To honor Jack Nicholson's apparently hammy--I mean "meaty"-- showing in Martin Scorsese's The Departed, That Little Round-Headed Boy has collected the Ten Greatest Lines of Jack Dialogue.In the same item, he of all things Block-Headed is also asking readers to chime in with their Five Favorite Jack Flicks - something I pointed out was an eternally askable question for which most anyone should have an answer.
But I was inspired by Chuck's request and would now like to know...
What is the Worst Performance in the Jackster's Long Career and Why?
Do not misunderstand. I love me some Jack, but let's not delude ourselves here - his is a career that's been as wrong as often as it's been right. And it's not like I'm some snob - I put his Daryll Van Horne from The Witches of Eastwick in my Top Five Best, ahead of stuff like Reds and Terms of Endearment.
My choice?
Batman. I'll easily give the honor to his Jack Napier/Joker - the role in which he was most clearly miscast - which is rather amusing given that back in the day most everyone was busy shitting their britches over Mr. Mom's casting as Bruce Wayne/Batman (a choice that ended up being far more inspired and sound than anyone would have predicted).
But Jack is just plain wrong as the Joker - a character who should not only be roughly close in age to Bruce Wayne, but physically should also be tall and lanky. Oh...and menacing. Did Tim forget that a villian should perhaps be somewhat intimidating? Instead of the Joker basics, we're given a short, fat old guy who would've looked far more at home in Barnum & Bailey's center ring than blackmailing Gotham City. The franchise never stood a chance with this Joker as the villianous template and it's only surprising that it took three more movies to reach the low point of Arnold's Mr. Freeze. Jack's Joker owed far more to Cesar Romero than Bob Kane.
19 comments:
I hated just about everything about that Batman movie except Danny Elfman's score and Michael Keaton's performance. Jack was horrible, horrible, horrible.
(That said, I am a total sucker for the genre, and am thrilled about Heath Ledger playing Joker to Christian Bales's Batman. To me, that's some perfect casting -- Ledger's got that insane grin already nailed.)
But I also love me some Jack. I even re-watched Wolf recently just for the scene where he pees on James Spader's shoes and then says, "Asparagus."
Joan -
While I'm certain Ledger is going to do great things with the Joker, I'm still a little bummed that Chris Eccleston didn't get the job - and he was apparently considered.
Check out this this artistic rendering as well as this clever bit of trickery.
Jack in WOLF is sublimely outstanding.
Whoa, Ross -- those are outstanding. I must admit, I'm getting through the New Doctor phase by imagining it's still Eccleston -- I can just hear him delivering the lines. I actually cracked up a few times today remembering, "No, wait -- that's the Lion King...." (hehehe) It still makes me laugh. I will never be able to hear that song with a straight face again.
I think Ledger will be quite good, but damn you, man, for putting the idea of Eccleston into my head! You know I won't be able to avoid thinking "what if" when the movie is finally out!
I have an especially soft spot in my heart for Wolf because I was dating a much older man at the time it was released, and we saw it together. I've no pretensions towards Michelle Pfeiffer-dom, and he wasn't Jack, either, but we still liked that they worked together as a couple. Of course, that eventually fell apart -- but I'm still friends with him, which is cool. Obviously a lot of things have changed since then, but I'm still fond of the movie because of my original reaction to it.
Another key ingredient in WOLF was James Spader's patented smarminess. When he called Pfeiffer "the fuck of the century," he was probably just stating fact.
Worst Jack performance: BATMAN's not a bad choice, but he's the only entertaining thing in it, other than Robert Wuhl. It's usually not that Jack is bad, but that he's outsized to the role. For me, it's ABOUT SCHMIDT, where I didn't buy him for a second as a repressed old salesman. He didn't disappear into that role as some critics said. And, quite frankly, when I saw him with the older woman playing his wife, I went: Why is Schmidt sleeping with his grandmother? Oh, right, that woman is his age. But Jack only sleeps with 20-year-olds. See, the role was blown right that minute. There are some things Nicholson just can't play: such as people his age.
Chuck -
Holy shit! Robert Wuhl is entertaining? I did not know this. ;-)
Cracks me up that you dissed SCHMIDT so hardcore after I preached its virtues on your blog.
The film won me over when Jack didn't do what I expected - which was to explode at the reception scene near the end by reading everyone the riot act. His breakdown in the final scene at Ndugu's (sp?) letter tore me the fuck up.
Joan - I hope you forgive me someday.
Anybody who believes that Jack Nicholson wasn't perfect as "The Joker" is a brain dead effete pansy without a firm grasp on just what kind of villian The Joker was meant to be. :>)
Ross wrote: Jack's Joker owed far more to Cesar Romero than Bob Kane.
Well duh.
Romero's campy version of the Joker was perfect for TV's Batman just as Burgess Meredith was perfect as The Penguin. It defined the Joker and anybody who spent time with "The Dark Knight" as a kid knows that there was a large element of camp to The Joker in the comic books - most of Batman's arch nemeses' were either whacky with an element of intrigue and danger or crazed by circumstance and extremely dangerous. The Joker was a combination - he was dangerous with a sense of strange humor that manifested it'self in odd behavior - circumstances turned The Joker into a clown and he went with it.
Joan wrote: That said, I am a total sucker for the genre, and am thrilled about Heath Ledger playing Joker to Christian Bales's Batman.
Trust me on this - Ledger isn't The Joker, will never be The Joker and will bomb as The Joker. I absoutely guarentee that by comparison, Nicholson's Joker will shine far and above that of Ledger's.
Ledger as The Joker - pfffhhht.
Say what you will, Tom, the kid can act, and he has a killer grin that absolutely takes over his face, which is a prerequisite for the role, as far as I'm concerned.
We'll see how the box office fares when it opens. I can wait. If I'm wrong, I'll publicly declare as much, OK?
ps
For those playing along, "sheik yerbootie" is TeaFran, aka Tom.
Joan wrote: If I'm wrong, I'll publicly declare as much, OK?
Fair enough, but who's going to be the judge, jury and executioner? :>)
For those playing along, "sheik yerbootie" is TeaFran, aka Tom.
Yes, I'm afraid that the Sheik is about to make a comback.
Gotta take down a few BSG types that need a good 2x4 upside the head.
Speaking of which, what did you think of the Season 3 Premiere of BSG?
Tom -
I'm elated to see the return of the Sheik!
RE: Batman/Joker/Nicholson/Ledger
However it is reassuring to know that regardless of the non de plume you use, you're still just as wrong as ever.
Muwhahahaaaaaaa!
(I ~loved~ the BSG premiere, despite it being some of - if not the most - depressing sci-fi I've ever viewed.)
BSG was awesome, somewhat disturbing tv.
Worst of all: Skiffy once again blows any pretense of a cliffhanger with their idiotic previews of the upcoming season. Grrrrr.
Random thoughts: I wanted to kick Apollo's fat ass myself; I was surprised Starbuck didn't kill the kid herself -- why would she ever believe a Cylon? (I know, Stockholm Syndrome, blahblahblah); Cally for once didn't annoy me; Tigh was scary but I think Ellen was scarier; I can't wait for next week.
First, allow me to say that I am never wrong. Perhaps occasionally on the fringe, but never, ever wrong. :>)
Secondly, I really wish you would start a BSG thread because I have a LOT to say about the third season premiere - as in A LOT. :>)
Perhaps a guest editorial commentary on jumping the shark and the pretentions of politically motivated writers/directors in the SciFi universe as it relates to BSG would be in order.
I promise, much like my famous predictions and reviews of Season Three of "that other SciFi show", it will put you on the map. :>)
I can't see Eccleston as the Joker. He doesn't have the natural smile that I think is mandatory for the role.
As for BSG, well, I was trying to catch up before the new season started. I really liked the first season. But at around episode six of season two I kind of lost interest.
Tom -
If you want to write a guest commentary on the season premiere of BSG, I'll be happy to post it - with all the appropriate disclaimers such as "Sheik Yerbootie's opinions do not necessarily represent the feelings of The Rued Morgue, etc..." Please make it no less than a 1000 words but likely no more than 2000. I'll of course have to edit it for flow, punctuation, spelling and so forth.
Barring that option, The House Next Door's got a nice talkback area already dedicated to this you're more than welcome to go post under.
And then, of course, there's always a matter of using The Rant Village itself, a blog which clearly has not lived up to its original promise. ;-)
I was joking actually.
So much for internet humor.
But thanks for the consideration.
Even if it was a joke.
Re: Rant Village is on hiatus. I'm so behind in my own life, that Rant Village takes a back seat to everything until I can free up time to do it correctly.
Pansy.
Pansy.
Bwahahahaha!
What is this "Rant Village" of which you speak?
Ross wrote: Pansy.
Ok, now you've done it.
Joan -
Rant Village is Tom's "new" blog - he set it up some time ago and I've blogrolled it in the "Recommended Morticians" section ever since.
But sadly, he has mostly ranted only on MY blog.
I eagerly await THE RETURN OF THE CURMUDGEON starring Mark Hamill as Sheik Yerbootie.
(We love you, Tom.)
This might be a bit late in the thread, but I just gotta say something. I'm one of the few--probably one of ten people on the planet--who hates the idea that Heath is playing The Joker. And the more news I see or hear, the worse it gets. They're not even trying with him, after seeing him in makeup (which looks like he had to throw on a costume in five minutes after shooting scenes from Casanova).
And I've been a critic of Nicholson's Joker for a while, but after seeing Heath and actually noticing that Jack went to great lengths to get the grin right (look him up--notice how you can see both rows of teeth?) and that he actually acted the part well...he wasn't a bad choice for the part!
So, Heath's got a lot of work to do to make himself seem more like a sick and twisted murderous lunatic and less like an emo boy putting on makeup to show his inner torment.
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