Actor Spotlight: Jake Gyllenhaal
Also, we recommend our favorites that are new to streaming in July
Even though he’s only 38, Jake Gyllenhaal has been in our movie-watching lives for 20 years. He’s been the lead in cult films (Donnie Darko), Oscar winners (Brokeback Mountain), and even big-budget video game movies that didn’t go so well (Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time). This week he co-stars in Spider-Man: Far From Home, the latest Marvel movie that stands to make a gazillion dollars.
Although Gyllenhaal still has quite a bit of career in front of him, we thought his appearance in the latest Spider-Man warranted a Gyllenhaal-themed newsletter. Stay tuned for the best Jake Gyllenhaal performances you can find on streaming right now. Afterwards, we’ll recommend our favorite picks for titles that are new to streaming in July.
Billy recommends…
Zodiac (streaming on Netflix)
Jake Gyllenhaal proved he could lead a movie with Zodiac. There is no doubt that he had proved himself as a talented actor with movies like Donnie Darko and October Sky, but had hit a little bit of a snag at this point in his filmography. He was trying to do the blockbuster thing with minimal success. Zodiac was his coming out party proving that he could lead a movie that came from a top notch director in David Fincher.
Zodiac taps into the obsessive nature that many of us have with murder mysteries. Fincher sets Gyllenhaal into motion as a cartoonist who becomes obsessed with the mystery of the Zodiac killer. At first it is a fun interest that is almost endearing, but the interest morphs into a self-destructive lifestyle. Gyllenhaal spirals into a non-violent maniac beautifully. We are rooting for him the whole way because it seems that he is truly trying to find out who this psychopath is, but as he gets closer and closer to cracking the case we begin to question his methods. The performance is the reason we care so much and it doesn’t get enough love from widespread audiences.
Stronger (streaming on Amazon Prime and Hulu)
Gyllenhaal was going for the Oscar with this one and sadly it didn't work out. He wasn’t even nominated and that is a travesty. To be fair, the Best Actor race was pretty stacked, but with Stronger we get a wonderful performance that pulls on the heart strings. In Stronger we follow the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing from Jeff Bauman’s point of view, who lost his legs in the tragedy.
Bauman is portrayed as someone who never “shows up”. A typically flaky person (I can relate) who finally shows up to support the love of his life running the Boston Marathon. This time he shows up and then tragedy strikes. The emotional rollercoaster that this sends Bauman on is complicated and moving. Gyllenhaal is able to portray that heartbreak so clearly because, according to the film, that is how Bauman was. You never had to wonder what Bauman was thinking. That is why I like this performance so much. Gyllenhaal is able to be expressive with the confusion that the character is feeling. Slowly Gyllenhaal is becoming one of our most respected actors and I hope it doesn’t end soon.
Drew recommends…
October Sky (streaming on HBO Now)
Gyllenhaal found his breakout role early, when he was just a teenager. In 1999, he starred in October Sky, the inspirational drama about a poor coal miner’s son who had dreams of becoming a rocket scientist during the space race. The movie itself is only solid, an uplifting and well-made biographical drama, but young Gyllenhaal is the story here.
In a recent interview, Gyllenhaal said he identified with his October Sky character because they both had the drive and ambition to prove themselves at a young age. Homer Hickam, Gyllenhaal’s intelligent West Virginia kid inspired by the launch of Sputnik in 1957, wants to break out of his rural coal mining town and do great things for NASA. Similarly, Gyllenhaal wanted to break out in Hollywood and prove he could be a reliable lead actor. Mission accomplished for Homer and Jake.
Enemy (streaming on Netflix)
For those that like Jake Gyllenhaal and mind-twisting psychological thrillers, I’d highly recommend Enemy. In the 2013 film, he plays two characters, Adam and Anthony, who find out they are doppelgangers, which leads them down a strange and enigmatic path.
Enemy is directed by Denis Villeneuve (Arrival, Blade Runner 2049), one of the great filmmakers currently working. When you have such an outrageously talented director and star, you are guaranteed an interesting movie, at the very least. I think Enemy surpasses those low expectations. Villeneuve injects the entire film with deep dread and tension, and Gyllenhaal convincingly portrays two different guys, one a sad-sack college professor and the other a confident small-time actor.
This is one that you likely won’t be able to shake after its unpredictable last shot. Enemy is the rare film that I watched again only a few weeks after I first saw it. It just left that kind of mark. Gyllenhaal’s subtle, but brilliant performance is a big reason why.
New to streaming in July
Billy recommends…
Gone Baby Gone (streaming on Netflix right now and Amazon Prime July 12th)
Ben Affleck… what a weird career he has had. An A-list actor who couldn’t miss and then an A-list actor that was almost forced out of the industry because he kept acting in terrible movies. Unexpectedly he decided to force his way back into the industry by showing us he is a masterclass director.
It all starts with the movie Gone Baby Gone, which is definitely not my favorite of the Ben Affleck-directed movies, but I think it is the best to watch with a group of people. A little girl is kidnapped and two Boston detectives are trying to find her. A pretty standard story right? This time though we get to know a mother character that is less than ideal. She is amazing in front of the camera, but once the camera is off we see that she is not the best mother, to say the least.
This is where Affleck flexes his directing muscle. He gives such an amazing predicament to the audience. If they are able to find the missing girl how should they handle what they do with her? They know she will be going back to a bad household. Therefore, should they save her again by taking her away from her destructive mother? That is all I will divulge about the conundrum the audience is put into, but I guarantee that at the end of this one you and your friends will be talking about what you would do in this scenario.
Drew recommends…
Minority Report (streaming on Amazon Prime and Hulu)
Action sci-fi movies don’t get much better than Steven Spielberg and Tom Cruise teaming up to tell a story from the masterful sci-fi author Philip K. Dick. Minority Report truly hits that sweet spot between blockbuster fun and heady science-fiction. Cruise plays John Anderton, a detective in the year 2054 that works in the Precrime unit, which catches murderers before they actually commit their crime. Precrime follows the visions of three psychics that prophesy the killings before they happen. When Detective Anderton discovers they have pointed to him as the next would-be murderer, the movie really kicks into overdrive.
This is the kind of role that Cruise is perfect for, the hero on the run. He’s played it in the Mission: Impossible movies countless times. Similarly, Colin Farrell is right at home as the suave Department of Justice agent that is tasked with catching Anderton. You’re never sure if you should trust him.
It’s not everyday that an action movie that makes $132 million at the box office possesses interesting ideas about fate and free will, but that is what happens when Spielberg is steering the ship. It’s not hyperbole to say that no one in the history of film has been able to marry emotional, mainstream moviemaking with smart and thoughtful ideas quite like him. Not only does Minority Report provide thrilling chase sequences, but it also leaves you pondering bigger ideas about choice and destiny.
Links to get you hyped
There’s a new frontrunner for most anticipated fall release this year, and it’s called Knives Out, from director Rian Johnson (Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Looper). This trailer is delicious, featuring several top-drawer actors (Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Lakeith Stanfield, and more) in a classic whodunnit murder mystery.
Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV series has found a director in J.A. Bayona, who has helmed The Impossible and Jurassic Park: Fallen Kingdom. Bezos and Amazon reportedly dropped $250 million on just the global TV rights alone, so you could say the stakes are pretty high for Mr. Bayona.
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