Sam Rockwell is one of the most versatile leading me in Hollywood. This week, he stars with Keira Knightley in “Laggies,” playing a single dad. Here are some of my favorite Sam Rockwell performances:
Moon Rockwell takes on the biggest possible acting challenge — he in alone on screen for the entire movie as a man on near the end of a three-year solo mission in outer space.
Galaxy Quest One of my favorite comedies of all time is this knowing and very loving tribute to “Star Wars” and its fans. Rockwell plays an actor who appeared on one episode of the beloved sci-fi series who gets taken along when the stars of the show are transported into a real outer space adventure.
Conviction Rockwell plays Kenny Waters in this fact-based story of a wrongly imprisoned man whose sister went to college and law school to have his conviction overturned.
Charlie’s Angels In the Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, Cameron Diaz reboot of the 1970’s television series, Rockwell plays a client hiding more than one secret.
The Way Way Back Rockwell plays the manager of a water park in this warm-hearted coming of age story. He perfectly captures the character’s defensive use of humor and irresponsible streak but essential goodness.
The Green Mile Tom Hanks is a prison guard in this Stephen King story set on Death Row, and Rockwell is one of the most vile and despicable prisoners.
Sam Rockwell gives one of the best performances of the year as Kenny Waters, a man wrongly convicted of murder for eighteen years until his sister was able to prove that he was innocent and get him released. Betty Ann (Hillary Swank) and Kenny were two of nine children from seven fathers raised in a succession of foster homes. She was a high school dropout and new mother when he went to prison. She went back to school, graduated from college and law school, passed the bar, and with the help of Cardozo Law School’s Innocence Project, was able to prove through DNA evidence that the blood found at the crime scene was not his.
Rockwell is mesmerizing as a man whose kind heart and family loyalty sometimes suffer from his impulsively confrontational behavior. He conveys at every stage the weight of his experience in prison as we see him over the 18-year period. His frustration, longing, despair, his fear of hoping too much mingled with his unquenchable pride in his sister are all heartbreakingly evident. He shows us why he was one of the local police department’s favorite “usual suspects” but he also shows us why someone would spend her life working on his behalf, even after everyone tells her to move on.
Director Tony Goldwyn and screenwriter Pamela Gray do a fine job of shaping the material, giving us a sense of the characters’ past experiences, the strength of their connection, and the press of time. The cast includes the reliable support of Minnie Driver as Betty Ann’s law school classmate and loyal friend and Juliette Lewis, outstanding as a recanting witness.
Swank, who co-produced, is sincere and dedicated if not ideal casting for this role. She has gravitated lately to a series of heroic characters, though her best work has been in more damaged or fragile roles. A high school dropout in real life, she is drawn to characters who exemplify education and achievement. But she gives us no sense of school as anything but an obstacle course. Her learning is not tied in any way to expanded understanding; she seems to have no curiosity about the law and no passion for anything but freeing her brother. We see the impact of her single-mindedness on her husband and sons but not how their reactions affect her. The story is one of triumph that cannot help but move us, but as a real-life character who gives everything, Swank does not give us enough.
Ty Burrell is everywhere these days. He is Phil on the beloved television series “Modern Family,” brilliantly updating the classic “Honey, I’m Home!” sitcom dad as a guy who may be clueless and corny and overly sensitive but who adores his family and whose deep connection to his wife (oh, that re-wedding and those anniversary gifts!) and to technology (the iPad episode!) are always endearing. He’s in two huge studio films this month as well. In “Morning Glory” he plays the host of the country’s worst morning show, superficially wholesome but under the surface kind of twisted. And look for him in an important scene in “Fair Game,” at a dinner party taking on Sean Penn as Joe Wilson. Both are far from his genial Phil Dunphy character and show you that Burrell has a lot more to show us.
Juliette Lewis was a child actress whose assured but vulnerable performance as a teenager in the remake of “Cape Fear” got her nominated for an Oscar. She has raised some eyebrows on-screen (“Kalifornia,” “Natural Born Killers”) and off-screen (high school drop-out who legally emancipated from her parents at age 14, drug rehab). More recently, she has been pursing a singing career, but she is back this fall with two performances as damaged but very different women (another good example is her small role in “Catch and Release”). In “Conviction” we see her in two pivotal scenes separated by 18 years as a witness who changes her story. In “Due Date,” she provides one of the film’s few highlights as a blissful pot dealer. In both she takes small parts and shows such specificity and such understanding of and affection for her characters that we cannot help but be drawn to them. She’s next scheduled for “Hangover 2.” Can’t wait.
