Actress - Reiko Aylesworth

Reiko Aylesworth

39-year-old Reiko is a successful American actress of Japanese, Dutch, and Welsh descent. Her most well-known role is that of Michelle Dessler in the FOX drama 24.

Born in Illinois, young Reiko soon became interested in acting. As a teenager she participated in her first theatrical endeavours, such as the Springfield Theatre Centre's productions of West Side Story. Afterwards, she studied neuroscience at the University of Washington while spending her free time acting in plays. It was her 1992 performance as Wendy in Peter Pan that introduced her to talent scouts from ABC and initiated her career. Her first television role was that of Rebecca Lewis on the soap opera One Life To Live in 1993 and 1994.

Her next roles were mostly bit parts in films no one remembers and a few guest appearances and leading roles in shows that are mostly cancelled now. She has worked for Law and Order, The West Wing, and Ed. After two unsuccessful auditions for FOX's 24, Reiko was finally cast in the recurring role of Michelle Dessler and was credited as a recurring guest star, though her character appeared in every episode of her first season (season two, 2002-2003) and later became one of the show's main characters. The relationship between Michelle and coworker Tony Almeida grew to be extremely popular amongst fans; its impact upon the show's plot continued through the seventh season (2007-2008) even though Reiko's character was murdered with a car bomb in season five (2006).

Since her days on 24, Reiko has made appearances in shows such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Lost, and ER and films such as Mr. Brooks (2006) and The Assistants (2008). She can currently be seen as the recurring character Dr. Malia Waincroft, a love interest for Five-0 member Chin Ho Kelly (Daniel Dae Kim), in CBS's sequel series Hawaii Five-0.

 

"It's been a while, but I can always tell."
Reiko's performance on Hawaii Five-0 demonstrates her exceptional believability and talent.
Every word she utters is so convincing, the viewer might forget that he is watching a television program.


Reiko is an actress of exceptional talent. Unlike some members of Hollywood who book job after job and grace the red carpet constantly (Keira Knightley comes to mind), Reiko Aylesworth's acting prowess extends beyond the ability to convincingly portray one character. Her versatility is astounding; from role to role she may change her accent, speech patterns, expressions, and mannerisms whereas others in the industry give performances that could be cut from one film and placed into another while still retaining a semblance of the story. Reiko does more than read a script; she becomes the character she is portraying. Her range is endless; she can play anything from sweet and earnestly good (Malia, Hawaii Five-0) to tough and loyal (Michelle, 24) to mean, cold, and calculating (Cassie, The Assistants and Nora, The Good Wife).

In addition to her incredible talent, Reiko is a genuine and down-to-earth woman. In interviews she comes across as personable, intelligent, thoughtful, professional, and generally fun. Add to that the fact that she is amazingly beautiful and her smile will literally light up a room, and it can be concluded that Reiko Aylesworth is one amazing human being. She is a gem that Hollywood should grab and never let go. Why they have let her wander around the lower dregs of television for most of her career will never be understood.

Film - Crazy, Stupid, Love

Crazy, Stupid, Love

"I met my soul mate when I was fifteen years old."

Crazy, Stupid, Love was filmed and released in 2011. It stars Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Analeigh Tipton, and Jonah Bobo. Other notable cast members include Kevin Bacon and Marisa Tomei.

Though Crazy, Stupid, Love was advertised as a light-hearted comedy typical of Steve Carell's former ventures, in actually watching the film it becomes clear that at its heart, this movie is much more of an emotional and sweet testament to the powers of love and the havoc it wreaks on everyday life than an actual laugh-out-loud comedy.

The film opens to the view of a cozy restaurant full of the sound of clinking glasses and murmured conversations. The camera is at floor level, depicting the pairs of feet of couples, placed two by two at the tables, close together. The music in the background is happy, cheerful, and accentuates the image of couples in love. However, once the camera moves to eye level and the subject of this film (Cal and Emily Weaver) comes into view, the obvious separation between the married couple belies the previous sense of comfort and warmth. There is a subtle strain and tension that suggests each member of the relationship is unhappy, but unwilling to admit it. It is an unpleasant status quo, but it appears that neither has the ability to disturb it.

Unfortunately for Cal (Steve Carell) and his clueless comfort with the status quo, this is the exact moment when the monotony and tedium of their life grants Emily (Julianne Moore) the courage to give voice to the feelings she has fostered for quite some time now: "I want a divorce." Cal looks up in shock; they stare at each other across the dinner table; and upbeat music starts, leading into the movie title's appearnce between them... crazy, stupid, love. Love is the nonsensical and insurmountable force that will bring us together, and, sometimes, drive us apart.

The next few scenes serve mainly introductory purposes, showing for the first time two of the other main characters, Jessica (Analeigh Tipton) and Robbie (Jonah Bobo) in their normal routines. Robbie is Cal and Emily's son; Jessica is his babysitter. From these first few glimpses of their personalities, it is clear that Jessica is a sweet girl with a crush on Cal and Robbie is an average (if not advanced for his age in the libido department) boy with an awful haircut and a romantic attachment to his babysitter. Clearly drama awaits.

Also introduced within the first few minutes is Hannah (Emma Stone), whose connection to the story appears rather random at first but is resolved toward the end in a quite surprising and funny manner, and Jacob (Ryan Gosling), whose portrayal of an annoying, arrogant, insufferable douchebag is incredibly spot-on and believable.

"You're never going to regret going home with that guy from the bar that one time who was a total tomcat in the sack. But I can guarantee that you won't not regret it."

With all of the main characters introduced and their personalities beginning to take shape, the actual plot begins to unfold. Upon leaving his home, Cal Weaver sinks into a bit of a depression, spending every night drowning his sorrows in the same pretentious club that Jacob frequents. His patronage of that establishment would normally have gone unnoticed, but as it turns out, Cal's method of drowning his sorrows is very loud and whiny and, after listening to his moaning for days on end, at the end of his rope, Jacob 'takes pity' on Cal and embarks upon a quest to turn Cal into a lesser version of himself. This quest lasts for forty or so minutes of the film, interspersed with scenes featuring contemplative conversations between Cal and his son Robbie, uncomfortable declarations of love from Robbie to Jessica, an introduction of David Lindhagen (the man with whom Emily had an affair, played by Kevin Bacon), and glimpses into Hannah's life as a lawyer.

Eventually, two of the major turning points in the plot occur: Robbie, unsuccessful in his attempts to woo Jessica, has an angry outburst in his English classroom which, despite its content, only serves to illustrate his bitterness toward romance; and Hannah, after receiving a job offer from her boyfriend when she had thought he would be proposing, turns to Jacob as a rebound. The former occurrence leads to a meeting between Robbie's parents and his English teacher (Marisa Tomei) who, incidentally, is the first woman with whom Cal had an affair after his split with Emily. Needless to say, the meeting does not go well after the teacher realises who Cal was, and Emily realises the nature of the relationship between Cal and Robbie's teacher. The latter occurrence leads to a committed and serious relationship between Jacob and Hannah, causing Jacob to 'change' while simultaneously abandoning Cal despite his many voice mail messages to Jacob.

"I met a girl.. and she's a game changer."

Approaching the climax of the film, Jessica's parents discover several nude photos of herself, which Jessica had planned to give to Cal in order to make him see her as an adult and a viable relationship option. Cal and Robbie reveal to Emily the mini golf course they had built as a gift for her in her backyard. Jacob and Hannah arrive and it is revealed that Hannah is Cal and Emily's daughter, and Cal is understandably very indignant of the relationship between her and Jacob. Jessica and her father arrive, the latter of whom attacks Cal, mistakenly believing that he and Jessica had been seeing each other. Chaos ensues, along with several of the funniest moments of the film. Several variations of the sentence "(S)he is the one you're in love with?!" are repeated, due to the intricate and complicated relationships of the film.

"Stay the hell away from my daughter!" "Stay the hell away from my daughter!" "I don't even know you!" must be one of the funniest mid-fight conversations to ever be uttered on screen, if not for the words themselves, but for the context and the acting.

At the end of the evening, Cal lays down an ultimatum: Hannah and Jacob must break up, or he will have nothing to do with them. Hannah and Jacob, of course, refuse to end their relationship, and Cal is left with no other recourse but to leave, dejected. Jessica's expression as she, leaving with her father, looks back over her should at Robbie is a perfect example of the characters' feelings. They had started these endeavours and relationships with such hope and excitement, only to have them end in such a terrible, tragic mess. It becomes clear that any enjoyment or hilarity the viewer found in this situation came only at the expense of the characters.

The end, however, is an uplifting one. To see how that is achieved, one will have to watch the movie. Either that, or read the summary on Wikipedia.


As far as comedy goes, this film made many great attempts, but had not nearly as many home runs as it would have liked. Several of its 'humourous' moments came from Jacob's tutelage of Cal, which expounded upon Jacob's status as an annoying douchebag. Thus, those hilarity attempts ended up being only annoying, and not funny. The most memorable and genuinely enjoyable funny moments of the film were, of course, the fight scene toward the end and, probably the funniest line in the whole film, Jessica's outburst to Emily - "I don't want your slutty money!"

The acting in this film was overall quite good. Though Steve Carell was his usual deadpan, almost annoying self, there were moments when it could be believed that he has a future as a genuine actor and not simply a movie repeat version of his character from The Office. Julianne Moore's portrayal was subtle and believable. She almost succeeded in making her affair a pitiable mistake instead of a thoughtless decision. Her two most impressive scenes were: the moment when she told Cal she wanted a divorce, her face showing simultaneous surprise at her own bravery and resolve to, no matter how difficult, stay the course no that those words had been uttered; and the scene somewhere in the middle of the movie when she called Cal, not knowing he was in her backyard, and lied about needing his help with an appliance. Her expressions were believable, subtle, poignant, and endearing. That phone call scene was probably the most heartbreaking moment in the entire film.

Analeigh Tipton shone in her debut starring role as one of the central and most well-played characters in the film. Her portrayal here suggests a great talent that will hopefully achieve wonderful things in the film industry.

Overall this film is a light, enjoyable way to spend time if one does not wish to be overly excited. Neither the plot nor the dialogue is particularly stimulating, but this movie will be perfect for background noise while doing other work.