A. O. Scott's recent reviews have felt a bit padded to me; he's been indulging his tendency to pontificate at too much length about ephemeral ideas. But he's still the most perceptive analyst of acting, and his thoughts on Mark Ruffalo in today's Times are spot on:
The willingness to appear weak — to represent, in other words, a familiar variety of real, contemporary American man — may be Mark Ruffalo's great distinction as an actor. Even when he plays cops, in pictures like Jane Campion's "In the Cut" and Michael Mann's "Collateral," he does it with a visible tremble of hesitation. In Kenneth Lonergan's "You Can Count on Me," the film that first brought him widespread attention, Mr. Ruffalo's character was generous and sweet-natured, but also feckless, selfish and unreliable, in perpetual flight from maturity.
I love this kind of criticism: not flashy, but original, concisely capturing what makes a particular actor appealing. It's like a written variation on candid portrait photography.
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On a separate-though-still-literary note, Qwantz has been kind enough to provide a six-panel summary of Lolita. And there's a twist at the end!
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I'm starting to enjoy this daily-blogging thing. Maybe I'll even post something personal someday. I wouldn't hold my breath, though.
Posted by mesh at August 13, 2004 01:57 PM | TrackBacknot to be critical, but critiques of criticisms by various critics are about as non-personal as it gets.
i want to know more about your beard.
oh, and how many newspapers are there in your van?
I like criticizing critics, but I know it isn't a critical matter.
There is exactly one newspaper in my van today. I used the rest for a bonfire in Chickamauga this week.
My beard is fluffy, and thick.
Posted by: mesh at August 14, 2004 12:59 PM