Alternate Best Actor 2009: Stephen McHattie in Pontypool

Stephen McHattie did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Grant Mazzy in Pontypool.

I do love going into films blind sometimes because I get something like Pontypool which honestly I thought was going to be a character study of a shock jock...it is decidedly not that. 

Anyway, the terrific character actor Stephen McHattie, also Lance Henriksen's cinematic younger brother, does indeed play a seemingly new DJ, and former shock jock, for a local Canadian radio station, coming into work during a blizzard and having a strange interaction with a random woman before getting to work. McHattie naturally has a great presence, though not the presence you'd attribute to your typical leading man. McHattie has a naturally intense presence, one that actually makes you often not very comfortable because there just seems to be something innately intimidating about him. And despite being our protagonist here, McHattie doesn't exactly shirk that idea either with portraying Grant, who first comes into the scene of the radio station, which also only contains a technical assistant Laurel-Ann and the station manages Sydney (Lisa Houle, who also is McHattie's real-life wife). 

In the early scenes of the film, we see perhaps what was closer to my initial perception of what the film might be about, as Grant as the shock jock comes in conflict with Sydney who genuinely just wants him to host in a straightforward way. McHattie is terrific in presenting two sides of Grant in this scene, by presenting first probably Grant in his "prime" as the shock-jock where his particular cutting is ideal for that specific kind of radio, where one accentuates the negative and often philosophizes towards the extreme negative. McHattie is able to spit that kind of venom with that particular bravado most effectively. This however is in contrast to Sydney always pushing him away from going into that routine, and McHattie delivers well this kind of fumbling moments. Suggesting quickly a guy who probably isn't where he wants to be in terms of his very specific career, and his turning away from the extreme, with almost a bitten tongue, instantly gives a strong understanding of where Grant is at this point in his career. 

The film's plot begins to reveal itself as Grant and crew hear from a correspondent who begins to detail a strange event where a massive group of people starts acting strange. McHattie is great in shifting gears in his performance, as we see the slow processing of Grant as he takes in the situation, that seems potentially a prank at first however that slowly goes away. McHattie modulates his delivery effectively from somewhat confused to genuinely concerned, showing any notions of playing the cynical shock jock going away, and instead presenting this quiet building urgency. McHattie adds to the eeriness of it all quite powerfully as his reactions in each new message, which become more and more foreboding, convey so well this confusion segueing to a genuine sense of withdrawn horror. McHattie shows someone starting to believe something horrible is happening but also trying not to accept it because it honestly scares him. A slightly out of the main story moment is when Grant comments on the BBC, and I do love the moment McHattie showing suddenly Grant without any confidence on this bigger stage, his delivering becoming stumbling and almost a bit shy in his manner of someone only confident in a smaller setting and dealing with material that he knows. 

The film then takes a swerve due to the appearance of Dr. Mendez (Hrant Alianak) literally through a random vent. The film drops being horrifying as it becomes a black comedy about a virus that infects via certain words in English, a concept sold by the Dr. in a rather heightened tone and we see in action as the technical assistant becomes a zombie who spits out her guts when she can attack the crew. Where I'll say the film gets a bit messy, McHattie manages to handle the shifting tone rather well and quickly resets his work to become kind of quickly this heroic horror protagonist trying to figure the situation out. His eyes suddenly denote this sort of sense of conviction as he listens to the insanity and becomes kind of the man trying to find sanity within it all. And while the film lost me in parts, McHattie managed to keep me at least in general engaged on the human level he brings in continuing Grant's story effectively to becoming suddenly this strange kind of hero, that even continues as Sydney gets infected, which Grant cures by associated her infection word randomly with a kiss. The two suddenly become a heroic romantic pair, but they do have some great chemistry together and are extremely endearing even as the strand they get on is as random as the word associations they end up broadcasting to fight the infection. McHattie turning Grant into the hero does work on a certain level because McHattie's performance works. His suddenly forceful delivery of hope via nonsense is filled with this eager sincerity that is rather wonderful and convincing in the oddball energy it contains. And while I wouldn't quite say the film remained consistent on a whole, McHattie's performance at the center of it is consistent, which is particularly impressive given how chaotic the film gets at a certain point. McHattie never loses the thread of his character even as the film becomes one very messy ball.