Saturday, January 14, 2006

No, I'm not joking

Evidenced by David Edelstein's obsequious missive to the Christ-like talent of Phil Seymour Hoffman, the awards season sends everyone into a congratulatory orgy (congratulorgy?). Critics suckle at the teets of actors, and no teet has been rubbed rawer than Hoffman's. Hold up. Capote is a blah film built around an interesting real person, hence the marginally interesting performance. To witness PSH's real reserve of talent, we must look to Twister. (Yes, the one where Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton make love upside down in an F5 tornado.) In Twister, PSH plays Dusty Davis, a frumpy, cowabunga-ish wind nerd. Next time it comes on TBS, keep your eye on PSH. He makes the movie at least three times more textured than it should be. He is always on the fringes of the screen (that's him in the red hat in the background), but it's a great, committed performance, many times that of his Capote, given the contexts.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Finally!!!! Someone else who agrees about PSH's role in Twister. It totally made the movie!