"Scarlett Johansson was great. It was a great audition, I’m telling you. But the thing with Scarlett is, you can’t *wait* for her to take her clothes off.” - David Fincher, [explaining][1] why he couldn't cast Johansson as the lead in the remake of *The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo*. Of course, Fincher isn't saying anything new here. Just look at this sampling of reviews from Johansson's ouevre: *Lost in Translation* (2003): "In Tokyo, a burned-out American movie star named Bob Harris (Bill Murray) shows up to appear in a whiskey ad. Stranded in a sleekly pompous modern hotel, he can’t connect with anything or even sleep, but he does hook up (chastely) with a very young woman, Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), whose fashion-photographer husband (Giovanni Ribisi) is rapidly slipping away from her. ...The drama of the movie, such as it is, lies in seeing just how long before Johansson takes her clothes off." - [David Denby][2], *The New Yorker* *Girl with a Pearl Earring* (2004): "The movie benefits greatly from Johansson’s gift for understated delivery, but she’s less assured in this demure, largely non-verbal role than she was as a modern young woman in *Ghost World* and *Lost in Translation*. Some of the fault probably belongs to Webber for taking so long to get to the part where she takes her clothes off." - [Robert Davis][3], *Paste Magazine* *The Nanny Diaries* (2007): "With the framing device of an anthropological field guide to the Upper East Side of Manhattan -- the one smart touch here -- *The Nanny Diaries* chronicles the travails of Annie Braddock (Scarlett Johansson, who displays no flair for light comedy, but does at least take off her clothes early on)." - [Joanne Kaufman][4], *Wall Street Journal* *The Other Boleyn Girl* (2008): "Observes the most up-to-date formula for exploiting Tudormania, which seems to be sex, colourful costumes, sex, the excitement of pounding hooves on the sound track as riders race to and fro on important errands, sex, stately castles and sumptuous backdrops, plus snippets of history, Scarlett Johansson taking her clothes off, and sex." - [Philip Marchand][5], *Toronto Star* *Iron Man 2* (2010): "*Iron Man 2*: Scarlett Johansson Cleavage Leads New Photos," [Neil Miller][6], *Film School Rejects* [Actually, that last one is totally real. So maybe Fincher has a point?] [1]: http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/rooney-mara-playing-with-fire/ [2]: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/reviews/film/lost_in_translation_coppola [3]: http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article/666/review/film/girl_with_a_pearl_earring [4]: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118791207455607259.html [5]: http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/Movies/article/308016 [6]: http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/news/iron-man-2-scarlett-johanssons-cleavage-leads-new-photos.php
"Scarlett Johansson was great. It was a great audition, I’m telling you. But the thing with Scarlett is, you can’t *wait* for her to take her clothes off.” - David Fincher, [explaining][1] why he couldn't cast Johansson as the lead in the remake of *The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo*. Of course, Fincher isn't saying anything new here. Just look at this sampling of reviews from Johansson's ouevre: *Lost in Translation* (2003): "In Tokyo, a burned-out American movie star named Bob Harris (Bill Murray) shows up to appear in a whiskey ad. Stranded in a sleekly pompous modern hotel, he can’t connect with anything or even sleep, but he does hook up (chastely) with a very young woman, Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), whose fashion-photographer husband (Giovanni Ribisi) is rapidly slipping away from her. ...The drama of the movie, such as it is, lies in seeing just how long before Johansson takes her clothes off." - [David Denby][2], *The New Yorker* *Girl with a Pearl Earring* (2004): "The movie benefits greatly from Johansson’s gift for understated delivery, but she’s less assured in this demure, largely non-verbal role than she was as a modern young woman in *Ghost World* and *Lost in Translation*. Some of the fault probably belongs to Webber for taking so long to get to the part where she takes her clothes off." - [Robert Davis][3], *Paste Magazine* *The Nanny Diaries* (2007): "With the framing device of an anthropological field guide to the Upper East Side of Manhattan -- the one smart touch here -- *The Nanny Diaries* chronicles the travails of Annie Braddock (Scarlett Johansson, who displays no flair for light comedy, but does at least take off her clothes early on)." - [Joanne Kaufman][4], *Wall Street Journal* *The Other Boleyn Girl* (2008): "Observes the most up-to-date formula for exploiting Tudormania, which seems to be sex, colourful costumes, sex, the excitement of pounding hooves on the sound track as riders race to and fro on important errands, sex, stately castles and sumptuous backdrops, plus snippets of history, Scarlett Johansson taking her clothes off, and sex." - [Philip Marchand][5], *Toronto Star* *Iron Man 2* (2010): "*Iron Man 2*: Scarlett Johansson Cleavage Leads New Photos," [Neil Miller][6], *Film School Rejects* [Actually, that last one is totally real. So maybe Fincher has a point?] [1]: http://www.vogue.com/magazine/article/rooney-mara-playing-with-fire/ [2]: http://www.newyorker.com/arts/reviews/film/lost_in_translation_coppola [3]: http://www.pastemagazine.com/action/article/666/review/film/girl_with_a_pearl_earring [4]: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118791207455607259.html [5]: http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/Movies/article/308016 [6]: http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/news/iron-man-2-scarlett-johanssons-cleavage-leads-new-photos.php