It’s Blake Lively‘s birthday! To mark the occasion, here are five performances from the acclaimed dramatic actor. Check some of these out!
A Simple Favor (2018)
I was excited to watch this movie when it was first announced. I mean, you can’t go wrong with both Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick. Seems like a recipe for success, doesn’t it? Well, yes and no. They are both attractive in their own ways but neither one of them are necessarily leading woman material. The characters that they play are kind of like an odd couple type trope. Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) is extremely straight laced whereas Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) is a little more rebellious in nature. Stephanie is living a very proper life and Emily teaches her how to live a little more on the wild side. Blake Lively‘s character ends up going missing very early on in the film and the second act then becomes mostly an Anna Kendrick movie. There is a twist in the beginning of the third act that I’m not going to spoil here. I’ve enjoyed most of Paul Feig‘s work and as much as I wanted to like this movie, it went on for way too long, (especially considering I watched it for Blake). If you like these ladies than it’s one to watch but if not, then I wouldn’t recommend it.
The Age of Adaline (2015)
This movie has an interesting concept. Adaline (Blake Lively) is born in the early 1900’s but she ultimately ends up getting into an accident that renders her ageless. She has to constantly keep moving around the country so that nobody become suspicious of her never aging appearance. She eventually meets a young gentleman by the name of Ellis Jones (Michiel Huisman) whose father, William Jones (Harrison Ford) once met Adaline when he was younger and the two struck up a romance. She gets into another accident at the end of the movie and her curse is then somehow reversed. Like I said, it’s an interesting concept.
The Shallows (2016)
This movie is thee definition of a slow burn. Nancy Adams (Blake Lively) goes on an expedition to find a beach that her mother told her about when she young, and she ultimately ends up finding it so that she can ride the waves! After a while, she ends up getting attacked by a shark and then spends the majority of the movie trapped on lone rock (and later a buoy) out at sea. She does end up getting rescued but not until after she is able to defeat the CGI shark in the most ridiculous way possible. It’s okay for a 90 minute film, albeit kind of boring.
The Town (2010)
This has to be one of the best crime thrillers of modern cinema. This movie was released at a time when Ben Affleck was going through a weird phase in his career. But, I have to say that this was the movie that changed my whole perspective on how I chose to view the guy. It follows a group of Boston bank robbers who plan to steal from their next mark, Fenway Park. Blake Lively plays a young harlot named Krista Coughlin, who mostly sells her body for sex in order to support her young daughter. She’s not much of a main player in the film but she gives a damn good performance. If you haven’t seen it, it’s definitely one to check out because it’s considered to be one of the best movies of the 2010’s, — for good reason!
Hick (2011)
This is more of a Chloë Grace Moretz movie, which I didn’t realize until I watched it. Luli McMullen (Chloë Grace Moretz) is exactly that; a hick! Living out in middle America, surrounded by an incredibly dysfunctional family. After her birthday, she decides to leave home in an attempt to find a better life for herself and ends up running into a few grifters along the way. Eddie Kreezer (Eddie Redmayne) and Glenda (Blake Lively) are former lovers and Luli ends up getting entangled in between their drama. When the dust settles, Luli simply walks away. This is a great movie if you’re a fan of Chloë Grace Moretz … and really, who isn’t?
Gossip Girl (2007-2012)
This is more of a special mention than anything. I watched a few episodes when it was first airing but I didn’t actually watch the series as a whole thing until the 2020 lockdowns. Serena Van Der Woodsen (Blake Lively) is a student at an incredibly prestigious school. This show was created before all of this smart technology encapsulated society, so there is this mysterious blogger that writes a column called “Gossip Girl” that spreads rumors and (you guessed it) gossip about the students personal lives. It mostly has to do with Serena’s friend group and completely ruins all of their lives in the process. Yeah, it’s a CW show but it started off really good. Of course, it got run into the ground and went on a season too long and the final reveal of who the mysterious Gossip Girl was nothing shy of a disaster and completely ruins any type of rewatch, which shouldn’t come as a surprise by any stretch of the imagination. I still feel it’s a phenomenal teen drama and absolutely worth the watch.
What are some of your favorite films to feature birthday Goddess Blake Lively?