Cinematic Frodo: Victim of Downsizing?

[zb]

I also think that Elijah could have done a better job of it all, even without a change of script, if he would have read the book for himself and not relied only on PJ's directions - he could have added maturity and courage to Frodo's character, and lay low on the whining. I think he's a good actor, but he didn't give it all he's got.

I think part of the problem is that Elijah Woods was the "kid brother" of Sean Astin, Billy Boyd and Dominic Monaghan off-screen, and it came through too much on-screen. For instance, Astin says that he pretty much took Woods under his wing, and this was like the Sam/Frodo relationship in the movie (sorry I don't have the exact quote - I think it's on one of the DVD FotR appendices). And we all know about Billy and Dom's merciless-yet-relatively-good-natured teasing of Elijah, which you can also see in the movie.

I won't even go into Elijah's obvious low blood-pressure problems. (Or maybe it's anaemia. Or sleep deprivation. Or any number of other medical problems which cause him to faint constantly.)