So Balls of Fury comes out this weekend which stars Christopher Walken as some sort of evil Asian MC for a ping pong tournament. Its a bit of stunt casting that feels REALLY stale. The general assumption is that there is something inherently funny in casting Christopher Walken in a comedy. However, he's done this SO many times that there is no tension or dichotomy in his role choice/star persona anymore. What baffles and fascinates me though is the incredible amount of good will he seems to generate from the general movie going population. He can star in basically anything and come out of the picture unscathed. Some of the normally career ending films he has stared in the past decade include; Joe Dirt, The Country Bears, Kangaroo Jack, Gigli, Envy, and The Stepford Wives.
However, do a youtube search of Christopher Walken and you'll get thousands of amateur impersonations which are basically loving, gentle, adulatory spoofs. In viewing his IMDB credits, he always has seemed to alternate somewhat between serious and light fare until around 1999 when he made a surprise cameo as The Headless Horseman in Sleepy Hollow. From there onward his film choices seem to take a serious nosedive. Paycheck seemed to become paramount over script, film premise, or personal integrity.
There are quite a few actors from his generation who seem to have followed a similar career path including his very famous co star from the very serious and intense The Deer Hunter, Mr. Robert Deniro. Perhaps he is an even more painful example. While Christopher Walken always seems to be in on the joke, Mr. Deniro does not. I don't think he realized the full camp potential or horribleness of Hide and Seek, where he went toe to toe with a then 10 year old Dakota Fanning. Some other recent career lowlights of Mr. Deniro include, Godsend, Showtime, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, and Stardust in which I've read he plays a cross dressing outer space pirate. Interestingly enough, 1999 seems to be the turning point for Deniro as well. He starred in Analyze This, where he spoofed his own tough guy mafia persona and the film was both a critical and commercial success. He did in this post 99 period star in the very lucrative Meet The Parents and Meet The Fockers films but at what expense?
So basically these are two men who in the third act of their careers had a mini renaissance by making fun of themselves. What started as a surprising and clever play on audience expectations has devolved into sad clownish pantomime that feels desperate and cynical, with the only motivation/explanation being a paycheck.
Questions to ponder. At what point does an actor become an icon and immune to box office success or failure? Who are other examples? [Mr. Pacino I'm looking in your direction]
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It's true. You have to wonder sometimes what these people are thinking. I often feel the same way with Ms. Kidman. On top of not being the biggest believer in her talent, some of her career choices have been to say the least awful. Fur, anyone?
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