We usually celebrate Women Who Won the Week, but Allison Williams had a lousy one in the wake of this week’s Peter Pan Live! The musical broadcast mostly suffered from lousy pacing over a miserable three-hour running time. Allison Williams was also plenty irritating as the title character. Sadly, Christopher Walken was also a big disappointment as Captain Hook. He was supposed to bring some prestige to the project, but Walken ended up looking unrehearsed and slightly dazed.
And it was also kind of traumatic to see that Walken’s tap dancing was poorly faked. Nowadays, of course, Walken is a beloved character actor with a big following for his offbeat phrasing and acting style. The guy’s always been full of surprises, though. That includes a new generation regularly discovering that Walken is a Broadway baby and a great hoofer. Some people learned that via the Fatboy Slim “Weapon of Choice” video back in 2001. Today’s generation missed out on that revelation with Peter Pan Live!
And not many people got to see Christopher Walken in 1981’s Pennies from Heaven. The bizarre musical drama was supposed to be Steve Martin’s big dramatic breakthrough. Instead, the imaginative film bombed at the box office. Some lucky moviegoers still got to enjoy Christopher Walken showing off some amazing dance skills–after his harrowing turn in The Deer Hunter and before playing a Bond villain in From a View to a Kill. We’d like to say that Pennies from Heaven is underrated, but this musical fantasy really is the high point. Use it as some eye bleach in the wake of this week’s big mistake…
