by Thomas M. Pender
Another undersung hero of Hollywood that I greatly enjoy is, no doubt, a name you won’t recognize. He’s been part of a couple of Tinseltown’s bigger films, so you would probably recognize Sam Rockwell’s face before his name. His presence on the screen is completely magnetic, even in the smaller roles he has taken. Rockwell is one of these rare talents who can humor with just the right kind of smile, frighten with another kind, and whether he’s in a comedy, drama or thriller, make you wonder what he’s up to at all times.
I first saw him in the John Turturro oddity Box of Moonlight. I have only found Turturro himself to be entering once or twice in his entire career, but the plot intrigued me here. Turturro plays a frustrated and pressured man who suddenly sees everything running backward around him. Through a misadventure, he finds himself in a secluded area, where he discovers Rockwell’s eccentric character living alone. I wanted to see this film solely based on this character, as shown in trailers. He wears a Davy Crockett coonskin cap and a buckskin jacket, shoots at random objects with a rifle, and keeps a box in which he claims he has trapped some precious moonlight. This is a character worth seeing!
In the excellent Michael Hoffman 1999 retelling of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Rockwell hardly has any lines at all, yet his facial expressions alone entertain in every scene we see him. The entire production is well worth seeing, starring Kevin Kline, Michelle Pfeiffer, Rupert Everett, Stanley Tucci, and Calista Flockhart, who was cast as the flustered and desperate Helena because she was playing the flustered and desperate Ally McBeal on television at the time. Here, again, Rockwell is practically a part of the scenery among this ensemble, but he will entertain you!
In that same year, he starred in two blockbusters: The Green Mile with Tom Hanks, and GalaxyQuest with Tim Allen. The Green Mile was his first chance to really shine a light on himself as the killer “Wild Bill” Wharton. His humor comes to the surface in some scenes, but mainly he is creepy in this one. This sort of range no doubt opened even more doors.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, based on television star and producer Chuck Barris’ memoir and/or novel (depending on whom you ask) linked the eccentric actor with an eccentric person to portray: Chuck Barris, the creator of The Dating Game and the creator/host of The Gong Show. Whether or not you believe the tale, Barris claims in the original book that he was also a government assassin while putting on silly television shows. Rockwell was a perfect choice for this role. He laughed at himself, at the circumstances, and the world at large. You’ll laugh with him.
I found A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (painfully ridiculous) and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (a movie as needlessly long as the title itself) impossible to enjoy, though no blame can go to Rockwell. I next caught Rockwell in Frost/Nixon. This is a completely dramatic part for him, and again a background role. He grabs no spotlight here, but helps the story along with a more humble part.
I have written an entire review on 2009’s Gentleman Broncos. This little-known, little-spoken-of gem somehow got itself attached to the much bigger film Paul by having its trailer included on the DVD. Even more than Paul, I wanted to see Broncos based solely on this trailer. Most people will find it either slow and boring or silly beyond repair, but it struck me just right, mainly due to Rockwell’s over-the-top, low-tech fun in a dual role. (Well, not so much a dual role as two renditions of the same role.) This is strictly human cartoon territory, where nothing is to be taken seriously, and Rockwell again selected a role to demonstrate an extreme into which he can stretch.
This is what draws me to actors. Range. So few actors these days actually have any. Once they do two movies and people know their names, they pick easy roles and pretty much portray themselves without any acting at all. It’s the actors who strive and reach, who can be just as dark a villain as they can be a shiny hero. As hilarious as gut-wrenching. I would love to see Rockwell take on strict human drama, where there is no smirking allowed, but I have no doubt he could accomplish this.
In short, if the name “Sam Rockwell” is attached to a film, you will enjoy it!
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