Hey all.

Opus just posted a note at his blog about JCVD, the movie in which Jean-Claude Van Damme plays himself (or at any rate, he plays someone named Jean-Claude Van Damme who has starred in movies with names like Hard Target, etc.). A few people have called the film a cross between Being John Malkovich and Dog Day Afternoon, or something like that. At any rate, I posted a comment there noting that I saw the film at a local festival a few weeks ago, and I liked it, but it made me wish I had seen a few of Van Damme's other films -- such as, uh, Hard Target, but also Bloodsport, etc. -- so that I could really "get" the various junky action-movie reference points. (Fortunately, I have seen most of John Woo's other North American films, and I have seen several of Van Damme's subsequent films too, such as Timecop, Street Fighter and The Quest, so I "got" enough of the jokes to enjoy the film on that level.)

After posting my comment, I started thinking about Adam Sandler, of all things. Punch-Drunk Love is much-loved by P.T. Anderson fans, and rightly so, but to really "get" the film, you have to be familiar with the persona that Sandler has created across all his other movies -- and how many PTA fans watch Adam Sandler films? Fortunately (if that's the word), in THAT case, I had already seen all but a few of Sandler's earlier films, so I "got" the new one. (I still haven't seen Happy Gilmore, which I gather is something of a cult fave; I also haven't seen Bulletproof or Airheads, but he was only second- or third-billed on those.)

What other examples are there, of movies that the informed critic "has to" see, in which the lead actor is someone who has tended to make movies that informed critics DON'T "have to" see, and in which that lead actor is now giving his existing onscreen persona a serious, quasi-artsy twist?

This question just blew my mind. And then I recovered and thought about Denis Lavant, who in Beau travail has a final scene (This is The Rhythm of The Night...) that is difficult to "get" unless you have seen Lavant in Les amants du pont neuf or Mauvais sang. He is an incredibly gifted dancer, and he uses this persona at the end of Beau travail in a startling way. But I don't think he is as mainstream as you have in mind.

Adam Sandler is excellent in Reign Over Me, in which all the humor becomes intensely therapeutic. Bill Murray strikes me as a perfect example of what you are asking about, his brief appearance in Darjeeling Limited almost a nod by Wes Anderson towards how reliant he was in previous films on Murray's "quasi-artsy" brilliance. Murray also made Broken Flowers worth watching. Matt Dillon did an excellent turn as Bukowski/Chinaski in Factotum - his meathead stereotype really panned out in this context. More come to mind, but Jim Carrey is impeccable in Man on the Moon and Eternal Sunshine..., even Truman Show. I can't help but watch those with the pet detective in mind as a foil. But at the end of the day: Bruce Campbell in Bubba... is the best example I can think of at the moment.

And maybe Jack Black in School of Rock.

Yeah, Bruce Campbell, Bill Murray, and Jim Carrey are the first ones that come to mind.

David Carradine in Kill Bill comes to mind. It helps to be aware that he was in all those 70s exploitation movies like Death Race 2000. Also, when he tells the story of Pei Mei and plays the flute you can't help but think about him in Kung Fu. Come to think of it, just about all of Tarantino's casting is enhanced by, but not dependent on knowledge of their prior film roles. John "Saturday Night Fever" Travolta in Pulp Fiction. He's an overweight herion addicted hitman and then he starts dancing like an old pro.

This is going back some, but would Jimmy Stewart in Vertigo count?

Matt

How about Pam Grier in Jackie Brown? There are some allusions to films she made in the '70's (Coffy, Foxy Brown, etc.), that were not necessarily films that the informed critic had to see.

Oh yeah! Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven. Except for Bird or maybe White Hunter Black Heart, I don't remember anyone taking him seriously as a director and certainly not as an actor until then. He may have been appreciated but he apparently wasn't considered Oscar worthy. It certainly takes knowing him from his previous westerns and Dirty Harry films to fully appreciate the statements about violence and revenge in Unforgiven.

There is a good one in Lost In Translation, when Bill Murray is watching a much younger Bill Murray in a movie or TV show. I haven't been able to pin down what he is watching.

IMDB cites an episode of SNL from 1975. Is this the one you're thining of?

Matt

Yes. I have just now noticed the Movie Connections feature of IMDB, which looks like an excellent resource.

Hmmm... Peter Falk in Faraway, So Close!?

Slightly different, but slightly similar, but I've always thought that Peter Falk in Wings of Desire quotes Peter Sellers' "Mr. Wang" character from Murder by Death (which also stared Falk) when he tries on the hat in front of the mirror.

Isn't there a line in Stakeout where Richard Dreyfuss is playing Trivial Pursuit and is stumped by the movie quote "You're going to need a bigger boat"?

This would be an example of the opposite thing, I think: someone known for appearing in critically acclaimed movies, appearing later in a "slumming" role and making reference to his earlier glory. Jaws would be considered an essential critic's film and Stakeout wouldn't. Kind of like Bela Lugosi working with Ed Wood.

Several of Tim Burton's casting choices come to mind: Vincent Price in Edward Scissorhands, Chuck Heston in Planet of the Apes, Christoper Lee in Sleepy Hollow and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But I'm not sure which Tim Burton films, if any, are considered essential critic's fare. Christopher Lee, it seems, is often cast because he's Christopher Lee, whether in good films (Saruman) or bad (Count Dooku). Speaking of which, perhaps Peter Cushing's appearance in the first Star Wars film should be mentioned here.

Whoa. I don't know if I've ever made the Peter Cushing - Christopher Lee connection like that before.