WARNING: This Article May Contain Spoilers
In all the years I have been writing this blog, I cannot believe it has taken this long for me to cover someone is I am sure is considered by many so iconic in the music world! Especially as Lenny features in one of my ‘favourite book to screen’ franchises but we’ll come to that a little later….
Shotgun Wedding
I want to talk about making an entrance into a film, for Lenny, this is an unbelievable one – so much so I slightly panicked he was just playing himself! Playing the character of Sean, our lead female’s ex-fiancé, he is technically an ancillary character however, as expected given the style of the character he steals every scene he’s in. In the beginning, I thought he was just coming across as an arsehole because, naturally, as the viewer you are on the groom’s side so you see him through Tom’s eyes, however, given the fact that he fronts up to the pirates the way he does and then we later find HE hired them, I realised he is genuinely just an arsehole! However, I don’t think he’s as strong a man as he gives off, especially as it seems that his girlfriend may have been the one that planned the whole thing, considering once they are in the helicopter she seems to be the strong and commanding one in the relationship.
The Butler
It’s funny to think that I covered this, along with Precious which Lenny also stars in, for Mariah Carey but at least this time I get to see more of the film than the first minute or two. The film itself follows Cecil Gaines and his tenure as butler at the White House, where along the way he meets Kravitz’ character of fellow butler, James Holloway. The first time we meet him, he’s standing in just his shirt and shoes brushing his teeth. He’s also the only one to speak up when Nixon asked what their main concerns are in the “coloured” community. In truth, Cecil, James and the other butlers are only a small part of this story, almost a way to guide us through the civil rights movement from the perspective of the presidents and the White House itself – even though Cecil is our main character and James simply floats in the background here and there. I feel that you need to prepare yourself for some rather emotional scenes if you decide to watch this film.
Hunger Games & Hunger Games: Catching Fire
I think I may have said this before, but I honestly think this is one of the best book adaptations I’ve seen – there was no way that I was writing this article and not covering these films! And you can’t just cover Lenny’s character of Cinna by just watching the first film as it’s possible Hunger Games: Catching Fire holds the most important part of his story. Look, I know many people may see the character of Cinna as simply just a fashion designer, or the man that is made to dress Katniss for all the media stuff around the Hunger Games as well as her outfits for them but there is so much more to him to than that! He’s so key to the rebellion itself but in such a subtle way that it doesn’t cross people’s minds at first. He is the man that makes Katniss the symbol she is – she would not have the name “Girl on Fire” without that first outfit in the chariots! From my perspective, the films has Cinna’s character so right, that when he is attacked in Hunger Games: Catching Fire, I cried just as I did when I read it and I think that is a credit to Kravitz as much as it is to the writing because it’s such a brutal but powerful scene. Brought about simply by a dress. Outside of Peeta, at least for the first film, he is also Katniss’ only friend in the Capitol. What I always find funny, is that people may misread the interaction between him and Katniss when he says “You made me like you” as he pushes the hair behind her ear but it’s simply a caring gesture.
