blah blah blah, I ramble about stuff. today, this:
Knox's film career and how he was underutilised for a bunch of it
A problem I have with many of the parts he's been put in is that they feel like casting directors not understanding him as a screen presence. A lot of them have cast him as straightforward sleazebags or douches who are effective characters/funny because they are awful, sleazy, obnoxious assholes with no redeeming qualities. (Or they cast him as a hapless, gross idiot.) And I do understand this impulse from people who have heard about Jackass but don't watch it. They think that's what's going on there, that it's a bunch of dudes being irredeemable assholes and that's the appeal. They think they're casting him to his persona and taking a shortcut to the effect they want.
But it's a mistake. The reason no one has been able to replicate the huge and enduring success of Jackass despite loads of other pranksters and daredevils being available is that there's more to it than that; it has a deep sense of joy and camaraderie and incongruous innocence which people who dismiss it out of hand don't get. It's special because of the people and the spirit they bring to it, not least the man himself, who personally sets a unique, cohesive tone nothing else has. It should probably go without saying that Knoxville is also a massively charismatic person, because the entire franchise would almost certainly never have existed if he weren't. People putting him in movies know this and that's often why they want to cast him. The thing is, he doesn't have 'magnetic asshole' charisma, he has 'effortlessly endearing' charisma. His most profound quality is a disarming air of affability which gives him this irrepressible boyish charm. People want to like him.
He comes off as a loveable mischievous scamp and not a menace to society, even when doing things that are pretty borderline menacing to society, and that's because of his deportment and like... aura. The innate vibe he has is just super positive and personable, his attractiveness is weirdly wholesome. His dyed in the wool southern politeness surfaces easily and is nothing but adorable. So, where these casting decisions fall apart is that any time you cast him as someone we're not supposed to like, he is actually playing against type. It requires more effort on the film's part, not less.
He can still be a bad guy if that's really what they want, he does great shady, but he doesn't work in those flat heel roles that are just meant to be instantly and thoroughly detestable. He's fantastic as a conman where he can be using his natural allure to manipulate people and he's also okay in the sort of 'harmless lackey' villain roles (like Big Trouble or MIB2) because those characters are allowed to be endearing. Dirtbag is fine if it's a lovable dirtbag, though having him play idiot clowns is kind of a waste and not using his strengths. But idk, it seems it isn't very often that someone in Hollywood realises you need to put him in a role that acknowledges he's handsome and charming rather than insisting the audience instead accept that he's repugnant or gross or gormless. Because he's really handsome and charming. It will be the first thing you notice. You want to look for something redeeming or secretly sharp in his comic characters even when it is not intended to be there and film makers should be aware of this.
tl;dr I rewatched failed screwball comedy Life Without Dick for the first time in years and remembered how almost sick the movie feels because it totally relies on you being so repulsed by his character that your sympathy is with the leads while they get into a bunch of sociopathic romcom shenanigans surrounding his murder. Doomed from the outset! The comedy isn't consistently black enough to cross the threshold into camp while still being deeply fucked up, and it's played with a silly tone without being removed from reality. Dick, we're reassured as we reveal the reason she killed him was actually a misunderstanding, was still just the worst (and thus deserved it?), but he's too humanised for us to laugh at his death. The absurdity is generally grim instead of funny, the leads are not likeable, and the assumption we could cheer for them was very misplaced. That and the poor direction, which makes everyone seem super awkward.
But anyway. You end up feeling sorry for Dick and the entire movie cannot function the second that you do. And it's just the most perfect encapsulation of the completely wrong-headed approach to casting Knoxville in movies that can be seen in like... 80% of the movies he's been in. You simply cannot rely on him being plain unappealing because he never is.
And also Harry Connick Jr's acting is very very bad. But Craig Ferguson was amusing. I still quote his 'do you like them lattes?' line. That's funny.
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