Nothing Better Than Bening

On a recent flight, we inadvertently had a mini Annette Bening movie
marathon. We always knew the actress was good, but maybe we forgot how
just how good. Herewith, five Bening moments that are worth re-watching,
including her two latest tour-de-force performances.

1. In her film debut, Bening played Dan Aykroyds wife in the beloved
John Hughes-scripted The
Great Outdoors. As the perfectly played ill-tempered mother of
awkward twins, its hard to believe it was her first flick.

2. Although she lost out to Hilary Swank, our Oscar bets were on Bening
for her portrayal of real-estate agent, mother and wife in American
Beauty.

3. There are of course her other top flicks like Being
Julia and Running
With Scissors but were going to mention The
Women because Bening was the only good thing about an otherwise
bad movie. And she plays a fashion editorbe still our hearts.

4. As one half of the mom duo in The
Kids Are All Right, Bening shines as the wine-loving doctor and
dominating partner trying to keep her family together as an unlikely and
mighty handsome visitor tries to infiltrate.

5. In Mother
and Child Bening plays a physical therapist who is haunted by
the baby she gave up for adoption 30 years ago. Its her heartbreaking
performance that haunts us (in a good way).

The Kids Are All Right plays nightly at 9:10
p.m. at The Uptown
Stage and Screen; Mother and Child comes out on DVD later
this year, all other movies are available on DVD now.