Furious on Film 11.19.09: Fantastic Mr Depp

Posted by Arnold Furious on 11.19.2009

Praise for the choices of Johnny Depp plus a look at the state of animation

Furious on Film 154: Fantastic Mr Depp

Praise for the choices of Johnny Depp plus a look at the state of animation

Last week I spent some time thinking about movie stars and how they essentially play the same role. Some are known as having considerably more range than others but generally people who choose to take on difficult acting jobs and quirky roles don't become huge stars. But one man is different in that respect; Johnny Depp. I was watching Before Night Falls this week. It's a movie about Cuban novelist, homosexual and supposed counter-revolutionary Reinaldo Arenas. It stars Oscar winner Javier Bardem but my mild interest in the film was piqued by the appearance of Johnny Depp during the prison scenes. Ever attracted to the unusual Depp's role is a cross-dresser who can smuggle goods in and out of jail thanks to the blessing of an unusually large anal cavity. He also doubles up as a sinister military official. Remember how last week I was pointing out how similar all of Seth Rogen's acting gigs are? Well Depp is the polar opposite of that (although I am willing to submit to the suggestion from James Ellroy in this month's Empire magazine where he calls Depp "unmasculine" I wouldn't say that makes him unbelievable). Yes, he does find himself drawn to the more quirky and unusual roles but he's so unpredictable that he even threw in a trilogy of mainstream movies when he shot Pirates of the Caribbean. So here's a look at Johnny Depp's most unusual career…



Depp started life as a teen icon. The roles he ended up with were the standard for a pretty-boy actor in California. A teen slasher movie; A Nightmare on Elm Street, a teen sex romp; Private Resort and a long standing run on 21 Jump Street. Depp himself claimed he didn't even consider himself to be an actor until he appeared in Platoon and that made him choose acting over music, which was his original career choice. Hell, he only got Elm Street after accompanying Jackie Earl Haley to his audition. He wasn't even an actor. After appearing in Platoon he was considerably more careful about what movies he went for. Remember in the mid-90s there were, as always, a group of young good-looking actors. Depp was in there with an assortment of others like Ethan Hawke or even Skeet Ulrich. Even though Johnny was choosing unusual films and enjoying the start of a long partnership with Tim Burton it was still hard for him to stand out from the pack. Imagine comparing his career to Skeet Ulrich nowadays?



Damn that's a lot of blood!

This second phase of Depp was his growing phase where he went from just being another pretty face to being the muse of Tim Burton (starting with Edward Scissorhands). Burton's films were purposefully dark and Gothic and attracted a big following based on how different they were. And Depp, for a while anyway, rode that wave of Goth popularity. But even Edward Scissorhands, Benny & Joon and What's Eating Gilbert Grape? were essentially cute movies rather than really serious affairs. Ed Wood was Burton's tongue in cheek tribute to failed Hollywood director Ed Wood Jr. It wasn't until Depp made 1995's Dead Man that Depp showed his true colours. Rather than capitalise on his success by shooting a mainstream blockbuster he opted instead to work with Jim Jarmusch. It was clear that he wasn't going to take the easy studio route. I like watching Entourage because Vincent Chase reminds me, at times, of Depp. He's got an idea of what kind of movie he wants to make and doesn't want to compromise (also Vinny Chase is a skinny pretty boy who wants to be taken seriously). And because directors saw Depp's assertions that he didn't want to do it the easy way he got what he wanted.



For me Donnie Brasco is the film that defines who Johnny Depp is as an actor. He waited for the breaks. He got to work with Al Pacino. And he got to make a great movie. The thing about Depp is he's convincing as an undercover cop but he's also convincing as Willy Wonka. Or Edward Scissorhands. If they'd have announced Johnny Depp was playing the Joker there would have been very little backlash. He's the kind of guy who can do most everything. As long as there's humanity in the role he can play it.



And as much as I enjoyed Depp in Donnie Brasco my appreciation for him as an actor increased exponentially when I saw him in another movie the following year; Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. Playing Hunter Thompson isn't hard. He has certain mannerisms and behaviours that are easily mimicked. Check out Billy Murray in Where the Buffalo Roam, which is another film about the Gonzo experience. Murray manages a capable impression but the difference between his performance and Depp's in Fear & Loathing is huge. Depp went and spent time with Hunter and not only got the mannerisms down but also got Hunter's humanity and beliefs down. The scene where Depp's Thompson talks about the excitement of living in California in the 1960s is one of his landmark scenes as an actor. You forget you're watching a movie for a few minutes as Depp's Thompson talks about the failure of the movement he believed in. Here's the script…

"So now, less than five years later, you can go up on a steep hill in Las Vegas and look west, and with the right kind of eyes you can almost see the high water mark -- that place where the wave finally broke and rolled back."



I should probably move on from Fear and Loathing before it becomes more about Thompson than it does about Depp but suffice to say Thompson had a big impact on my life (I have the Gonzo symbol tattooed on my arm). Depp used Fear and Loathing and Donnie Brasco as a launching pad and never looked back. In 2003 Depp cemented himself as a megastar when he took the lead in Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl. Yes, it is a studio picture based on a Disney theme park ride (of all things) but Depp is sensational and his performance made the picture. Not to mention made the sequels more entertaining than the overblown scripts gave them any right to be. There are entertaining turns among the support but nothing close to Depp's scene stealing. The upside for Depp, other than creating a character that will live forever as an icon of the big screen, is that he was pretty much free to pick whatever he wanted to do as an actor between sequels. Depp is now living the dream. He's kept his artistic integrity and allowed himself to explore roles that most actors wouldn't be able to do. And for that I salute him.

Pixar has moved on but American animation is still just talking animal pictures

When preparing to watch new US animated movie Bolt starring the voice talents of John Travolta I thought about the sheer number of American films that have featured cute talking animals. Check this out…

2003: Finding Nemo was Pixar's talking animal movie. Yeah, it was fish so it was kinda different and they went on to do Ratatouille, possibly just to prove they can make any animal cute. 2003 started a rash of talking animal pictures with Brother Bear, which I don't even remember.

2004: Home on the Range, Shark Tale, Shrek 2. The second Shrek relying heavily on the talking cat played by Antonio Banderas rather than the purity of the first film's love of fairy tales gone wrong. The franchise has gone downhill ever since. I don't care how cute he is!

2005: Hoodwinked and Chicken Little. The first was ok but the second one sucked. Madagascar was the biggy but I didn't rate it.

2006: Barnyard, Open Season, Flushed Away. The latter is frankly a shockingly good film until you realise it came from Aardman. Over the Hedge was also this year. Meh. And Ice Age: The Meltdown. Not that I rated the first film but the sequel wasn't great. Five movies in one year about animated talking animals?

2007: Shrek 3, Meet the Robinsons, Ratatouille. I do love me some Pixar so I'll cut them some slack for doing another cute talking animal picture but the other two movies listed here are not great. I hated, hated, hated Shrek 3. Plus Underdog came out in 2007.

2008: Madagascar 2, Tale of Despereaux, Igor. Steve Buscemi was pretty good in Igor to be fair. Oh and let's not forget when it comes to cute talking animals Beverly Hills fuckin' Chihuahua. Dreamworks also came up with one of their better talking animal pictures; Kung Fu Panda.

I'm sure I'm missing some! There have been that many in the last 5 years. I'm sure the kiddies adore a few talking animal flicks but I can live with there being a few less. How's about getting a little more creative for a change? For an example here's my top 5 animated movies since 2000. And just to be more interesting than usual I'm not selecting any Pixar films.

THE TOP FIVE: Animated films since 2000 without Pixar.

5. Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2001). I was trying to avoid using repeated sources (like Aardman/Kon/Miyazaki) and I remembered this gem. It was either that or recommending Team America and you've all seen that. Cowboy Bebop is more in line with Akira and Ghost in the Shell so if that's your kinda thing you should dig this.



4. Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005). Yes, it does have cute animals but they don't talk. It also has one of the best rounded characters to never speak a word in Wallace's faithful dog Gromit. If you've seen Chicken Run and you don't get what the fuss is about Aardman animation then just watch this. Please.



3. Millennium Actress (2001). If you've never heard of Satoshi Kon you may want to go out there right now and pick up a copy of either this, Paprika or perhaps the best of the three in terms of ease of accessibility; Tokyo Godfathers. The animation is often exquisite and it's hard to describe what you'll experience. In Millennium Actress an aging actress tells a story about her long lost love and as the world of her movies intertwines with her past a lavish visual story unfolds. You can watch it on YouTube if you so desire.



2. Persepolis (2007). Who'd have thought that a coming-of-age film concerning an Iranian girl would make such great material for an animated film? But that's why animation studios should be thinking outside the box.



1. Spirited Away (2001). It's to be expected that Hayao Miyazaki has the number one movie. After all; his films are visually stunning and creative. Spirited Away is arguably his best film. It might be a bit of a struggle for the newcomer and I would suggest going back to Castle of Cagliostro and watching Miyazaki's films in order.



Snowflake City

I have seen the following films this week;

Before Night Falls ***1/2
The Kite Runner ****
Gimme Shelter ****
Bolt ***

Surprisingly after my tirade earlier Bolt is actually quite decent. It has Pixar-esque qualities about it (in particular the paper cup blowing over a mile away from a big explosion – great timing on that). After establishing the premise and introducing some entertaining support the film does lose its momentum however and fades badly in the second half. But an otherwise sturdy animated effort that exceeded expectations.

Gimme Shelter was a film I've been meaning to watch for a number of years. It details the Rolling Stones gig at Altamont in 1969 where a black audience member was stabbed to death by a member of the Hell's Angels. The footage is crazy. Everyone is high and half of fans are naked despite it being freezing cold. The footage of the murder is quite disturbing but all of the footage of the Hell's Angels is a little worrying. They seem more intent on violence than security. This wasn't a dangerous crowd. They're all too fuckin' high to attack anyone.

Also I watched season five of Entourage. I thought season 4 was a bit of a step down from the genius of 1-3 but season 5 has some entertaining cameos and Stellan Skarsgaard doing his best Werner Herzog impression. Also the episodes Tree Trippers was nothing short of brilliant. I loved Eric Roberts in that episode and Ari was at his comedy best; off his head on mushrooms and criticising magicians.

Mailbag - see last week's Mel Gibson column for the source of these notes.

Who hasn't said or done something really fucking stupid when you're wasted?

Posted By: Guest#7714 (Guest) on November 12, 2009 at 02:01 AM

Quite. Part of the point I was getting at with Mel Gibson is that as a celebrity he's just in the spotlight 24/7. I doubt he even remembers making those comments to the cop in California. However some things he's said in magazine interviews have been a little iffy. But I'm not defending his comments…merely his right to say them and his movies. I like Mel Gibson.

New Zealanders don't hate Australians. It's a faux rivalry between the two nations. They actually secretly like each other. When it comes down to it, they are tight. They just enjoy cracking jokes at the others expense.

There's no comparison to how the Scottish, Welsh view the English.

Posted By: Bleugh (Guest) on November 12, 2009 at 02:13 AM

Ok, I plan on avoiding making such generalisms in the future about how citizens of different countries view each other and hope to put that one to rest. I have a lot of Scottish friends and I always feel very welcome in Glasgow and everywhere else I've been. I find that you can stand there and say "I hate the BLANK (insert country here)" but as soon as you meet someone from that country you often get along really well with them. I found it quite surprising that I've never met a German person I don't get along with. Or French for that matter. But then if they're in England they're probably open to getting along with the English. As for the Welsh…I'm well aware they hate English people. Is it because we didn't elect Neil Kinnock? Sorry about that.

Mr.Furious, let me tell you: it was amazing to read this! That was I call a real well done homework! As a big fan of Mel Gibson, I want to thank you. I'll keep your words in my files.

Posted By: marinamiz (Guest) on November 12, 2009 at 12:29 PM

My homework largely consists of watching a lot of films. But thank you for the kind words regardless. As for your request for a mailing list, which I received via email and forgot to reply to, it's unlikely but keep checking back on 411 every Thursday for a new column. I'll try not to disappoint.

Great article on Mel. I agree. But don't bag Cruise. You should do a similar article on Cruise. So he jumped on a couch! Worse than Eddie Murphy with a transvestite prostitute or Nick Nolte drink driving or the gossip mag girls partying in Hollywood without underwear in front of snapping cameras? Tom Cruise is a great actor. Go through the list at IMDB and it'll remind you of that. Magnolia and Collateral are a couple great examples.

Posted By: JD (Guest) on November 13, 2009 at 09:54 PM

I do love The Cruiser. Even if he is a Scientologist crazy man. I really enjoy his films. I am feeling a column on Eddie Murphy now that you mention it. How many shit films can that man make? I just don't understand his mentality to film making at all. Next week however I'll be taking a look at the most recent intake of foreign filmmakers to the US studio system. Starting with Tom Tykwer.

Until next time I'm Arnold Furious…and you're not.