vins best role
agree or disagree
shareI think it is tied with Pitch Black (1ST one *ONLY*; "Chronicles of Riddick" was crap). In PB, he was one serious frickin' bad azz!! And he kept it up the whole movie - right until the end he was honestly ready to hop in the spaceship with blondie and take off with the two of them. Compare this to (the one scene I actually remember) Kevin Costner in Waterworld. For 15min we hear all about what a straight killa KC is, he'll kill you for a speck of dirt, he's taken this "whatever it takes to survive and profit in this post-apocalyptic world" thing to the nth degree.
But the first time it's tested (i.e. - that woman and her "won't shut the phukk up, annoying as hell" daughter are on his boat); when Riddick would have stabbed them BOTH in the eye with something pointy... KC throws the girl off the boat! OK, I thought at the time I first watched "Waterworld" that, hey now, we have a real bad dude here. But then the mother starts nagging him about what he did, and blahblahblah. So does Costner say, "Will both of you just SHUT THE *beep* UP for 10 goddamn seconds?!?!", hit her in the head with something hard, then throw her in the drink? Give the brat a REAL reason to whine, and all that? Nope. KC actually TURNS THE BOAT AROUND to have Chatterbox back on his ship.
Now, Vin in "A Man Apart" portrays the character exactly how it should be. He's got this "from the streets, got out to become cops" family, and that's his perfect life. (One big love fest - - it's so sweet...). But when his wife goes & dies (how rude!), we see Vin revert to his "street life mentality". Not to mention the 2nd act gives us some of the best scenes in the film.
- They go to a house, there's a horribly mutilated/tortured/and LONG TIME decomposing man. While they are checking that out, they start taking shots from above; turns out to be a black male named "Overdose" (who left the film WAY too early, cuz everyone of his lines were hilarious!). Like "What did you do when Diablo's crew came in?" "What you think, man? I went and hid my black azz!" Ha. Or when Vin starts dissing OD and his criminal enterprises. "Is that your car? The one with them wack-azz dubs on it?" "Man, you move what, a kilo a month? You know what REAL hustlers bring in? A tonne. A metric tonne every month like clockwork!" Oh, and my fave, Vin interrogating OD with a (phony) Russian Roulette "game". Larenz Tate is, like, being Vin's hypeman here, "Oh! This feels like the one! I'd start talking right away...".
- Then, the confrontation between "Hollywood Jack" and Vin. "I'm sorry, officer, was I doing something wrong?" "Yeah, you're parked in a Handicapped spot." "Really? Well, pfft, I didn't see that at ALL! If you'll just move your fine vehicle so that I can leave..." "Oh, you like the truck, eh?" "Oh yeah! I was totally thinking about trading this in [indicates the Porsche] for, like, 7 of those." Then the whole thing about mudflaps and a jaywalking warrant.
- I also really liked the scene where some White Power guy and Vin are discussing how Vin can't find product anywhere, Whitey says he's got a new connect, they start discussing price, and after Vin turns down a lap dance Whitey says, "What's wrong man? You a *beep* or something?", Vin gets VERY upset over the homophobic slur, and schyte almost goes to red. [I've always wondered - why does Vin get so upset? Is it part of "Vin the coke buyer act"; does Vin [his character, obviously] really feel that way, perhaps as a remnant from his youth on the streets? If anyone has a theory, let me know.
- And the scene where the drug deal goes TOTALLY bad, because Vin's emotions get the best of him when the dealer says something not polite, like, "Yeah, we killed that cop's wife. We take care of things... killed that kuhnt whore biatch wife of his." [Sorry, I know how dumb this stuff looks. But, somehow, we're supposed to have an adult discussion about adult movies... but keep it kid friendly. I feel *SO* sorry for you Americans. And the newest threat to making movies for adults, about adult issues - the 2nd biggest market for Hollywood movies outside of the US is China.]
So Vin beats the guy to death; gets countless undercovers, bad guys, and civilians killed; blows not only the deal, but ANY chance the DEA had of getting in with that group. BUT, it's what Vin's character would have done, and Vin Diesel pulled it off perfectly.
- The best part of the DVD/Blu-Ray - the deleted scene where the 2 hot female dancers go for, like, 7min, totally lezzing it up, hot as *beep* MUCH better than the theatrical scene where the old guy goes and does the Tango with one of them...
I'm sorry I said "Pitch Black and A Man Apart are acted with the same level of brilliance, and, IMHO, are tied to be Vin Diesel's best role.", and then go on to provide examples like at a 20/80 ratio. I don't know - there's something about a movie where a character has something, he loses it, and then screw everything else, I'm getting this man/these men/whatever. To Live and Die In L.A., Man on Fire, Faster, and A Man Apart are great examples of this sub-genre, and I can watch them over and over.
If you've read this far, I love you and have a plea. I've heard of alternate cuts of these 3 movies floating around the internet. The biggest one is A Man Apart - I've heard there are *several* versions of the movie. Another one is 8mm - the writer imagined a much different movie, but I don't know if another version was ever filmed. Finally is American History X - this one I **KNOW** a director's cut was filmed, and it exists out there. Apparently Edward Norton bum rushed the editing bay, carved out the version that became the official one. So yeah - any info on any of the alternate cuts would make me smile.
"I am insane... and you are my insanity" - James Cole, 12 Monkeys
-AK