. And while I look forward to seeing him shine in a movie role suited for him, in the meantime I’m quite content to enjoy his sexy back (and other body parts) on the small screen.
Cheers!
S.R.
