Cellars of IMDb: Sam Rockwell is Talented But Not a Mr. Ripley
It's been awhile since we've had one of these. Far too long. Last time I left you with what was hopefully a tantalizingly peculiar image.



Hopefully you were able to deduce that this is a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle and, specifically, Donatello (my personal favorite). Who in this movie could possibly be of interest? Well, if you've read the title of this update you'll probably know his name. He is Sam Rockwell.



Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle was only Rockwell's second film role, and he played the somewhat unglamorous role of "Head Thug." There were better things to come.
Well, primarily there were more small-time crook roles, including:

Jack and His Friends
Light Sleeper
Basquiat

He managed to move up a little bit in the underworld ranks in Matchstick Men as conman Nicolas Cage's talented protege. One of the few films in which he didn't manage to steal too many scenes from his costars. The frenetically OCD Cage is always the focus, and Rockwell is the perfect foil, happy-go-lucky and never so over-the-top as to steal focus. He's also stepped up his extra-legal roles in a less whimsical (but more critically acclaimed) sort of way.



The Green Mile, yet another Stephen King adaptation, is the story of a group of death row inmates and their guards. Sam Rockwell is distinctive as one of the more psychotic inmates.



He manages to be monstrous and grotesque in every way, a marked contrast to most of his roles as unexpectedly charming ne'er-do-wells. His most critically-acclaimed role for instance, that of Trent in Lawn Dogs starring opposite an adorable ten-year-old Mischa Barton.



His award-winning turn as the white trash landscaper befriended by his wealthy clients' daughter opened doors for Rockwell. Two years later in 1999 he appeared prominently and memorably in the dramatic The Green Mile and the comedy Galaxy Quest.



Galaxy Quest, a send-up of Star Trek and its obsessive fans (trekkies), featured Rockwell as fan-turned-typical-generic-expendable-last-nameless-character. Indeed his character as know merely as "Guy" for the majority of the film.



Somehow his paranoid mewling manages to turn the stereotypical meat-shield into one of the most memorable performances of the film. If you've been following this series you're probably at least a little bit of a nerd. It's just the sort of people who like movies and the Internet. That means you've probably had some contact with Star Trek, which in turn means that this movie will bring to mind all those questions you had about the old show and its more devoted fans.

Confessions of a Dangerous Mind



As always Rockwell shines, but in a leading role now. He plays Chuck Barris, host of classic gaming show The Gong Show. The thing that distinguishes the real-life Barris from the host of other TV hosts is that he claimed to be a CIA assassin.


Confessions of a Dangerous Mind takes him at his word. Rockwell perfectly captures the dichotomies of Barris's alleged double life in George Clooney's otherwise uneven directorial debut.

Rockwell's best known performance by far is his turn as Zaphod Beeblebrox in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.


Critics were lukewarm to it, and in truth the film has its problems. None of those problems were Sam Rockwell. Our subject is glorious as the really quite dim President of the Galaxy. The character's delightful stupidity and arrogance send the movie zipping across the known galaxy, wacky hijinks unsurprisingly ensuing at every turn.



Besides, how could you not love that face?


And remember the guiding light, lest we forget the glory that be Lemon Party.
Because your blog sucks.
- posted by Odovaucer @ 11:59 PM