I mean less disrespect to Russell than it may sound like from this review. He's an interesting artist and I look forward to his next movie. To see how interesting he is, check out this Salon interview with Michael Sragow about Russell's best movie so far, the First Gulf War picture Three Kings (1999), starring George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, and Ice Cube, and this week-long journal he kept on Slate around the time his breakthrough indie picture Flirting With Disaster (1996) was in theaters.
You can find this review and a lot besides at The Kitchen Cabinet.
Alan Dale is the author of What We Do Best: American Movie Comedies of the 1990s and Comedy Is a Man in Trouble: Slapstick in American Movies.
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Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
superior as always Alan, thanks!
2 - Phillip Winn
Such dissing on Marky Mark! I love the oddball hit-man comedy The Big Hit, though I'll admit that it put Marky Mark into one of those roles you snerringly dismiss.
Oh, wasn't that a sneer? I thought it was. :)
3 - Alan Dale
I didn't mean to sneer and I'm unaware of anyone else who has said they think Wahlberg might be capable of a "great, naturalistic performance," which doesn't even sound like sneering. He just hasn't yet quite caught on to what acting is about. He doesn't want to make a bogus misstep and so he's too careful. Still, as long as he takes his shirt off he can appear in every friggin' movie released as far as I'm concerned.
4 - Phillip Winn
Oh, don't worry, I was just teasing. He's no candidate for Inside The Actor's Studio, that's for sure.
My wife agrees with you about Marky Mark's shirt. :-)