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Sunday, July 7, 2013

Kevin Spacey: An American Icon


Mr. Spacey, you deserve your due.  While you may not be the best actor of our generation (although that's debatable), and while you may at one time in your career have been the supporting actor to Dennis Leary (see The Ref), you are always very good, if not great in ALL the movies in which you are cast, which is something that can't always be said for the so-called greatest actors of your generation (I'm looking at you DiCaprio and Depp).  And, as if you weren't already the mac-daddy that you are, you also pulled THIS AMAZING STUNT recently.

Let's do a quick rundown of some the films you've starred in over the last twenty years.


1. THE USUAL SUSPECTS (1995)


















This is the one that really put him on the map.  I think I hated this movie for about 100 of its 106 minutes of total running time the first time I watched it, but the ending is one of the best, and of course, Spacey narrates most of the story in a wonderful way.  Spaceman received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for this one.


2. SE7EN (1995)

















Take note of the fact that the two main stars of this film are some of those familiar names you always hear thrown around in the "best actors of our generation" conversation we've all had late at night after a couple cold ones.  Perhaps due to this Spacey's superb portrayal of a homicidal maniac gets swept under the rug and often forgotten in this David Fincher classic.


3. L.A. Confidential (1997)





















"Rolo...Tomassi...."  Spacey just has a knack for picking roles in which he gets to drop these plot line bombs on moviegoers, doesn't he?  Anyone who is familiar with this film knows what I'm talking about.  One of my favorite films of all time, L.A. Confidential's cast is rivaled by few movies and the writing is even better.  Being born in 1959 Spacey missed most of the 50's, but as smooth Jack Vincennes, he makes it seems like he was destined to exist in that decade.


4. MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL (1997)


Alright, not the best movie he's done, but a solid testament to Spacey's role selection as he shines in his portrayal of the charismatic and alluring Georgian, Jim Williams.  Read the book about this true story before you see the movie.


5. AMERICAN BEAUTY (1999)


Has there ever been an easier character to root for than Lester Burnham, a.k.a. my hero?  Or perhaps here's the better question: Can you picture anyone pulling off Lester Burnham's character any better than Kevin Spacey?  Probably not, and that's why it won him an Academy Award for Best Actor .


6. THE LIFE OF DAVID GALE (2003)


Somewhat of an overlooked movie with another one of those endings that leaves you dumbfounded.  It's Spacey's convincing acting job few can pull off which allows the viewer to be lead into a trap that sets themselves up for such a shock.


7. BEYOND THE SEA (2004)


A brave role to take on.  If you're not familiar with the music or life of singer/songwriter Bobby Darin, you're doing yourself an injustice, as his music is the tits, and he had a very interesting life.  Darin was in a way second fiddle to the other heavy hitters of the lounge/big band scene of the 50's and early 60's like Sinatra and Dean Martin.  Unlike them, however, he wrote most of his own music.  The fact that Spacey decided to take on this role due to his interest in Darin makes me appreciate the man even more.  It should be noted that there's no lip syncing through out the entire movie, it's all Kevin Spacey actually singing. 



8. SUPERMAN RETURNS (2006)

He's Lex Luther who almost took down Superman.  That's gotta count for something...right?  



9.  MOON (2009)

Another one of my all time favorites, and another role that speaks to Spacey's diversity and humility as an actor.  Do you think that Brad Pitt or Morgan Freeman would take on the role as the voice of GERTY, an A.I. robot mechanism, in the feature debut film of Duncan Jones, son of rock legend David Bowie?  Of course not, but Spacey will because he is 8 million times cooler than both of those actors put together.