Plummer

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In the final graph of her entertaining N.Y. Times review of Christopher Plummer's In Spite Of Myself: A Memoir (Knopf), Alex Witchel writes, "If your stock in trade is feeling for a living -- think about that -- you are required to make some messes along the way.

Christopher Plummer

"In spite of himself -- his relentlessly high artistic principles; his penchant for playing the underdog, even when he was the star; his keen ear, equally attuned to the precision of Elizabethan verse and to what passes as truth across a whiskey at 5 a.m. -- [Christopher Plummer] has experienced a life rich in textures, and he is able to give most of them glorious voice. His is a life in the theater lived hard and true, in the grand tradition of those distinguished players who went before, whom he has surely made proud."

I've always known -- understood, believed -- that Plummer is a classical stage actor of a very high order, but for decades in movies he's always played elite pricks of one sort of another -- sinister-villain types who were (or certainly seemed to be) way ahead of the hero-protagonist, almost teeming with pleasure at the exercising of their snootiness or venality, or both.

How many times have I "liked" (i.e., felt a form of emotional kinship with) Plummer in a film? In exactly one role -- Mike Wallace in The Insider -- but really only in that one scene when he talks to Al Pacino in that hotel room about his legacy, his doubts, "what future?" And in that early scene when he has that big argument with the flunkies for that Middle Eastern guy, and when he pitches his first question ("Are you a terrorist?").

I've always enjoyed his creepy psychopathology (the bad guy in The Silent Partner, the sinister book publisher in Wolf) but of course, that's par for the course.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on December 21, 2008 at 6:49 PM

comment #1

MilkMan says ...

If Christopher Plummer is such a great actor, how come he didn't tell these stories from the p.o.v. of a character?

He's a solid B-actor, good at doing the whole snarky, supercilious thing, but he is by no means a great or legendary actor. Plummer is about as good as Donald Pleasance.

Christopher Plummer is good at being Christopher Plummer and that's about it, and it's not nearly enough.

Posted by MilkMan at December 21, 2008 7:46 PM

comment #2

Rich S. says ...

I thought Plummer was terrific as the Shakespeare-spouting Klingon in Star Trek VI, but, yeah, I know what you mean.

Posted by Rich S. at December 21, 2008 7:50 PM

comment #3

lipranzer says ...

Sometimes, though, that "theatricality," or whatever you want to call it, can really work if used right. I don't know how many of you have seen a really bad spy thriller from the early 80's called THE AMATEUR (not to be confused with Hal Hartley's film AMATEUR), where a miscast John Savage plays a CIA agent obsessed with tracking down his wife's killers. Plummer plays the head of whatever Czechoslovakia called their secret police/spy agency, as a professorial type (one of the running gags in the film, as in Robert Littell's vastly superior novel, is both Savage and Plummer, as a hobby, are trying to figure out whether Shakespeare was the real author of his plays), and he alone makes the film worth watching, not only because he's cast perfectly, but because he's taking such obvious joy in the part, and in a rare turn, he's actually underplaying.

I also liked him in ARARAT, although that didn't allow for his theatricality as much. And I've enjoyed his slick villains as well. And in THE INSIDER, he captures both Mike Wallace's ego (and the arrogance that went along with it) and his vulnerability.

Posted by lipranzer at December 21, 2008 8:06 PM

comment #4

lipranzer says ...

Apropos of nothing, Jeff, were you and your son at World of Video earlier tonight? I thought I recognized you, but I wasn't sure. I'm sorry we didn't have Blu-Ray DVD's for you - my boss, for some reason, still is hesitant about investing in them (to be fair, right now, we've been told by our distributors Blu-Rays are doing better as sales items than as rentals. And, of course, the economy sucks).

Posted by lipranzer at December 21, 2008 8:09 PM

comment #5

NDH says ...

I loved Plummer's work in THE MAN WHO WOULD BE KING. He was very humorous and very endearing as Rudyard Kipling, and also quite unrecognizable. So many people I know, after viewing the film, have commented "That was Christopher Plummer!?" I'm looking forward to seeing him in Gilliam's THE IMAGINARIUM OF DOCTOR PARNASSUS.

Posted by NDH at December 21, 2008 8:26 PM

comment #6

Jeffrey Wells says ...

Wells to lipranzer: Yup, that was us. Or me...yeah. Looking for a DVD of Burn After Reading .

Posted by Jeffrey Wells at December 21, 2008 8:38 PM

comment #7

Abbey Normal says ...

He can be funny too...he was the best thing in that terrible Dragnet movie with Ackroyd and Hanks.back in the '80s.

Posted by Abbey Normal at December 21, 2008 8:49 PM

comment #8

NDH says ...

I thought Hanks was hilarious in Dragnet. Probably his goofiest role to date, but he hammed it up unabashedly. Also, the name Pep Streebeck just makes me laugh for some reason.

Posted by NDH at December 21, 2008 9:00 PM

comment #9

Aris P says ...

When he stays at the Beverly Hills Hotel he often strolls down to the Polo Lounge, has a few drinks, and sits at the piano to play some tunes. I've seen him do that twice. Say what you will about his acting, he's one of the last old-school thespians left.

Posted by Aris P at December 21, 2008 9:03 PM

comment #10

StoneFan1 says ...

Christopher Plummer's three great film roles can be found in 1964's "The Fall of the Roman Empire," 1965's "The Sound of Music," and 1979's "Murder by Decree." He was very good in 1999's "The Insider," but not great. Mr. Plummer's main problem in cinema is that he wasn't given (or didn't go after) really strong parts. Now, I'm sure the two Tony awards mean more to him than an Oscar or to be as famous as Anthony Hopkins, but I think he's one of the top five "could've been great" in cinema history.

Posted by StoneFan1 at December 21, 2008 9:24 PM

comment #11

StoneFan1 says ...

One more thing, his "Hamlet" done for the BBC and CBC in the early 60's, is one of the best ever filmed based on the clips I've seen. I wish they'd release that on DVD!

Posted by StoneFan1 at December 21, 2008 9:25 PM

comment #12

arturobandini2 says ...

MilkMan, have you seen Polanski's Cul-de-sac? (It's never been released on any home viewing format as far as I know.) Donald Pleasance is fucking awesome in this flick, and gives a whacked-out performance Plummer could only dream about.

Posted by arturobandini2 at December 21, 2008 9:26 PM

comment #13

madskrilla says ...

He's an old school stage actor with the old school stage actor's contempt for cinema (he admits that in the book and elsewhere). His true legacy is his stage work; his film stuff I suppose he only did to pay rent. Wonderful Shakespeherian actor, though.

I didn't know he only visited his daughter once in 21 years. I'm glad he's not my father, frankly.

Posted by madskrilla at December 22, 2008 2:17 AM

comment #14

Thrudvangar says ...

I like him in Dolores Claiborne.

I enjoy that film immensely.

Posted by Thrudvangar at December 22, 2008 6:56 AM

comment #15

btwnproductions says ...

Magnificent onstage as Lear and Barrymore. Movies are secondary for him, not that he ever let on in his work.

Posted by btwnproductions at December 22, 2008 8:55 AM

comment #16

Marco Bean says ...

Man, it is so easy to comment/critique..without walking in one's shoes. CP rocks! Man in the Chair...just came out on DVD. Hope he would not be overlooked in regards to this performance, but...

Check out "Man in the Chair"

Posted by Marco Bean at December 22, 2008 11:43 AM

comment #17

BurmaShave says ...

Probably an Oscar frontrunner next year for this LAST STATION thing I just read about.

Posted by BurmaShave at December 23, 2008 6:36 PM

comment #18

dd says ...

It's never been released on any home viewing format as far as I know.

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comment #19

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