cap said:

(2) Pernilla August. Shmi may be the most “real” character in the saga, thanks to a genuine performance by August.

It's funny, I had remembered her as a pretty nice performance until I rewatched the movie somewhat recently... GAWD, she's awful.

First of all, her speech and acting is just as monotone and unnatural as Portman's, and above that, almost every interaction she's in happens to drip from saccharine.
All she really does in this movie, is putting on a "concerned", or "caring" face expression, in the kitschiest and flattest manner possible, and then reciting clumsy lines about how she dies everytime Annie flies on a podracer, or how he was "meant to help you"... gaaaah, awful.

So she learns that Annie can go free... "oh, that's wonderful, Annie!"... sorry, where's the believable emotion? She just gives off a fake smile, then looks "concerned" again when Annie gets it, then gives him a lecture about how he can't change the tides... what the FUCK?

She's responsible for some of the most fake, melodramatic, kitschy dialogue scenes in the whole movie. Her character, and her performance, are completely flat, bland and eyeroll-inducing, and just contribute to the overall cheese in that whole Tattoine chapter.

And her accent is annoying, too.

The two Jedi were fun whenever they were "acting" in front of another character, imo. Taunting Jar Jar, shitting over Watto etc. - also they're quite good in the final battle. Aside from that... complete bores :D