Fame where fame is due

Thora Birch
Co-star Mena Suvari got to turn on the bad-girl charm in “American Beauty,” but we all rooted for Thora Birch's delicate, confused Jane. She was the underdog, and we loved her for it.

Birch perfectly captured the overblown frustrations of suburban adolescence. In her own quiet way, she showed just how much more seductive she could be than Suvari's blowsy, obvious Angela.

United Artists Thora Birch (she's the one with glasses, just in case you didn't know) had to fight to emerge from Scarlett Johansson's shadow in 2000's “Ghost World.” But it was Birch, playing frustrated Enid, who most of the film's fans sided with.

What was a bit eerie about “Beauty” was that so many of us had seen Thora not that long before as Harrison Ford's young daughter in “Patriot Games” and “Clear and Present Danger.” Many viewers were probably thankful they didn't make the connection, given her tender (but barely-legal) topless scene.  Jack Ryan would never let his daughter do such a thing.

Other fans have been entranced by her portrayal of gawky Enid in “Ghost World.”  Just as Suvari outfoxed Birch in “Beauty” (but ultimately lost), Scarlett Johansson's Rebecca was positioned to make Enid into a plain duckling, if not an ugly one.

Maybe it's Birch's choosing plain-girl roles that makes her so appealing, because they allow her beauty to radiate from the screen in a quiet, devastating way.  Her emotions are so clearly written on her perfect, rounded face that you have no option but to empathize. Christina Ricci used to have a similar effect before her characters became too callous (and she grew unsettlingly thin).

Birch has been working steadily since she was a child, and since she's still just 23, we figure there's plenty of time for her to find her groove.  But it's rare to find someone on screen so delicate and yet so tough.  Johansson has transitioned gracefully to full-fledged stardom, and perhaps Birch only needs a “Lost in Translation” moment to do the same.  We'd certainly like to see it happen.

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