Danny Glover's performance in this movie is that of an actor at the height of his abilities. He's using all of the skills in his repertoire to define this man who is given a second opportunity in life to hope; a second opportunity for a life.
Zoe Weizenbaum is a neophyte actor, never having set foot in front of the cameras before this shoot. As Lenny she too must be able to show reasons for her behaviour that make sense for the situation. She's a little girl whose mother is dead and her father is dying and all of a sudden finds herself in the care of a total stranger who acts like he'd rather have a rabid skunk as a companion.
Somehow Zoe manages to be all the clichés about the plucky and good-hearted little girl who brings a smile to everyone's face and make it seem real and natural. Probably the most overused word for describing child actors or their roles is spunky, and thank goodness she's not that. Her Lenny is brave and scared in the right mixture, determined to make the best of things if possible, but also not settling for the bare minimum.
Her reactions on meeting some of the other veterans for the first time is perfect, equal parts thrilled that they've come for her picnic and nervous like any child would be when meeting new adults. She only comes out from behind the protection of Jake when she knows she will be accepted. It's an understanding of the little things that makes a person a good actor, and Zoe Weizenbaum in her performance of Lenny shows a delicacy of touch that would be the envy of many a more experienced individual.
Aside from Ron Perlman as Red and Linda Hamilton as Kate (they're not in any scenes together so no Beauty and the Beast reunion) both who give strong performances in support. David Strathairn as Lenny's father Henry is the other main supporting actor. Although he is only in the first few scenes his performance of a desperate man turning to his final resort is a finely tuned performance that sets the tone for the whole movie.
Article comments
1 - Ralph
Missing in America missed some logical facts. The movie made reference to the fact that our war buddies were serving around 1970. Shouldn't that make the girl in her mid to late 30's? Other than that, it was a good movie.
2 - Gary
Did you even watch the movie? Henry went back to Vietnam and that is when he meet his wife and they had Lenny.