To PSH on his Birthday

It seems like an impossibly strange thing to say, but I actually think Philip Seymour Hoffman is underrated. He’s remembered for his recent Oscar work and whatnot but the man’s been acting sine the beginning of the nineties and has been a great number of critical smashes. True, he’s also been in some abysmal ones. Whilst flipping the channels last week Along Came Polly came on and I realised that he was in. I’d forgotten that, as well everything else about that awful film, I’d also forgotten that he was in Scent of a Woman in 1992. He’s become a bit ubiquitous recently, and I think that ubiquity has made people forget how good he is. Here’s a refresher.
       

Freddy Miles in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)

 

“Tommy. How's the peeping? Tommy, how's the peeping?”

Father Brenda Flynn in Doubt (2008)

“Doubt can be a bond as powerful and sustaining as certainty. When you are lost, you are not alone.”

     

Truman Capote in Capote (2005)

“Sometimes when I think of how good my book is going to be, I can't breathe.”

Jon Savage in The Savages (2007)

 

“We're not in therapy now- we're in real life.”

Andy Hanson in Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007)

 

“Hank, you're so stupid!”

             

And he's done a lot of good work that I haven't even touched, I have a soft spot for his ridiculous hambone performance in Cold Mountain. He's got three features coming out this year - MoneyBall with Pitt, The Ides of March with Gosling and Clooney and A Late Quartet with Christopher Walken and Catherine Keener (who he was brilliant in Capote with). Maybe it'll be like 2007 where he'll give two great performances and one good one, and they'll nominate him for the least distinguished. So, I predict that he gets nominated for MoneyBall. What do you remember Hoffman for?

Soak Up the Sun: The Talented Mr. Ripley

When Tom Ripley travels to Italy to procure Dickie Greenleaf (at Mr. Greenleaf’s request) he must decide on a way to inject himself, smoothly, into the lives of Dickie and his girlfriend Marge. Truly, each time I see The Talented Mr. Ripley I love it a little more. Even though, The English Patient is my favourite Minghella film there’s an inimitable style to The Talented Mr. Ripley. This shot of Dickie and Marge soaking up the sun is a brilliant example.

It’s almost gratuitous, Jude laid out for the Italian sun and even before we realise Minghella’s getting all symbolic with imagery and his characters. It’s not just Tom’s would-be lust for Dickie. Jude’s looks almost golden in the sun there, and I’m immediately thinking of that adage “all that glitters...” because as charming as Jude is Dickie’s more than just a little egocentric. And, I love that it’s one of our first shots of him. He’s lazily soaking up the sun, but it doesn’t seem like an immediately lazy act. We’re more inclined to think that it’s a god among men enjoying his pleasures, which is just how Dickie thinks of himself – and Tom for some time.
    
As far as enjoying the sun goes, I wish we could all look as good as Dickie doing so (and have Gwyneth Paltrow on arm, to boot).

“Someone has to die...”

Like in real life, deaths are a given in movies. Even if it’s one of those comedies where the death is extraneous – and off-screen, it’s still there. Some distant relative dies so the hero can inherit some important piece of land, or whatnot. Death scenes are a different thing; it’s sometimes difficult to show the act of death without seeming too heavy-handed. And then, sometimes it’s difficult to make that heavy-handedness work for your film. Most often we think of cinematic deaths in relation to tragic deaths of the main characters. Here’s an Introduction to my course in Cinematic Death; Death 101, if you will.

              

Spoilers ahead, naturally.

           

Death 1.1: The Ridiculous

(Key Contributors: Brad Pitt, Ethan and Joel Coen)

(Secondary Parties: George Clooney)

It’s probably wrong to think of death as a funny thing, but that’s essentially what the Coen’s are begging us to do. I will champion the atypical brilliance that is Burn After Reading until my dying day, it comprises one bit of crazy after another and though the death in question refers to the death of the film’s best character there’s no way to ignore the hilarity found in Chad’s death midway through the film.

Death 1.2: The Beautiful

(Key Contributors: Franco Zeffreli, Olivia Hussey, Leonardo Whiting)

People are not particularly beautiful in death, but Shakespeare’s not exactly working on logistics in Romeo & Juliet and neither is Zeffrelli for that matter. Suicide is painful, and unfortunate and tragic – but is there any way to deny the beauty in that shot? Olivia Hussey and Leonardo Whiting are kind of brilliant in that way – best casting in a Shakespearean adaptation.

Death 1.3: The Depressing

(Key Contributors: Anthony Minghella, Kristin Scott Thomas)

(Secondary Parties: Ralph Fiennes, Gabriel Yared)

There a number of deaths in The English Patient, but there’s something especially important about the expiration of Katherine Clifton. It’s probably a puzzle in itself to decide where the actual “death” begins. In a film of highly quotable characters, Katherine probably wins if only because her closing monologue in the cave is so lovely. What makes the death so much more depressing is the reality that it could have been avoided had it not been for something as inane as racism. That scene with Almasay carrying her out of the cave (aided by Yared’s score) is just perfect.

Death 1.4: The Gruesome

(Key Contributors: Matt Damon, Anthony Minghella)

(Secondary Parties): Jack Davenport, Gabriel Yared)

It was pure happenstance having two Minghella films turn up here (though my love for him is true). The odd thing about the death in question here is that it depends on the person dying but the person perpetrating it. Damon is so brilliant as Ripley here and that chilling closing to the film is disturbing, and gruesome not so much because of Peter dying but because Tom is so distraught by it. Of course, Jack Davenport with his self-effacing Peter is important as is Gabriel Yared’s brilliant score (I like to think of the 90s version of Alexandre Desplat).

Death 1.5: The Sanguine

(Key Contributors: Tim Burton, Albert Finney)

(Secondary Parties: Billy Crudup, Jessica Lange, Helena Bonham Carter, Danny DeVito et al)

It’s weird thinking of any death as positive, but that’s just one of the weirdly great things about Big Fish – one of those odd films which manages to be better than its novel. Finney is so excellent here, and his death brings a sort of peace to the film. He’s managed to get his story off his chest and the moment is so much more profound because finally the father and son can stand on common ground and when the entire cast shows up for that moment at the lake at the end it’s just brilliant.

       

Which of these deaths strike you as most memorable? What would appear on your own list?

“Oh, Jude”

"I have an eye for talent."

I’m a big fan of Jude Law. That in itself feels like a gross understatement. Next to Ralph Fiennes he’s my favourite living actor. And it’s weird, I’m always wailing about consistency, but Jude doesn’t have an impeccable track record. Like any good actor he stars in less than in interesting projects I often wonder if Jude sincerely believes in the films he promotes – maybe he’s self deluded like Errol Flynn, remember his line in The Aviator “I have an eye for talent”, considering the times he's been great - you'd think so. Then, considering things like Sherlock Holmes, Repo Men, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus – not bloody likely.

                         

Oh, but I do love him – even if my worth as a fan is incredibly precarious when I consider the Jude Law films I haven’tI Heart Huckabees, which with its eclectic must be seen one day; or Breaking & Entering, which as a staunch Anthony Minghella fan I have no excuse for not seeing; or AI: Artificial Intelligence, which I’ve seen showing often but never bothered to watch. And yet, I’ve still got five performances of his that I especially love.

Jerome Eugene Morrow in Gattaca (1997) - REVIEWED

“If at first you don’t succeed...try, try again.”

What is it about Jude playing moguls of perfection? I like to remember this movie for Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman, the former especially who's never revered as much as he ought to be, but Jude steals the show playing the perfect man, who's not so perfect. Jerome is a bit of a dick, okay a lot of a dick - but that's the thing about Jude, even when you hate him...you can't. Even though Niccol's Gattaca didn't take off as well as it should have, does anyone (besides me) remember it anymore?

Dickie Greenleaf in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) - REVIEWED

“Everybody should have one talent, what’s yours?”

And he moves from the somewhat sympathetic epitome of past perfection, to a full blown cad who's know for his (you guessed it) perfection. Dickie Greenleaf is still my favourite Jude performance...it's one of my favourite supporting performances period, he just has those line-readings down pat. And when he says everyone has one talent, you kind of think that his is playing perfect - and being a pretentious douchebag, that we still can't help wishing we were friends with.

                        

(Somewhere in between this he played another epitome of perfection in AI: Artificial Intelligence)

              

Harlen Maguire in Road to Perdition (2002)

“I’m something of a rarity.”

He's nowhere near perfection (inside or out) in Road to Perdition, for heaven sakes he takes photos of the dead - and forgive me if I can't help feeling a bit of necrophilia here. And yet he's sort of right, Jude is a bit of a rarity. When he's playing perfect, he seems made for it but he's absolutely disgusting in Road to Perdition, and not even in an over-the-top look-at-me way, it's as if he really was made for the role in an eerie way. I'll never understood why the performance, why the entire film actually, was shafted that year.

Inman in Cold Mountain (2003) - REVIEWED

“You are all that keeps me from sliding into some dark place.”

As it is, though, I do find something beautiful in the fact that Jude earned his two Oscar nominations (thus far) for Anthony Minghella projects. Truth be told, I might have given him the Oscar this year - it's so tough for me to choose between him and Sean Penn. He's every bit as awkward as you'd expect his hillbilly character to be. Inman is probably my favourite character of him, which is surprising since he's the most introverted. You don't expect him to be a good introvert, but the extroversion in Cold Mountain is left to Renee Zellweger and Phillip Seymour Hoffman. Jude handles his role beautifully, though I admit I spent an undue amount of time waiting for him and Nicole to umm...get it on...and they were apart for sooooooo much of the movie. (I  demand a rematch.)

Dan in Closer (2004) - Performance REVIEW

“Deception is brutal, I’m not pretending otherwise.”

Is it because Dan is such a stealth meanie that this performance didn't catch on? Yeah, I'd have probably Oscar-ed him for this one too. He is my best-in-show, and I LOVE this movie. 2004 was supposed to be his year, he was downright impossible to avoid - I did love him in Sky Captain & the World of Tomorrow, that one's delightful amidst all the madness and woefully underrated.

                          

The recent drought of any substantial Jude roles feels a bit like a broken promise, he's supposed to be getting more work by now. I'm hoping that Contagion and Hugo Cabret (with SCORSESE) take off, I'm a bit tired of waiting on this train to arrive. But, then again, it's Jude and his moments of perfection outweigh the current drought. I were to rank the five it'd be #5: Jerome, #4: Harlan, #3: Inman, #2: Dan and #1: Dickie.

                 

What's your favourite Jude moment?

The Spin-off, Season One: Episode 2

It seems each time I start thinking about The Talented Mr. Ripley I get obsessed with writing about it. Watching it yesterday I still think that each member of the main quintet should have walked away with Oscar nominations – but I’m greedy like that. I gave you my pipe dream last week for a prequel about the life of Marjorie Mellor before she became wife to Jack and mother to Jenny and now I’m thinking about another sequel for The Talented Mr. Ripley. As brilliant as Gwyneth Palthrow is (and she really is) I can’t help being interested in Cate’s Meredith Logue whenever she appears on screen and Matt Damon and she have such good chemistry together. Earlier in the week I spoke of the ending and it’s implications for Ripley – a life of loneliness. Yet, what happens after? Does Tom (aka Dickie) ever meet Meredith again? Imagine the sort of film that could be.

Of course, Anthony Minghella is no more – he wrote and directed the actual film, but I’d still like to see Cate and Matt team up for a sequel picking up ten years after the credits rolled. I think Sam Mendes could do a nice job of handling it, even if he’s never done anything quite like that. Who knows what will happen? Perhaps Tom will eventually kill her too, but it’s sort of odd that Cate who seems to work with everybody hasn’t worked with Matt since. Maybe they’d go to another location, who knows? I just know I’d like to see more of Tom Ripley, and the actual book was a series of book so I’m sure there are loads of adventures he could get himself into.

             
Would you be interested in seeing more of Tom Ripley? Who would you put to direct?

Movie Meme, Day 26: Freakishly Weird Endings…

Freakishly weird…what exactly does that mean? An ending that was inadequate? One that I didn’t see coming, one that was bizarre…some endings deliberately try to shock you and make you go “a-ha”. Most often they fall flat, it wasn’t that I didn’t see this ending coming – I didn’t – the delivery of it was just eerie – brilliant – but weird.

SPOILERS – obviously (Haven’t seen it? Don’t read it)

Unlike the runaway for The English Patient Minghella’s 1999 masterpiece The Talented Mr. Ripley wasn’t wholly loved (REVIEWED). Based on the eponymous novel it tells the story of the nefarious body snatcher (not literally of course) Ripley, played excellently by Matt Damon in probably his best performance. Ripley is at first infatuated with Jude Law’s deliciously mean Dickie Greenleaf, but eventually he murders him when Dickie gets tired of his friendship. He adopts Dickie’s personality for some time before having to kill again. Along the way he meets Meredith Logue (Cate Blanchett in a beautifully understated performance). After convincing most of his innocence in Dickie’s disappearance he makes his way out of Italy on ship with Peter, a mutual friend of Dickie’s who Ripley may, or may not, start a love affair with. Unfortunately, Meredith Logue is on the ship – she still think he’s Dickie, and so is Peter. He can’t kill her, she’s with her family – but he can’t be revealed so in the final scene Tom kills Peter. It’s more than a rote killing because he does love Peter, but he loves his freedom more so as Peter tells us all the great things about Paul Ripley we see him sitting in the dark and hear the murder as he begins to cry tearfully and the screen fades to black. No ending will be creepier, even if they try more overtly. I’m repulsed, fascinated and moved by Ripley’s plight, which he of course brought on himself – that ending is definitely something special.

      

Am I the only one who was creeped out by this?

(More of the MEME)

Forgotten Characters 2:12: Finale

I like to have my own weird ideas of continuity, so it makes sense that my final entry in Forgotten Characters* will be a continuation of the original entry. So many months ago I covered a performance that I would have given an Oscar nomination to from an excellent 1999 entry. It is weird how one exceptional could manage to have so many excellent – and forgotten performances. I’ve been having this woman on my mind for some time, so it makes sense…

                         
Gwyneth Palthrow in The Talented Mr. Ripley

 As Marge Sherwood

Gwyneth really impressed with that 1998/1999 one-two punch of Viola DeLesseps and Marge Sherwood. It’s also more than a little ironic that she was once again in direct contention with a certain Ms. Blanchett. Marge plays the girlfriend to Dickie – Jude Law in a performance for the ages. When the duplicitous Tom Ripley wheedled himself into the duo he becomes a contented confidante to both Dickie and Marge and it’s the portion of the performance where Palthrow thrives. With it’s obvious feeling of overt darkness in the latter portion, there’s something oddly enticing about the film’s first half and Gwyneth is a large part of that. It’s easy to think she’s doing too little but it’s just her character of Marge (an excellent one, I might add). She manages to make Marge’s inclination to Tom unromantic and believable and perhaps it’s this reason that her performance in the second half doesn’t hold up quite as excellently.

The only false note I can find in the performance is her hysterical confrontation of Ripley towards the film’s end which is not exactly her fault – it’s also Minghella’s only false note, and I forgive her for it nonetheless because she’s so willing to portray Marge as self-deprecating it ends up working even when it shouldn’t. Like Jose, I hope that Palthrow’s familial duties eventually subside so she can return to the big screen. She’s not given enough credit for her natural cadence and affability which is something that’s decidedly difficult to forge. Of course with Jude and Matt giving performances of their lifetimes it’s not difficult to forget Gwyneth (and her psychological doppelganger) but it doesn’t hurt to take a few moments of your time to recall her brilliance. Like her costar, she would have rounded out my Supporting Actress line-up that year with Jolie, Bonham Carter and either Keener or Diaz. But, oh well, such is life.

                   
*as the post title implies, Forgotten Characters will be in recess for the next few months. Next week I’ll debut a new feature.
  
Did you remember Gwyneth’s subtle performance? Or were you too caught up in the main duo?
            
Forgotten Characters: Season 1
Blanchett in The Talented Mr. Ripley
Richardson in The Hours
Hawke in Training Day
Monroe in All About Eve
Castle in The Lion in Winter
Bean in The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings

Payne in Walk the Line
     

Forgotten Characters: Season 2
Mulligan in Pride & Prejudice
Law in The Aviator
Poehler in Mean Girls
Firth in The English Patient
Bates in Revolutionary Road
Farmiga in The Departed
Richardson in Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire
Noni Rose in Dreamgirls
Beymer, Tamblyn et al in West Side  Story
Ryan in Changeling
Friend in Pride & Prejudice

Performances of the Decade (Male)

Sometimes – often I should say – I doubt my credibility when it comes to making these best of lists. Yeah, yeah it’s all subjective and whatnot but some actors just work for me more than others but then again maybe I’m just being paranoid. The whole point of making this list is to highlight those performances that have impressed me the most, so it would be remiss of me not to have this on the list...even if no one agrees.

             
#8 Jude Law in Closer (2004)

Not to regress, but when I spoke about The Messenger (one of my favourite films last year) I remarked that I couldn’t quite understand who all the critics could remember Harrelson’s (admittedly good) performance and ignore Foster’s brilliant one. It’s one of the many things I don’t understand about awards. You can’t notice one good thing about a film while being oblivious to the rest. The same thing happened in 2004. Natalie Portman and Clive Owen picked up accolades left and right for their performances in Closer but Julia Roberts and Jude Law earned few. The thing is, I was particularly angry since Jude’s Dan continually emerges as the best performance of the film for me and nothing short of excellent.

Jude Law’s most memorable performance is probably The Talented Mr. Ripley and Dan is different and yet similar to Dickie, though the two do have the same face. Dan is a struggling writer slumming it as an obituary writer at a newspaper. He meets the irrepressible Alice and after a traffic accident he takes her to the hospital. Closer is a play, and though it’s no Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (another Nichols’ piece) it depends on its dialogue, and Jude sells it. His first conversation with Portman in the hospital is perfectly executed and it’s nice to see him turn on his charm (albeit a boorish one) for her. There’s a hint of slyness about him and you notice his eyes seem to be taking in more than just the obvious, but he’s not suave. I remember the scene where Portman tells him she was a stripper, his knee-jerk response as his eyes widen is perfect. But like all the characters in Closer Jude is no angel.

As we flash forward to his first meeting with Julia I wonder why he’s less nervous now. Is it Alice? His novel? But there is a pep in his step now and he flirts with Anna his charm is undeniable. As cute as he and Natalie look together I remain convinced by the relationship between he and Julia here, even before it begins. The two work brilliantly together, and as they drift into their banter it’s a delight to watch. It’s obvious what’s coming next, or is it? I, surely, wasn’t expecting Dan’s chat-room liaison with Larry. But it’s the appearance at the Julia’s party where Jude has another brilliant moment. Most recall Portman and Owen’s scene but it’s the adjacent scene between Roberts and Law that impresses me. The attraction between the two is palpable and the resulting confession Dan gives to Alice is no surprise. It’s memorable as being Portman’s moment but the sincerity of Jude here is worth remembering. “I want someone who doesn’t need me” is what he tells her. Dan is selfish, perhaps the most selfish of the story, but Jude is careful not to make him unredeemable and that’s an important quality of his because even though he’s the most selfish he’s also the most sympathetic.

His final scene with Julia always saddens me a little. It’s the lone moment of happiness the two share, and they’re soooo comfortable together it’s a pity they couldn’t remain thus. That solitary moment in the bathroom when he realises what has happened is superb. It’s a talent Jude has of showing his emotions with the slightest movement. If I have to single out a moment it’s his breakdown to Clive Owen. It’s pathetic and shameful and Jude sells it completely. It’s difficult not to pity this poor fool – and it’s really downhill from there, relationship-wise. The romance with Portman isn’t as authentic anymore and that defining moment (the “slap”) is unfortunate. I know that many feel Dan gets what he deserves but as Julia and Clive return to each other and Natalie returns to herself I feel badly for Dan as he remains there and learns in the most pitiable of ways who Alice Ayres really was. It’s right, I guess, that the last moment of him features him using his excellent facial expressions again.

Closer was underrated upon its release, but do you remember it? More importantly, did you appreciate Jude’s performance?

The Nineties Revisited: Ep 5

...wherein we come to the end. It's been lovely looking at the nineties in review, and I'm not going to end with a list of my favourite films from the period. That would be boring. Instead, I will highlight the ten best Ensemble Works from the decade. Firstly, remember this list is purely personal. So you may disagree. Secondly, this is not a list of my ten favourite films of the nineties. It's all about the ensemble, those films where you feel every actor is working in tandem with each other. The sort of "You jump, I jump" scenario from the actors. Yes, that one's there.

So, let me hear your thoughts? Give me your top three casts of that decade? Which of my choices have you reeling? Which makes you happy?

The Nineties Revisited: Ep 3

So continuing from the last two posts with the Supporting Males and the Supporting Females of the Nineties, I move on to the Leading Males. Here are the five Actors that made the greatest impression on me. One won the Oscar, two were nominated and the other two did not.

Which leading actors would you like to single out for recognition?

The Nineties Revisited: Ep. 2

So here's a second installment of reviewing the nineties. See the previous entry on the Supporting Women HERE.

Who were your favourites back in the day?