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Commedia Walkenesque

Christopher Walken is much-beloved, but I worry that too much of that is due to two-bit impersonations of him. A semi-recent episode of SNL that he hosted beat that horse to death with a "Walken Family Reunion" sketch. The thing I love about Walken is his effortless skill at the "no-laugh" funny. Those moments in films when he really hits the "that's true of everyone" level of authenticity and doesn't push hard (if at all). The clip below from this week's DVD & Blu-ray release of $5 a Day (in which he co-stars) is a perfect example of what I'm talking about.

The unique cadence of Walken's speech is what lends that authenticity and familiarity to what he does. I don't think it's "over-the-top" as many say (misusing the term). People say that they love everything that he's in not because the movie is particularly perfect or memorable, but because he offers that believability that is so often missing from many films. It's as if his presence also bleeds into what other people do. Even people who are always "on" take on a little different air when with Walken on-screen. Alessandro Nivola is always good, but look to the clip above and try to divorce his level of "being present" in the scene from Walken's influence. You can't do it.

$5 a Day is about a terminally ill conman traveling cross-country with his son to try to get an experimental treatment. Along the way, they try to repair their relationship. It's "smirking, quiet chuckle" funny at times, and is otherwise a worthwhile meditation on aging and closure. That's just fine by me. It reminds me of other Walken turns like the ones he gave in The Maiden Heist or Around the Bend, where he's an older man trying to figure some things out. Though wildly different in tone, the underlying essence he brings is consistent.

They are also, similarly, among the lesser-known of his movies. Regardless of people's awareness, there's that same twinkle in his eye, whether in a cheapo indie or Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can. He pops up in something like Wayne's World 2 or Batman Returns as the passive-aggressive asshole sans the "passive", and its quietly hilarious and unforgettable. He takes the ordinary, heightens it appropriately relative to the material, and never wastes your time while he has one's attention.

$5 a Day isn't a great movie or among the best I've seen this year, but it's absolutely worth it thanks to Walken and the equally talented Alessandro Nivola, who plays his son. Rent it, Netflix it, whatever. Odds are in favor of it being better than whatever is topping the box office at the cinemas.