Why do so many actors become directors, and why has
this resulted in a conspiracy against Martin Scorsese? His recent Academy
Award loss to Clint Eastwood marks the third time he has lost the Best
Director award to an actor. Previously Robert Redford and Kevin Costner
snatched the award Scorsese deserved. Is Million
Dollar Baby really the best movie of 2004? Yes,
it’s a good drama, but “best” seems a bit of an
exaggeration. I don’t even consider it the best 2004 film directed by
an actor, and I’m not referring to Mel Gibson’s blockbuster The Passion of the Christ,
either.
No, the winner here is Garden
State, an absolute gem of a comedy that never
falters in cleverness and creativity. Zach Braff, star of TV’s Scrubs, took on triple duty as
star, writer, and director, and his feature debut as a filmmaker is an
absolute triumph. Unlike other actors-turned-directors, Braff demonstrates
a unique vision. Even the most successful — particularly Ron Howard
and Rob Reiner — never transcend the level of excellent, but
standard, storytelling. Braff stars as a troubled young man who returns
home to his estranged family for his mother’s funeral. He immediately
sets the tone by skewering the somber graveside service with a woman
delivering the loopiest rendition of “Three Times a Lady” since
Eddie Murphy as Buckwheat massacred it on Saturday
Night Live. Natalie Portman gives excellent
support as his eccentric love interest.
Did anyone really enjoy sitting through The Passion of the Christ? If
Mel Gibson’s purpose was to force the audience to experience
Christ’s pain, he succeeded. Controversy is the only reasonable
explanation for the success of this repetitive and melodramatic bombast.
Clarity is often sacrificed to hammer home an agenda. I suppose it might
have helped to read the book.
Gibson has now directed two period epics, but neither
can compare with Warren Beatty’s astonishing classic Reds (1981). Beatty’s
grand biography of the Communist journalist John Reed puts him in a class
by himself among actor/directors. Don’t worry — I’m not
including Buster Keaton, Charles Chaplin, Orson Welles, Jacques Tati, and
Woody Allen in that group, because their status as directors far
overshadows their abilities as actors. Reds is quite an accomplishment for someone who rarely directs,
and it is unfortunate that this masterpiece’s reputation seems to
have faded with time. Rent it to see why Beatty deservedly won the Best
Director Academy Award — the only time it was correctly bestowed on
an actor.
DVDs scheduled for release Tuesday (April 19): Birth, A Love Song for Bobby Long, House of Flying Daggers, and Primer.
This article appears in Apr 14-20, 2005.
