Damián Alcázar who played the sympathetic cartel member in director Luis Estrada's previous film El Infierno, here plays perhaps the most duplicitous character in a film filled with the morally bankrupt. Alcázar portrays the extremely corrupt Governor of a Mexican state whose act of corruption is used as a coverup by the president of Mexico for a gaffe. Alcázar's initial appearance is one of full on comedy as we see footage of the man as he admires a bag of money that are ill gotten gains. His physical manner where he is embracing the cash, with this most glowing admiration of it is hilarious and instantly establishes the rather unsubtle ways of the governor. This continues verbally as he attempts to defend himself in a news broadcast. Alcázar's oh so insincere attempt at political affability is just perfect as the governor tries to explain that the footage of him isn't of him, and that there must have been some sort of digital manipulation. Alcázar is wonderfully incompetent initially in portraying the governor having this sort of expression that is two things, a complete lack of shame and even more so just this slight sense in his eyes of blame. Blame of course not for himself but for anyone else. This furrowing of the brow that Alcázar uses to emphasize a man who knows he's angry at everyone for causing him problems. He soon attempts to fix this problem by bribing the same television station that broadcast his bribe footage to help him. Alcázar's great though in portraying this as even incompetent this with this terribly misplaced confidence in his grin as he slides over the traditional briefcase of money for bribing.
The governor's problems though are fixed through another manufactured, though technically real story, of a kidnapping of two girls that the media will exploit for all that's worth, and so will the governor. Alcázar is a highlight then in the collage of abhorrent behavior whenever it returns to the governor to see how the situation will benefit him or how something is harming him in some way. Alcázar's terrific by just reveling in it all and being as ridiculous as the part needs, though never going too far overboard, rather having just the right amount of fun on that edge. I'll admit I have special affection for the moments where we see the governor watching his favorite soap opera and Alcázar's expression is a man absolutely gripped by the experience of the rather flimsy drama in front of him. Alcázar I'd actually say is the performer who is best equipped within the narrative to handle the rather extreme tonal shifts, that often involve his character. This is as he goes about ordering or doing himself, the deaths of others often rather suddenly. Alcázar makes these moments work by bringing the same sort of nearly brainless petulance in these actions more akin to a spoiled brat than a deeply intelligent man. Alcázar though manages to be unsettling the sense though of the danger of a spoiled brat with a great deal of power and violence at his disposal. This in portraying it with the same ease as he does in taking a bribe and just emphasizing that it is all a day in the life of the governor. I must give particular credit to Alcázar for managing to craft comic moments even out of these later on in his casual manner in which he threatens others later that he'll have them commit suicide as well, as the men he shot and had shot had done. Alcázar makes it work though by just owning the sleaze as a man who just thrives within the behavior by not portraying a hint of doubt or hesitation in it all. Alcázar excelling in a near final sequence where the governor is announcing the return of the twin children as his personal triumph. Alcázar's eyes beaming brighter than they could possibly be, and his smile at its most pure in its excrement eating. Alcázar brilliantly portraying a despicable man living his absolute best life, and showing that in triumph his disregard for all things decent becomes all the more blatant. This is a remarkable performance from Alcázar as he finds the right bite within the satire through comical, though still menacing, portrayal of a most amoral man.
60 comments:
I really want to watch this now.
Yes! I am glad to see a performance reviewed from a non-Three-Amigos Mexican film, although yeah, the film could've gotten its' point across in two hours instead of more than that.
Calvin: Tony Daltons' in it as well.
Louis: I've waited since I joined the blog to see your thoughts on this film, and I have to say it has all been worth the wait. Could we have your thoughts and ratings on the rest of the cast? As well as your thoughts on the film's screenplay and direction?
I'm actually in such a good mood right now that I'll just watch the film again. My day has been made.
Totally agree with this one, and though I’d agree regarding the film’s length the tonal shifts never really bothered me. Also for the record, I thought Cosio was just as good.
https://youtu.be/97ZQNox2lcw Thoughts on this deleted scene from Rocky Balboa, Louis?
Checked out a few screen times on that website Robert posted, and quite a few were surprises. I never for one thought that Ledger would have just 33 minutes of screentime in The Dark Night, which I feel is just a testament to the quality of his performance.
Tahmeed: Some of the results shocked me. For years I had it in my head that Bardem was in No Country for Old Men a lot more than Brolin, but now I’m realizing it’s because I don’t remember the Brolin sections that much. Also, to respond to Louis in the previous thread; I haven’t seen Stalag 17, but having 47% screentime brings up a lot of questions about Strauss. Can you explain that one to me?
Robert: it’s just pretty much an ensemble film in many regards and Strauss and Lembeck are present in almost every scene and have a lot of standalone scenes of their own. Whereas Holden is actually seen at a distance at some. But really Holden is 100% lead and Strauss is definitely supporting.
Y’all should definitely watch Stalag 17 though.
Well done Emi. :)
RIP Carl Reiner
Rest in peace, Carl Reiner.
Emi Grant:
Herrera - 2.5(I might be slightly harsh on him, as I do wish there was just a little bit more of a striking presence at the center. He's fine, he has some more than decent reactionary moments, but I feel more could've been done in terms of conveying sort of the descent of his character towards corruption within his own performance. I have to say it also is in part that I wish Tony Dalton had this part since he makes a bigger impact with the part he does have, and I think he could've really brought something special as the "lead".)
Cosio - 4(Bordering on a 4.5, he plays the one virtuous and does not waste it. Cosio's terrific in his early scenes in portraying just the quiet discontent with the moments of intense passion when he rails against the evils of the government. Cosio's good in his moments with Herrera though in initially portraying this sense of attempted sympathy as he speaks with a genuine passion with a sense of hope in his eyes to be speaking to someone with morals. When that's not the case, he's good though in portraying sort of the slight pleasure he brings as he speaks towards everyone of their corruption and his earnest hope to do some good by blackmailing them with their own corruption. It's a striking performance and manages to make the right impression as the seemingly "one good man".)
Benavides - (He's good in portraying sort of the shallowness of his character emphasizing always the sort of phony drama he is trying to exploit while properly lacking in a real sense of empathy in his own work.)
Medina & Navarro - 3.5(Both are good in delivering at the center just some genuinely concerned parents and bring the right fear and emotional exhaustion regarding their "lost" children. They're terrific though in bringing the moments of sort of infighting, and slightly more selfish moments naturally within it. This not showing that the other isn't honest, but rather that they have flaws as people within the situation.)
Lisazo - 3.5(Enjoyable in doing mostly the proper dignified news anchor routine, though with the few cracks are his best moments, particularly his uncontrolled moment in his reaction towards the late political gaffe.)
Dalton - 3.5(More Dalton needed. Anyways though he is good though in bringing the right charisma in his scenes with a strict sense of self satisfaction and confidence in his interactions. I particularly like how in his eyes he always conveys his character as a step ahead seemingly of everyone in terms of how to play it in a media sense.)
The screenplay is overall terrific, though I think it could've benefited slightly by making the protagonist's journey more of an arc. I do think that comes in part from the performance, but I think the screenplay could've made that just a little more fundamental. Other than some paring down, which I think could've been done in the editing phase, it is marvelous satire in terms of creating really the layers of corruption and nonsense. This realizing in it sort of the hierarchy of the political machine and the media's support of that. It unravels this beautifully though each comedic absurd situation, as well as through each character we find really in each aspect of it, either a fool, a criminal, and in the one rare instance someone who actually cares. The screenplay is effective by making it really this procedural in conveying what each party is getting out of the nonsense, effectively a bit like Ace in the Hole, and how it supports corruption, a nice precursor to The Death of Stalin in that regard.
I think Luis Estrada'a direction here is even more assured here than it was in El Infierno, as even those moments of extreme darkness I think he uses to punctuate effectively as basically reminders of what's going on beneath all the nonsense. The nonsense though that he beautifully orchestrates through the purposefully overly pleasant musical ques that underlines well the nonsense of the sort of created narratives presented to the public. This while in no way hesitating, though not overplaying, the sort of debauchery of the corruption which he touches with right comedic absurdity in moments without becoming too much. Satire is a difficult genre to get down, particularly a political one, but Estrada captures it properly here.
Michael:
They didn't bother me either, I just mentioned as sort of a warning in case anyone goes in expecting it fully as a satirical romp.
Calvin:
I think that's really an essential scene for Paulie where both his closure to his relationship with Adrian that isn't really given the time in the final film, and his relationship with Rocky. It nicely I think kind of microcosm of it with his moment of self-loathing but also the sort of goofy camaraderie he and Rock always shared.
Robert:
To add onto Calvin, he's part of the comic relief for the film however his scenes don't have anything to do, or at least very little to do, with what is unquestionably the main plot (an informant in a POW barracks). Although I think that's probably one of the rare examples where someone has more screentime yet it is very obvious that he's supporting in terms of how the character is used within the film.
R.I.P. Carl Reiner...ah poor Mel Brooks.
R.I.P. Carl Reiner
RIP Carl Reiner
RIP Carl Reiner
With 1966 coming up next, here's my lineup suggestions for Lead and Supporting.
Lead
Eddie Axberg - Here Is Your Life
Per Oscarsson - Hunger
Anatoly Solonitsyn - Andrei Rublev
David Warner - Morgan - A Suitable Case For Treatment
Donald Pleasence - Cul-De-Sac
Rock Hudson - Seconds
Paul Newman - Harper
Lino Ventura/Paul Meurisse - Le Deuxième Souffle
Lee Van Cleef - The Big Gundown
Jean Martin - The Battle Of Algiers
Gian Maria Volonte in A Bullet For The General is 1967 in my opinion.
Supporting
Donald Pleasence - Fantastic Voyage
John Randolph - Seconds
Nikolai Burlyayev/Ivan Lapikov - Andrei Rublev
Gene Hackman/Richard Harris - Hawaii
John Huston/Peter O'Toole - The Bible: In The Beginning…
Louis: Would you be interested in checking out Luis Estrada’s other two films, Herod’s Law (2000) and A Wonderful World (2006)? Alcazar is also good in them (although I’ve only seen parts of the latter).
RIP Carl Reiner
Luke: I am gonna watch Battle of Algiers literally now since I keep finding different info as to whether Jean Martin is lead or supporting.
Luke, in your opinion, what's the most disappointing use of a major acting talent in a blockbuster from the past decade.
Anonymous: Bryan Cranston in Godzilla without question, his performance looked really promising from the trailers, they kill him off in the first act and we end up with Taylor-Johnson (No disrespect but his character was incredibly generic).
Luke, what about Ben Kingsley in Iron Man 3?
Anonymous: OK, minority opinion maybe, but Kingsley was awesome in that.
Anonymous: He's up there though he still managed a fairly impactful performance despite the final act twist being utter crap.
So on a more random note, I just watched "The Young Victoria" for the first time. I would say it was a decent (if rather standard) biopic, mostly because of it's fairly "sanitized" retelling of Victoria's early reign. I certainly think the film could've granted more complexity to it's subject, and Vallee's directorial touches could've been used more effectively, but the movie is still okay on the whole.
Blunt - 4 (I could probably go higher as she was quite good here, and I do prefer her performance over the oscar nominated turns from Bullock, Mirren and Streep)
Bettany - 3.5/4
Friend - 3.5
Broadbent - 3
Strong - 3
Richardson - 2.5
Christensen - 2.5
Kretschmann - 2.5
Matt: I meant more as to how they were used in the film rather than the actual performance, since I thought that’s what Luke asked, but yeah, he was good enough at least.
Anonymous: Yeah, but I liked how he was used.
Anonymous: Maybe I'm cheating with this one, but Don Cheadle being consistently sidelined for much of the MCU has been very disappointing - especially if one know's anything about War Machine in the comics.
Then again, you could say the same for a number of Marvel films and characters.
Matt: That's fair enough, everyone's divided on that.
Here’s a few that come to mind:
Mahershala Ali in Alita: Battle Angel
John Boyega (outside of Force Awakens), Gwendoline Christie and Benicio del Toro in the new Star Wars films
Thanks, Luke!
Louis: What did you think of Cosio's scenes during his 10 minutes of primetime with Pérez-Harris and his character's following scene at the hotel?
Louis: I'll be asking thoughts on the results post but have you seen 300: Rise Of An Empire and Noah.
Luke, If Game Of Thrones was first broadcasted in the 2000s, which theme tune from that decade would be a great fit.
Anonymous: The Tudors, look up Game Of Thrones (Iron throne promo - Season 1) intro with The Tudors theme and it works very well.
Luke: Just watched Battle of Algiers, Jean Martin is 100% supporting, he has some scenes where he is front and center when he appears (after 50 minutes), but the most scenes focus on other individuals and occasionally the character Ali who is the main character but even he is only occasionally in the film.
RatedRStar: Thanks for that. Your rating for Martin.
Luke: a low 4/high 3.5, still undecided, Louis should still see the film though because its excellent.
Thanks Luke, I have to agree with you.
Luke, thoughts on Eva Green in 300: Rise of an Empire
Anonymous: She's in a very mediocre film but ridiculously entertaining. She enlivens it every second she has on screen. An easy 4.5 and possibly could've gone higher if she had a better production to work with.
Louis: So who would you cast as Tasker for that 60's True Lies (that I made) instead of Peck?
Emi Grant:
I mean both are just brutal, in a technically good way, from his instant derailment where he is crucified on screen, then later in his moment of somber hope for some sort of success that is as viciously cut short.
Bryan:
Well since I've liked the two of his I've seen so far, yes.
Luke:
I saw 600, didn't watch Noah. I mean I could but, eh.
Anonymous:
Probably Robert Mitchum.
Louis: And what about A Second Chance, The Salvation, Lucy, Black Sea and Horns.
Louis: Rating and thoughts on Naomi Watts in Ophelia
Louis, could you possibly give a rating for Green in Rise Of An Empire.
Luke: And "The F Word/What If?"
Louis: Ignore A Second Chance, It's 2015.
Louis: Your thoughts on these scenes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3qxmBNaPD4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjzPBHe_XoM
Louis: In relation to me seeing "The Young Victoria" today, and your fairly recent re-watch of "Edge of Tommorow", what would be some of your past film roles for Emily Blunt?
I have a rather obvious one, I think....Ellen Ripley.
Mitchell: I think he might go with Theron on that one.
Luke: Your right....Theron's closer to Weaver in terms of screen presence. That said, I can see both her and Blunt in the part.
Luke and Mitchell: If you mean Alienssssss Ripley, Theron for 2000s and Blunt for the 2010s.
Bryan: Perfect!
Elizabeth Debicki would be my choice for Ripley.
Luke: Ah, The Bible: In the Beginning... That was a very strange viewing experience... Wonderful score though. Especially that main theme.
Anonymous:
Watts - 3(An odd choice for the film to really simplify all the other characters in order to supposedly make Ophelia more complex...not really on that point either. Anyway though though Watts is fine in her two roles in a particularly simplified Gertrude then just her twin sister who is witch for whatever reason. She's fine as both, but nothing in the role really pushes her to do anything of note.)
Anonymous:
A great scene for Stallone, though I can see why they sort of reduced his moments to more closely focus on Adonis. It's a very moving scene though in itself though for Stallone again, and just powerfully acted from him in so honestly hitting the sense of all of Rocky's losses. I'll say though overall...how people does one guy need to lose?
Another beautifully acted scene by Stallone, honestly all his Creed work is just fantastic, and while I think the cemetery scene hit the point anyways, this expansion of it is nicely done as well particularly just to see Stallone face that says it all.
Mitchell:
Wanda (A Fish Called Wanda, reverse the nationalities)
Laura Baxter
Susan (The Small Back Room)
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