Well, as okay as we’ll ever be since the chances are slim that he’ll ever live up to this.
Pardon me as I go swoon.
In all fairness, I’ve been rather vocal about how little enthusiasm I have for this film since the news was announced, so I certainly wasn’t going into the whole process with arms open. However, after seeing Hail, Caesar, I was immensely charmed by Alden Ehrenreich who’s Hobie Doyle positively stole the show. My point being that if it had to happen and Hollywood seemed hell bent on making it happen, then at the very least they went with a charismatic and talented actor to do so.
Here are five reasons why I’m not as adamant about hating this film out of principle anymore.
1. He’s talented
As mentioned, he was terrific in Hail, Caesar! as a guileless, naive actor who has been picked up to take the leading role in a prestige drama after only having played in westerns. He manages to go up against Ralph Fiennes, no easy feat, and match his linguistic gusto. By the end of the film, one Channing Tatum dance number aside, I’d go as far as to say that he’d ran away with the whole film. He certainly would have made a stronger and more compelling lead than Josh Brolin.
2. He plays comedy
There seems to be a misconception about the Han Solo character as the years have passed that he is the epitome of cool as people seem to consider him closer to a James Bond suave type. In reality, Han Solo, albeit charming as hell, is also a bumbling, play it by ear mess who loses his cool about as often as he executes a situation with grace. Ehrenreich has played awkwardly cool and the quality will lend itself nicely with his upcoming, star-making role.
3. He has the charisma
Call me shallow but let’s be real, you need to be somewhat relatively appealing to play a younger version of Harrison Ford. For now I suppose we can look past the four inches or so Ford seems to have on Ehrenreich since we’re not into nitpicking. Possessing the same unassuming, laid back charm, the actor will hopefully both embody Ford’s ability to play effortless cool while simultaneously consistently flustered.
4. He’s not Ansel Elgort
This was a legitimate issue for everyone, correct? I’m sure there are some The Fault in Our Stars fans who thought it was a good idea but personally, Elgort is remarkably replaceable. At the very least, Ehrenreich has a star presence and lights up the screen while Elgort has a tendency to fade into his surroundings.
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5. He’s a relative fresh face in the same vein as John Boyega was for Star Wars: The Force Awakens
And we all saw how well that turned out. He’s had one or two films that have proven his talent (in the same vein Boyega head with criminally under-seen, cult favorite Attack the Block) but isn’t such a well known face that it would have been distracting to watch him play an iconic character. This way Ehrenreich has the chance to build the character from the ground up without always being related to his prior performances.
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