Friday Top Five: Kevin Spacey

So, last week, Friday sort of came and went and I was unaware it was even Friday until the day was nearly over. I guess it's a good problem to have (that my work week went so quickly) but also, it's the perils of working 60 hours a week. Time flies when you are having fun, ha! Anyway, this week, I am focusing on the best roles of Kevin Spacey, mostly because I just finished watching House of Cards (which I super highly recommend, if only for Corey Stoll) but also because I can't think of another topic!

05. David Gale in The Life of David Gale (Alan Parker, 2003)
I know this movie is a tad heavy handed and may play at times like a Lifetime movie of the week, but I also have a pretty huge soft spot for it. Of course, it's much tighter and better executed than any Lifetime movie, and the performances alone are worth watching for. Spacey is compelling as the brilliant but flawed professor who is an activist against capital punishment only to find himself on death row for murdering a friend.
Best Quote: "Fantasies have to be unrealistic. Because the minute- the second- that you get what you want, you don't- you can't- want it anymore."

04. Lester Burnham in American Beauty (Sam Mendes, 1999)
Spacey had a string of roles in the mid to late 90's which was just perfection after perfection. And this Oscar winning role was seemingly the culmination of all those great character actor pieces he had been doing for a decade. Spacey impeccably plays Lester as a sort of loser who is treated badly by everyone in his life, who has a bit of a mid-life crisis and immediately becomes anything but a loser. He's brilliant in this movie, in every sense of the word.
Best Quote: "You don't get to tell me what to do ever again."

03. John Doe in Se7en (David Fincher, 1995)
First of all, Fincher is probably my favorite director of all time, so I may not exactly see the flaws which are in his films. But, to me, Se7en is a pure psychological masterpiece and the best part of this amazing film is Spacey's completely calm and stoic serial killer who is seemingly unperturbed by the absolute chaos he is causing all around him. Spacey is terrifying and frightening and, also, kind of funny. And, of course, that ending may seem trite now (what with all the rip offs and jokes made about it still today) but at the time, it was the best ending, you guys. The best!
Best Quote: "You will accept my apology, won't you? I feel like saying more, but I don't want to ruin the surprise."

02. Mickey in Hurlyburly (Anthony Drazan, 1998)
If you are someone who is interested in acting in film, you should probably watch Hurlyburly immediately as it is a masterclass, of sorts, featuring two tour de force performances from Spacey and his co-star Sean Penn. Both of these men absolutely kill it in this tail of drugs and Hollywood and backstabbing. The performances from Penn and Spacey are absolutely intense in every sense of the word, and while this movie's super dark tone may not be for everyone, the performances certainly are.
Best Quote: "Did I fuck... Darlene? (picks up phone) Last night?"

01. Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects (Bryan Singer, 1995)
Was there every any doubt that this would be number 1? Spacey plays everyone in this movie, his friends, the detectives and, most importantly, the audience. We are on this wild ride with his impaired character, trusting his every word, his version of events, completely unaware that he is drawing you in just to spit you out. Even now, even if you know the ending and you've seen the movie a dozen times and you know what's coming, even know that ending still gets you. This movie is so perfectly crafted from beginning to end and Spacey's Oscar winning performance is just the cherry on top.
Best Quote: "Who is Keyser Soze? He is supposed to be Turkish. Some say his father was German. Nobody believed he was real. Nobody ever saw him or knew anybody that ever worked directly for him, but to hear Kobayashi tell it, anybody could have worked for Soze. You never knew. That was his power. The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And like that, poof. He's gone."

Mini Reviews (Catching Up!)

The Adjustment Bureau - Maybe it's because I was watching it on a loud bus, or maybe the movie really was just stupid (the plot involves secret passageways and magical fedoras - not even kidding), but this movie did not live up to my expectations. I was excited to see this movie - where Matt Damon's senator meets the girl of his dreams (Emily Blunt) but mysterious men (led by the extraordinarily handsome John Slattery) try to keep them apart - but I guess there was a reason it was delayed for so long. The performances were all fine (except Anthony Mackie, who I loved so much in The Hurt Locker, but who was so, so very wooden here). It's just the script was mediocre at best and the plot was just plain silly. Grade: D+

Just Go With It - In the film world, we are led to believe that Adam Sandler could not only land a chick as hot as Brooklyn Decker, but also land a chick as hot as Jennifer Aniston as well. I call bullshit. Sandler plays a plastic surgeon who was once left at the alter and now uses his useless wedding ring to create sob stories and pick up sympathetic women. In other words, he's a total jerk and highly unlikeable and there is no reason in hell why anyone would want him to end up happy in this movie. The characters are all people we don't care about. There's no character development. It's not funny. The writing is bad at best. Then there is the painful "cameo" by Nicole Kidman. I mean, remember the early 2000's when she was the best actress working??? This movie will quickly make you forget all about that. The only saving grace is Jennifer Aniston who is charming and and tries to make the best of a bad situation. Grade: D+

Horrible Bosses - The sexy Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudekis all hate their bosses. And when they are a sexually harassing maneater (Jennifer Aniston), a coke head douche bag (Colin Farrell) and a plain, old jerk (Kevin Spacey), how can you blame them? So, on the advice of a man named Motherfucker Jones (Jamie Foxx), they plan to kill each others bosses so they can live happily ever after in their stuffy office jobs with their nice cars and pretty girlfriends. Suffice it to say, hi jinks ensue! Horrible Bosses isn't terrible by any means. In fact, some parts of it are pretty damn funny. Plus, the trio of bosses, all playing so far against type, are delightful to watch. I wish I could say the same for the entire movie. For as funny as parts of it are, there are as many parts that are painfully boring. It's a little too long and a little too predictable. Plus, I'm growing tired of this whole Hangover effect in comedy. You know, the bromance where none of the characters are all that likable but you are supposed to cheer for them while they do stupid shit anyway. It's getting old. Grade: C+

Beastly - If you are interested in seeing a bunch of pseudo pretty people acting very, very badly, then Beastly just might be for you! A modern telling of Beauty and the Beast, Beastly follows Kyle (Alex Pettyfer), a a pretty boy who is a super jerk but may have some redeeming qualities hidden deep down somewhere. After pissing off a witch (Mary Kate Olsen), she does some magic and makes him as ugly on the outside as he is in the inside. He has a year to break the curse... he just needs to find someone who loves him for who he is. Enter Vanessa Hudgens as a sweet girl with daddy issues. Seriously though, this movie is extremely predictable, horribly written and starring a trio of young stars who simply can not act. The only small ray of light is Neil Patrick Harris who tries to make the most of a blind tutor. His failure isn't his fault at all. (Although he is in the upcoming Smurfs movie and should probably rethink his approach to picking projects or it might effect his Awesomeness.) Grade: D-

Unknown - Okay, so Liam Neeson is a total bad ass and can make even a bad movie totally watchable. I think we are all in agreement about that. In Unknown, he stars as Dr. Martin Harris who arrives in Berlin with his wife (January Jones) to attend a conference. He forgets a bag at the airport and gets in a cab driven by Diane Kruger to retrieve it. Instead, they get into a terrible accident and he loses some of his memories. When he arrives back at the hotel, his wife has no idea who the hell he is and introduces him to her husband... Dr. Martin Harris (Aiden Quinn). I have nothing bad to say about most of the script. The plot is great and there is a wonderful twist ending. Neeson's performance is fantastic. Jones is wooden, as usual. Overall, however, the movie is just a little boring. It could have been 30 minutes shorter, no problem. The sum of the parts is just mediocre. Grade: C

21, Leatherheads, The Ruins, Horrorfest

21 - The glitz! The glamour! The pretty, young things! It must be a gambling flick set in Las Vegas! 21 tells the semi-true story of a bunch of MIT geniuses who decide to use their math abilities for evil and not good - they take up counting cards and spend their weekends in hot and steamy Vegas instead of cold and snowy Boston and take the casinos for lots and lots of money. Because, you know, it's not enough that these kids be smarter than everyone else - they also have to be richer than everyone else and (for the movie's sake, at least) hotter than everyone else. The young leads of the film are Jim Sturgess and Kate Bosworth - and that's a problem. Sure, they are both young and pretty and they look great making doe eyes at each other. However, neither are exceptionally great actors. I mean, Sturgess is charming and good-looking but I think he only has two expressions - wide eyed innocence and angry greed. Bosworth knows she's pretty and knows she'll continue to get acting jobs so it seems she's content with doing the minimum required of her. So, the two leads leave all the heavy lifting to the big names in the cast - Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburn. They are both game for the challenge. Fishburn plays the same character he's been playing for at least the last ten years. Not that there is anything wrong with that. There's no one else I would want as my tough talking, moral yet sneaky, kick your ass if you cross me black man. Then there's Spacey. He's returned to form here. It's disappointing that he won the Best Actor Oscar for American Beauty which then put him in this habit of playing moral leading men. Kevin Spacey was never and will never be a leading man. He's much too interesting and too talented. He's at his best when he's playing different degrees of evil. His character here, the professor who starts the whole card counting club, isn't evil, per se. But he is a snarky sort of cynical sort of smartass. And there is absolutely no one that does snarky, cynical or smartass quite like Spacey. And so, Spacey is an absolute joy to watch. Director Robert Luketic wants to be Martin Scorsese while filming Casino but he's not. Instead he makes a shallow, glitzy, shiny, fun movie. And sometimes it's more than enough to be shallow and fun. This isn't a movie that wants to change your life. If you ignore the fact that it sometimes plays off as a vacation commercial for Las Vegas (has Las Vegas looked this much fun lately?!) and that the plot holes are the size of the Grand Canyon at times, then you'll surely enjoy the film.
Grade: C+


Leatherheads - File this one under 'wasted opportunity.' Director and star George Clooney does a decent job of creating a certain kind of atmosphere - jazz and football circa the 1920s. But good atmosphere can only get you so far. The story surrounds the beginning of professional football as we know it in 1925. Clooney stars as Dodge Connelly, the player / manager / public relations spinner of the Duluth Bulldogs, a rag tag group of guys who have never played a clean game in their life. But damn it if they aren't fun! After funding runs out on their league, Dodge gets the brilliant idea to recruit Princeton star and supposed war hero The Bullet (John Krasinski). At the time, recruiting college players was unheard of and Dodge's decisions will forever change the face of football. Enter Renee Zellweger to play Lexie Littleton a sassy little journalist who livens things up a bit. Now the major problem. The movie is boring as hell! For all that atmosphere, all that charm, all the zingy one liners and nice costumes - it never really goes anywhere. There is something that just doesn't click. The script is decent enough. The acting is solid enough. The directing is solid enough. It just doesn't work. I love slapstick comedy as a genre but something about everything coming together just doesn't click. Clooney and Zellweger fancy themselves Grant and Hepburn from Bringing Up Baby. They are not. If I had to pick a best performance, however, I'd go with Zellweger. She's been pretty hit or miss for me lately but this movie actually reminded me why I, at one time, loved her so. The role is really perfect for her. There hasn't been a more perfect role for her since Bridget Jones. She's got that face and that attitude and it looks like she really did belong in the 1920s. Clooney and Krasinski are both charming, funny guys. This movie should have been something pretty great. Instead, it just plays as a boring disappointment.
Grade: D+

The Ruins - Here's the thing: The Ruins isn't a bad movie by any means. As far as modern day horror movies goes, it's one of the better ones. While it's not for everyone and it's not nearly as good as the masterpieces it pays homage to, those who appreciate the horror genre will probably find the movie to be enjoyable at the very least. It's a little disturbing and graphic (which doesn't bother me but will surely upset some people... like the woman sitting a few rows behind me who apparently never saw a horror movie in her entire life) and a little cliched. The film moves along at a fast pace. It's got a short running time and a bunch of young actors who are hot AND can act (imagine that!). The thing I think I liked most about it is that the characters actually do things that a normal person would probably do in the given situation. (And this is a rarity in horror films!). There are a few really intense and solid scenes. Of course, there are a few not so great scenes as well. The acting is all believable (Jena Malone and Jonathan Tucker are the stars but Laura Ramsey steals the show). I'm not exactly sure that there is a great plot in there and I'm not exactly sure I loved everything about what they found when they got to the ruins but I didn't hate it enough to not recommend this film. It's not a great movie but it's definitely fun for people who are sick of watered down, cheap, lousy horror movies.
Grade: C
[For the record: this would have gotten a C+ but I absolutely hated the ending... especially after finding out what the ending of the book is... they really, really, really should have thought a little longer about keeping the ending the same.]

Mulberry Street - I know I've used the phrase "Worst Movie Ever Made" more than once on this blog but this time I'm serious. I mean, it's about Rat People, for Christ's sake. So, seriously, stay far away from this lousy, terrible, awful movie.
Grade: F