I don't know what it is about John Cusack that makes me like him so much. He's one of my favorite actors despite the fact that he's not that good of an actor. As I argued before, for me an actor needs to show versatility to be considered a good actor. But with John Cusack I don't need that, I think because of what he signifies: ordinariness.
John Cusack is not attractive, he doesn't play heroics, and he doesn't show much emotion (by my count he has three: melancholy, yearning, exasperation). But it's BECAUSE OF his everymanity...BECAUSE OF his despondency...that I like him so much. It's as if one of us was cut out of our world and dropped in a movie. That's who he is. He's a paper doll we like to watch in novel situations: Let's see what John Cusack does confronted by the mafia. Let's see what John Cusack does hooked up with Catherine Zeta-Jones. Let's see what John Cusack does as a hit man...
But, at the same time, because he remains aloof and understated despite the craziness of movieland (ex. "Sorry I blew up your mom, Ricky") he takes on this cool, anti-cool quality--which makes us like him even more. We want people to be famous but we don't want them to act that way. He's like that, only in movies too. He's doing cool and interesting things, but he doesn't seem to care.
My favorite two roles for him are as Jonathan Trager (Serendipity) and Martin Blank (Grosse Pointe Blank).
7 years ago
11 comments:
Serendipity. Serendipity?! That's your other favorite role for Cusack? Wow.
Okay, now that I've pulled myself back into my chair: I liked him as Rob Gordon in High Fidelity much better--with the added bonus that I can admit, in public, to having seen that movie.
Seriously though, fun post, and a nice tribute to a likable actor. Sometimes I wonder why I like him so much, since he seems to do so many crap films (*cough* Serendipity *cough*).
Marci and I recently saw 1408, a movie about a haunted hotel room, which featured ol' John Cusack. Pretty good stuff, if you haven't seen it. Good n' spooky.
By the way, I liked the shift from "I like John Cusack 'cause..." to "we like John Cusack 'cause...". Nice subliminal work there!
Sorry Dan, but I have to agree with Jared. I liked John Cusack in Serendipity too. I am not embarrased to admit that I actually own it. However, I am more of a John Cusack old school fan. I love him in Say Anything and Better Off Dead.
I didn't really like Better Off Dead..., but then I had the advantage of seeing it for the first time only a couple of years ago. Say Anything is quite good, though, and I only saw that for the first time fairly recently as well.
I can't believe I forgot to mention it, but Being John Malkovich is another classic Cusack film; arguably the best film's he's ever appeared in. (It's either Malkovich or America's Sweethearts.)
Ugh! I hated Americas Sweethearts. Maybe that is why I wasn't that impressed with Cusack's performance in it. It was a waste of acting talent (gotta love Catherine Zeta Jones)on a mediocre script.
oh my gosh! what crappy alternate universe are you two on?!?!? it must be one where all crappy movies look good. DO NOT LET YOUR EYES AND EARS BE DECEIVED!!! first of all, Serendipity rocked. 1408 and America's Sweethearts were the worst movies of all time!! And don't even get me started on Catherine Zeta Jones... I can't trust ANYONES opinion anymore!!
When it comes to romantic comedy, Serendipity is actually a pretty good movie...especially when you think about the fact that the two of them spend 99% of the movie apart....which makes it so you have to rely on the actors/support cast being able to keep your attention. Jeremy Piven, anyone?!?
AND it's a good Holiday movie--which makes any movie about 2 points better than it really is. Is it candy? Yes. But it's still good and Kate Beckinsdale is ho-...has a nice English accent.
So, I guess-though it's not my favorite ROLE for John Cusack, it's one of my two favorite movies to watch him in. I think that's more accurate.
(If I were to pick a second role I loved him in, it'd probably be Bullets Over Broadway)
Btw, Dan, I did the "I like..." to "we like..." shift on purpose. I'm glad you noticed that. Ah, rhetoric.
You're not gone but I miss you already!! Knock 'em close to dead..... I mean... I don't want you to be accused of murder or anything. Impress the pants off of them and pray they're not gay! =) Love you!
Being John Malkovic, Better off Dead, Gross Pointe Blank, and High Fidelity are my favorite John Cusack flicks.
This is why the 'Net needs a sarcasm tag: there's no way America's Sweethearts is anywhere near being the best movie for anybody involved with it. (That includes the odd crew member whose sole film credit is Sweethearts, even though, yes, that flies in the face of logic--but then, so does the fact that Sweethearts enjoyed wide theatrical release.) I mean, it has Billy Crystal in it, a man who practically defines the term "grossly unfunny".
Indeed, it was practically heresy when I mentioned that pile o' garbage (America's Sweethearts, not Mr. Crystal, though I'd forgive anybody their confusion) in the same sentence as Being John Malkovich ... even though I just did it again, but in a more forgivable way. It's a film so bad that I expected people to know I was joking.
And there's no way I take seriously bagging on 1408 from folks who love Serendipity. Gimme a break! Neither is a great film, but both (apparently) are entertaining in their respective genres.
Nope they aren't even entertaining, terrible films, I am with Dan 100!
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