Thoughts on JGL in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For?
Anyone else here seen it? I saw it last Saturday night (of course, being Sin City ), and would recommend it on the basis of the segment "A Long Bad Night" and JGL's performance in it. Curious to hear what anyone else thinks. In the meantime, some of my thoughts on it...
Although first I should start with my expectations. I wasn't a fan of the first Sin City when I saw it nine years ago. Not because I thought it was a bad movie, but simply because it's the kind of nihilistic film with a bleak view of humanity that I don't tend to enjoy. Still I thought it was stylish and entertaining, and I could see why many people loved it. So when I first saw that JGL was going to be in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For, I hoped that it would be either A) so good that I wouldn't mind the nihilism, or B) ridiculously over-the-top B-movie hilarious camp. When the quality of the trailers and the marketing push were weak (IMO), and the critics' reviews of the movie itself were even worse, I figured it probably wasn't going to be either A or B, and that I'd wait to see this on VOD.
BUT! The reviews for JGL were very good, and the prospect of seeing him play off of Powers Boothe (whom I'd seen and loved in Deadwood) got me into the theater.
Well, JGL's segment "A Long Bad Night" turns out to be the best storyline of the movie and on par with the original Sin City. This is also by far my favorite of JGL's neo-noir hero characters, which I consider to also include his roles in Brick, Inception, The Dark Knight Rises and Looper. It's also his strongest of those performances with the exception of Brick, and that's probably only because of the shorter screentime and amount of material here.
I'm kind of amazed that he was able to do more here with only 15 or 20 minutes of screentime than in the entirety of more serious-minded movies like Inception, The Dark Knight Rises and Looper, but there it is. His character and story in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For is simply great.
His character gets a strong introduction, with the right amount of mystery and a compelling set up. Throughout his part of the movie, you get a real sense that he has a personal history even if it's only alluded to with a few lines. He has clear motives and clear integrity, is capable yet vulnerable, and in his character's conflict I felt there were real personal stakes. Whereas the film's other three storylines felt like sheer pulp entertainment (and there's nothing wrong with that), JGL's was the one where it felt like something real was lost and gained. That's the kind of emotional investment that JGL is so good at earning with his performances, but which many of his recent roles haven't been able to capitalize on, until now, IMO. JGL's Johnny made you feel something.
It was neat finding out afterward that JGL helped Frank Miller create his character. From these production notes
(http://www.lgukpublicity.co.uk/data/75/notes/sin_city2_a_dame_to_kill_ for_-_uk_production_notes_final.pdf):
Miller states, “Joseph, like the best actors, teaches the director and writer a lot with the performance and interpretation that they give events. Because of what he brought, I was able to write dialogue I thought was much more focused, stronger and more emotional..."
And indeed I agree with people who've said JGL's segment is fantastic short format storytelling.
As for JGL's performance specifically, he hits all his strengths. As he'd done in Brick, he handles the sharp, fast dialogue and deadpan with ease. He also delivers debonair charm, physical agility, and intense emotions--and a particular rawness that I haven't seen from him since The Lookout.
But this is a comic book movie, so the key thing about his performance here is his voice-overs. His narration is exactly how I imagine a noir character should read. It's cynical and tough, but there is clear emotion and compassion. There's confusion, regret and fatalism, but it gives way to an acceptance and resolve that somehow makes it seem like grace and free will. These things can't be conveyed with only words; it's so sensitive to tone, inflection and pacing, and JGL executes expertly. In the second half of his segment, there's a moment where we see his character Johnny walking alone through Basin City, where his narration begins with something along the lines of, "I have to think about tomorrow night. I have to think about the game..." It's beautiful. There's a perseverance and musical melancholy to it that's echoed throughout his performance and it's the thing that sticks with you long after his character's last scene and after the film ends.
It's funny, though. As far as I can tell, in all the Sin City: ADTKF promotion, every time JGL has talked about his experience shooting this movie and about his character, he's talked about how fun it was, and how revenge never leads to anything good. So I walked into this movie thinking that his performance was probably going to be some kind of crazy gung-ho, guns a blazin' type of thing. NOPE. I would not call this a fun performance. I would call it good. Quite good.
And it's quite good to know that this qualifies as JGL's idea of fun. :D