The Gilroy 07.30.08: The Coolness of Being Lame

Posted by Ben Quick on 07.30.2008

Is that even possible?

Welcome once again to The Gilroy. In just a few days Kevin Costner's new movie called Swing Vote will be in theaters. I will be the first to admit that the movie doesn't look too good and I won't be going to see it. Still, whenever I see Kevin Costner in a movie nowadays I always think back to when he used to do really good movies. When it seemed like his career might be dead after Waterworld and The Postman Costner rebounded by doing movies that didn't cost a lot to make and therefore should turn a profit. When thinking about Kevin Costner one word comes to mind. The guy is kind of lame. He's never really cool in hardly any of his roles. He's mostly a dork, and even if he tries not to be, somehow his lameness always shines through. Yet, in a way his style of being lame is sort of cool. Hey, not everyone can be Steve McQueen.

While he's not the star he once was, Kevin Costner is now a star people don't mind to see in a movie. I had two choices when I decided to write a column about this guy. 1. I could focus on the part of his career where no one could stand him and his movies sucked. 2. I could focus on when he made some really good movies. Well, it felt kind of mean spirited to bash the guy for some reason, so I decided to take a look at some of his better movies.



The Untouchables

"Let's do some good!" That's the line Costner's character of Elliot Ness repeats as he leads a raid on a suspected Al Capone warehouse during prohibition. It sounds like bad writing, but it's more of a detail in character in that it heightens the degree to which Elliot Ness is an idealist. In his quest to bring down Al Capone Costner's character is the ultimate in morals and integrity. As he will find throughout the movie, to bring down the bad guys, you sometimes have to walk on their side of the street. The film itself is quite good. I'd almost say it's a little undervalued. It's Brian De Palma's best film by far and manages to embrace the old James Cagney style of gangster films without being overly cheesy. What this film says to me when thinking about it is that at one point in time Kevin Costner was not only capable of being the lead in a movie, but he excelled at it.



Fandango

If you have seen this movie, please, post so down in the comments section. I have never met anyone who has even heard of this. This was released right before Costner got his breakout role in Silverado, so I guess it makes sense that not many people would go back and watch an obscure movie that starred Kevin Costner pre-stardom. Fandango tells the story of a group of friends that go on a road trip through Texas before they are to go off to Vietnam. I guess that my reasoning for selecting Fandango is less because I think it's a staple in Kevin Costner's career, because it's certainly not. I list this movie for the reason that it's truly a fun movie. There's a little of that Easy Rider weirdness a few times, but Fandango has a very authentic feel to it. This isn't Road Trip or Bachelor Party. Kevin Costner plays the leader of sorts and tries to be the cool one, but what he really seems like is a kid who's afraid of the harsh realities of the war that awaits him. I guess that's what I like so much about this movie. It's both light and heavy at the same time.



Bull Durham

One could arguably say that this is the most famous baseball movie of all time. I tend to waiver on whether this is a great movie or simply an okay one, but there's no doubt that this is a big movie for Kevin Costner. The guy has had movies that have been nominated for and have won multiple Oscars, but if I were to pick one movie that in fifty years when people talk about Kevin Costner that would be mentioned first, I would pick Bull Durham. I don't think this is a great sports movie, but that simply the characters have a great zest that attracts a lot of viewers. The biggest achievement I see when talking about the sports side of this movie is that the actual sports scenes aren't awkward in the way that a lot of movies of the genre tend to be. Kevin Costner plays an aging minor league baseball journeyman who mentors an up and coming pitcher played by Tim Robbins. All the while, both men lust after a minor league baseball groupie played by Susan Sarandon. There's no great story with Bull Durham, but the chemistry and life that all three of the main actors bring is very satisfying. Costner's character is supposed to be a savvy guide for a goof. You get the feeling that Costner's character was once every bit of the goof as that of his current protégé.



No Way Out

You know, maybe I'm a little off base with this whole lame thing. I mean, Kevin Costner was kind of cool in this movie. The guy plays a Russian spy that works for the Pentagon. I think that's pretty cool, well for a movie anyway. I don't know how pivotal this movie was in Costner's career so much, but it's simply one of his better movies. We don't get movies like No Way Out that much anymore. The 1980's and the 1990's really pushed a lot of thrillers out. It seems like most thrillers now are kind of B movie suspense flicks. Maybe it's just that Ashley Judd killed the genre, but I kind of miss them when I think back to the good ones like this movie. I mean, you have a great "race against the clock" story with one of the all time great twists at the end.



Dances with Wolves

This movie's staying power is kind of odd. For a movie that seemed destined to become a classic in the vein of Gone with the Wind or Lawrence of Arabia, it hasn't caught on very well in the years following its Oscar glory. When I think of the early 1990's big Oscar winning films I think Schindler's List and Forrest Gump. Dances with Wolves just never seems to be a movie people recall very often. I guess you could file it along with Shakespeare in Love and The English Patient as Best Picture winners that no one really remembers. I would say just about everything in Dances with Wolves is good. Kevin Costner gives one of the best, if not the best, performances of his career. Plus, the story of how the Native Americans were exploited by the white men is a very tragic part of history. Whenever you think about Kevin Costner's career you have to mention Dances with Wolves. He won his Oscar for it, and so it's a big part of his legacy. Still, I know it's good, but I can't remember the last time I had the urge to watch it.



Thirteen Days

I don't know if you can really call this a Kevin Costner movie. We do look at the Cuban Missile Crisis through his character, but the stars really seem to be Bruce Greenwood and Steven Culp who play John and Robert Kennedy. Kevin Costner plays Kenny O'Donnell, who was an aid to President Kennedy. To look at the entire spectrum of this particular moment in history, from newspaper leaks to complications in military command, you need to have a view into the middle of the Kennedy administration to understand the crisis better than if you were just to see how JFK had handled the situation. We, the audience, spend most of our time watching Costner, but he's just the device through which the story moves. For history buffs this is just a good movie. It's not a film that would appeal to a wide audience, but it's one of my favorite movies that Kevin Costner has had anything to do with. Since this column is about Costner, I had to give it a mention.



A Perfect World

A Perfect World is a pretty underrated movie in both the careers of Kevin Costner and Clint Eastwood. It's such a sweet and tragic movie. You have an escaped prisoner who kidnaps a boy from a family of Jehovah's Witnesses. Costner plays a man who has done a lot wrong in his life, but is still very much a child himself. He takes joy in giving the boy the experiences of youth that his religion wouldn't allow, but also in gaining the love that he obviously never had from his father. All the while Costner's character is being chased by the law, and we as the audience know the ending isn't going to be happy. A Perfect World is a movie that defines that moment when movies themselves are at their absolute best. There's a lot of humor in A Perfect World, but also fear and sadness. Clint Eastwood had a role here, but most importantly, he directed this movie. As it is with most of his best movies, Eastwood makes you really care for a character before he lowers the boom. Dances with Wolves is a great movie, as is The Untouchables, but one could argue that A Perfect World is Kevin Costner's best movie. I don't know if I'm willing make that statement, but as of writing this, I'm thinking it might be true.



Field of Dreams

I wanted to end with what I think is probably Costner at his most likable. In Bull Durham he's kind of a jerk. In The Untouchables you kind of want to smack him, but in Field of Dreams you can't help but like the guy. What has made Kevin Costner a star is an ability, not unlike that of Tom Hanks, to be the everyman. We all know the story of the farmer who hears voices that say to build a baseball field. In Field of Dreams Costner's not a cop or a solider. He's simply a husband, a father and a son. Field of Dreams may represent the best vision of middle America. I live in Missouri, so I see my share of rednecks. This movie doesn't play on the narrow realities of that culture, but more on its values of family and happiness. Field of Dreams is a cheesy and corny movie, but who doesn't like those?

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I may mock the guy, but Kevin Costner has been in some really good movies. I should remember that, as should you.

Well guys, that's it for this week. You all have really been rocking out the comments section the last few weeks. I like that. Then again, I was writing about that one movie I said I wouldn't mention this week. Screw it! I'll take the credit.