Michael Wincott

First of all, I thought the film was excellent and this was largely due to a powerhouse cast. Kudos must go to Ariel Vroman for having the foresight to cast the mighty Michael Shannon, who excels (and should get an Oscar nomination). The rest of the cast shine brightly too but is this more by luck than judgement? What I mean to say is that it was fortunate that Vroman's first choices weren't available: Maggie Gyllenhaal was originally lined up for Winona Ryder's role and Benicio Del Toro for Ray Liotta's. Ryder had a much more substantial role than she has been given in recent years and proved she has been unfairly overlooked and Liotta brought his trademark menace to bear. Both were perfect for their roles and as they and Shannon are amongst my favourite actors, and the subject matter was fascinating, I was full of anticipation for this film- I was not disappointed. The one thing that did disappoint me, however, is the treatment of Michael Wincott. Firstly, the film would have been even better with his formidable prescence and secondly, why is an actor of his calibre forced to undergo a screen test? I've seen the test on youtube and am at a loss as to why he was not cast on the strength of that being passed over firstly in favour of James Franco and then Chris Evans. I understand that the latter two actors are known to Vroman and possibly friends, but what about the role of Demeo's other henchman (the one that wasn't David Schwimmer)? Wincott is a consummate character actor and can shine with even a limited amount of material (witness his one scene with Sean Penn in The Assassination of Richard Nixon and his henchman turn in Seraphim Falls for instance)- I don't understand why he was completely overlooked. I hope, at the very least, that the screen test featuring him is put on the DVD as an extra as the quality is great and viewers will get a chance to see a bit of what they missed.

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.