8 Milestones in the Evolution of Gary Oldman
In Catherine Hardwicke's frightening version of the fairy tail classic Red Riding Hood, Gary Oldman co-stars as Soloman, a fiery enemy of the occult who is not entirely convinced Valerie (Amanda Seyfried) is who she says. How did Oldman get to the point of eccentric supporting actor in 'tween bait after starting his career as a scrappy leading man? With every actor a direct line can be traced through their in order to gauge their current place in the industry and, with Oldman, he's become one of the go-to wicked villains. Let's take a look at eight milestones in the career of one Gary Leonard Oldman.
Sid & Nancy (1986)
After starting on a string of British made-for-TV projects, Oldman's first big time starring role was as Sex Pistols' bassist Sid Vicious. Oldman received mass accolades for his portrayal, even from Sex Pistols' lead vocalist John Lydon (Johnny Rotten), a notoriously tough critic on -- well, pretty much everything, including the film as a whole. Because of his performance in Sid & Nancy, Oldman's career soon took off. Unfortunately, his Nancy (Chloe Webb) went on to a career of mostly bit roles and television guest spots, including, yes, Two and a Half Men.
We Think the World of You (1989)
The plot of this movie -- a married bisexual sent to prison has to give away his dog which eventually becomes abused -- does not quite match up with the "comedy hi-jinks" voice used in the voice-over in the clip below. Regardless, another example of Oldman's peculiar choices for film roles that still continues to this day.
JFK (1991)
Oldman's first small-but-scene-stealing role in a major movie. Here he plays Lee Harvey Oswald, and for such a major character in the story of Kennedy's assignation, most of his screentime is relegated to television clips and flashbacks. No matter for Oldman. In fact, a strong case can be made that Oldman's performance in JFK set a course for him as a scene-chewing villain in major studio movies. I mean, seriously, watch him as Oswald below -- Oldman absolutely owns this role, despite appearing in mostly hazy flashbacks.
Romeo is Bleeding (1993)
One of Oldman's last true leading roles in a bigger budgeted film, and it's a shame because he makes a fascinating lead character. Then again, this is a perfect example of the headline roles that Oldman used to accept -- the anti-hero involved with such unscrupulous characters that at one point in the movie he even has a toe cut off.
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"Frightening version of the fairy tail classic Red Riding Hood"? Frightening? You got to be kidding Mike. Saw a screening last night. It was an eye-roll fest. An Oldman (who already tends to overact) is particularly bad in it. And not Al Pacino-bad. Bad-bad.
Why not jump into the comment thread with a counter to Steph's review, Mike. Be kind of fun to see a good movie discussion occur there.
Ya gotta love his over-the-top performance in The Professional, tho. Crazy scary at its best!
To be fair, I was just using that as a word for the intended tone of the film, not really a statement on its merit at what it's trying to accomplish.
Track 29!
You know, I wanted to include that. But, alas, all the Youtube clips wouldn't let me embed. Which is kind of a problem for posts like this when it's not a 100 percent necessary inclusion. But, I agree, that's pretty great. Track 29 is the first movie trailer I've ever found on YouTube that won't allow embedding.
_Romeo is Bleeding_ FTW. It might be his best role (or at least I consider it to be). He's an antihero, yes, but there's something also just so desperate and pathetic about the character that he plays so brilliantly, and it's not as showy a role as some of the other roles (as it has been indicated, Oldman can be a bit of a scenery chewer). Side note: how can you not be thrilled by Lena Olin as Mona Demarkov? Okay, maybe I'm not going to the movies this weekend. Maybe I'm just pulling _Romeo is Bleeding_ off the shelf and microwaving some popcorn.
Why don't you post what you really thought of the film in the comment thread of the review. It'd be nice to see a good conversation there.
Gary Oldman can do no wrong.
I remember seeing him years ago in Criminal Law and how he took the straight leading man role to Cage-esque hights and thinking "Oh, He's going to be THAT kind of actor". He was also one of the great Draculas ever.
Which Cage?
He was great in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. Not sure where that places in the evolution - maybe just exists in its own space as a dead-end.
It's evident nobody saw Oldman's performance in The Contender as Shelly Runyon. Definetly his greatest work to date.
You left out 1995's "Immortal Beloved", in which Gary Oldman proved he could play the role of Ludwig van Beethoven as well as any classical actor.
Still the most talented actor alive. He just does what he wants to do. I mean the guy turned down Schindler's List because he did not want to spend six months in the cold. At least he has a few coming out that will possibly challenge him again. It makes me sick seeing all fo these untalented, over hyped people win oscars when they have no true talent to become people like Gary does. Only one on his ability level is Day-Lewis in becoming characters. Then again he does what he wants to do and stays near home with his kids.
My personal favourites are Arthur Dimmesdale (The Scarlet Letter), Jackie Flannery (State Of Grace) and Dracula (Bram Stokers Dracula).
I really believe Jackie should have been included.