Some trailers give away everything. The trailer for the new film The Actor leaves us as confused as its protagonist.
But that's a good thing in this case. As Paul Cole (André Holland) attempts to piece together his true identity, he stumbles into places that look familiar but don't feel right. He meets people whose faces he recognizes but can't place them. This creates an unsettling but intriguing atmosphere that's become a calling card of Charlie Kaufman, who serves as an executive producer on this film. But The Actor hails from his collaborator Duke Johnson, an animator making his live-action debut. Johnson delivered the claymation Community episode and the Keanu Reeves-narrated training video in the second season premiere of Severance. He also received an Oscar nomination for helming 2015's Anomalisa.
Based on a posthumous novel by Donald Westlake (the Parker series), the film was originally slated to star Ryan Gosling. But that was before the strikes and other delays pushed production to 2022. Now it's finally seeing the light of day thanks to Neon, who has had their hands full with the Oscar campaign for Anora. Among the cast are Gemma Chan, Toby Jones, and Simon McBurney. Youssef Kerkour and Tracey Ullman will also play multiple parts.
The Actor opens in limited release on Friday, March 14.
About Kip Mooney
Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about.
I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague.
Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work.
In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo.
I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.
