Actor Spotlight: Matt Damon & Christian Bale
Plus: We give you our mini-reviews of Ford v Ferrari, Waves, and Marriage Story
We’re nearing the end of the year and you know what that means. Awards movies are coming out! This weekend you can see Matt Damon and Christian Bale in Ford v Ferrari, one of the finest films of the year so far. It’s a fast, loud, and enthralling ride depicting Ford’s mission to defeat Ferrari at the 1966 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France. You can read our thoughts on the movie below.
We have a jam-packed newsletter for you today. First, we wrote about a couple performances that we enjoy from both Damon and Bale. Then, we have mini-reviews of three recent releases in theaters. In the words of Damon’s Will Hunting, how you like them apples? Read on!
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Matt Damon
Rounders (streaming on Netflix)
Billy: This movie is a thing? Not just a thing, but a really good thing. A movie about poker seems to be a topic that is too niche to make interesting. A game or sport that is largely sitting around and taking it out of the poker capital of the world, Las Vegas, where most of the excitement would stem from. The setting is downgraded to New York City and that lends the movie an underground feel. That mood is what sets up this movie for success and all of that coming together is the reason it works.
Rounders sneakily has become one of the best casts ever created. Matt Damon stars a year after Good Will Hunting thrust him into A-List stardom. Edward Norton at the height of his indie darlingness. Rounded (you see that?) out by incredible character actors John Turturro, John Malkovich, and Martin Landau. A cast like this lends itself to a cult status that Rounders has gained. Upon release, this was a pretty massive bomb at the box office given the assumed momentum it had, but the subject matter was so foreign at the time. Poker has already cemented itself as a popular game to play, but gambling has a dark side to it and Rounders, while an incredibly fun movie, hits on the addictive nature of gambling.
The first scene of the movie sets a wonderful tone for the rest of the movie by presenting the seductive temptress that poker/gambling is. Damon plays a lowly poker player that used this game to pay for part of law school and is now trying to make a name for himself. A classic movie character trope that when written well is one of the best characters to drive the movie forward. Luckily, for the audience, this movie is written, directed, and acted just well enough, masterfully so in quick spurts, that we get a movie that can be thrown on at anytime.
A couple lacking qualities are the narration and the Oreo schtick from John Malkovich’s character, but it is all there for a reason that I can admire. Trying to give it a classic noir feel with the narration and a schtick when done right can bring a fun layer to a character. Rounders, while flawed, is a fast ride that at one time was a must-see on cable whenever it was on. Now it is on streaming and catch it while it is still available.
School Ties (streaming on Amazon Prime)
Drew: Not often has Matt Damon played the villain throughout his career, but he did so very impressively in his first sizable role in School Ties. Let’s go way back before Jason Bourne and even before Good Will Hunting to a 22-year-old Damon attending Harvard in 1992. He gets a part in an ensemble drama about prejudice in an elite prep school and he’s playing an irredeemable anti-Semitic high schooler. When the movie comes out audiences discover this no-name kid from Boston can really act.
School Ties is a fascinating little early 90s time capsule. It features several young actors that went on to big things. The lead is Brendan Fraser, who would later star in a few 90s hits like The Mummy and George of the Jungle. Chris O’Donnell became Robin in the 90s Batman movies and then a mainstay on NCIS: Los Angeles. And then you have Damon and his childhood buddy Ben Affleck, who appear on screen for the first time together.
Damon plays Charlie Dillon, an entitled rich kid with a deep strain of anti-Semitism coming from his prestigious and overbearing family. When he finds out Fraser’s character (who is the new quarterback on the football team) is Jewish, he leads the school in harassing him. To Damon’s credit as an actor, you absolutely loathe him in this movie. It’s actually a little disorienting to see one of Hollywood’s most likable stars play such an unrepentant asshole so early in his career. He has that prep-school smarm and conniving personality down pat.
Some of my favorite Damon roles are when he plays morally compromised characters. In The Talented Mr. Ripley he’s a charming sociopath. In The Departed he’s a selfish criminal masquerading as a cop. While he may not be the lead in School Ties, Damon jumps off a screen full of budding movie stars in maybe his most loathsome performance.
Christian Bale
Hostiles (streaming on Netflix)
Billy: Classic westerns are always fun to look back on. Recently going through Sergio Leone’s Man With No Name trilogy made me understand the draw that western movies have. Epic, charming, and when done right is brutal in a way that hooks the audience. Director Scott Cooper tries to stay within the lane of classic westerns while also creating a movie that is brutal in every way. Most westerns build up to the brutal parts, not Hostiles. If you can make it past the opening scene then the ride is well worth it, but would not blame you if you turned it off.
Cooper is an interesting director. It feels like he should be more well known because his early work received some Oscar buzz and his newer movies star A-list actors, namely Christian Bale -- the reason I’m writing about Hostiles. Bale, per usual, is playing a memorable character (Capt. Joseph J. Blocker). In this case Bale takes the character further than it ever should, which may be the case with a lot of his movies. A low drawl, confident demeanor, and deep hatred plagues Capt. Blocker. Leading to what sounds like it would be a drag of a film, but it’s not that.
Understanding our prejudices is an important leap forward to empathy and seeing characters with deep-rooted hatred is a good reminder of where humankind can end up. While the imagery and message to Hostiles is in no way subtle, it is poignant. The brutality is often barbaric to a fault, but when Cooper finds that right balance he allows Bale to be the lens that transforms the seemingly glorified violence into a reality that should be recognized.
I do not recommend Hostiles in the same way I recommend Rounders. Rounders being an example that I would recommend to anyone and they will find joy out of it. Hostiles being a movie that needs to be watched to feel emotions that would otherwise be ignored. Be bold while this is on Netflix. I think it will be worth it.
The Fighter (streaming on Netflix)
Drew: Famously, nobody transforms like Christian Bale. Just think of all the different body types he has shown us over the years: Toned and fit for American Psycho, emaciated skin and bones after losing 60 pounds for The Machinist, back in shape to play Batman, wiry and jittery in The Fighter, pudgy in American Hustle, and heavy-set as Dick Cheney in Vice last year. Bale is one of the true chameleons in film history.
And yet, it’s not just the physicality, but the Method way he inhabits his characters. Director David O. Russell said Bale stayed in character throughout the shoot for 2010’s The Fighter. Bale plays Dicky Eklund, a former boxer that’s trying to help his brother Micky (Mark Whalberg) become a welterweight success. The problem is Dicky is addicted to crack and has had trouble with the law. Bale is a haunted man as Dicky, thinned out from a life chasing drugs and former glory, but he’s still a chatterbox that has nothing but love for his brother.
It’s a shock when those unfamiliar with Bale’s natural Welsh accent hear him speak because of how often he adopts various accents in his work. The Fighter is no different, as he puts on a believable Boston accent. Even though they look nothing alike, you totally buy Wahlberg and Bale as brothers, mostly due to Bale’s commitment to transform himself into Dicky. Every single move and gesture he makes feels like a concerted choice to disappear into this role.
Bale was rewarded for his efforts at the Academy Awards that year when he won Best Supporting Actor. So far it’s his only win even as he’s been nominated three other times. He transforms into another brash motormouth in Ford v Ferrari, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he picks up yet another nomination. Bale the chameleon will never stop surprising us.
Recent Release Mini-Reviews
Ford v Ferrari (in theaters now)
Drew: So good it makes you want to drive like a maniac on your way home from the theater, Ford v Ferrari is terrific old-fashioned fun. Yes, the racing scenes directed by James Mangold (Logan, Walk the Line) are a blast, but it’s the performances that will linger in your mind afterwards. Matt Damon and Christian Bale memorably bring these real people to life. Bale gets the flashier role, but don’t sleep on Damon here -- this is some of his best work in awhile. It’s truly a joy to see two top-drawer actors share the screen in first-rate material that’s so smartly engineered to enhance their strengths. - 4 out of 5 apples
Billy: I would describe this movie as a hot and sensitive dad. An exterior that triggers some type of Oedipus complex that draws a person in, but beneath the surface is a personality that is oddly original. Allowing that initial fiery feeling to stay around well after this movie is over. Also, dads are going to freaking love this one.
Ford v Ferrari has two and a half hour run time and normally there is little reason to make a movie that long. Especially a movie like this. This time it needed almost every second. The title hints at being a movie about corporate overlords competing against each other, but writers Jez Butterworth, John-Henry Butterworth, and Jason Keller smartly guided director James Mangold to show this story from the perspective from two corporate outsiders. The two being Ken Miles (Christian Bale) and Carroll Shelby (Matt Damon). The two characters’ passion for creating and racing vilifies almost everyone around them. Creating a necessary conflict to drive the story forward as fast as the cars go. This was one of the best theater experiences of the year. - 4 out of 5 apples
Waves (in limited release now)
Drew: While it’s uncomfortably intense and raw, Waves turns out to be one of the most moving and rewarding dramas of the year. Filmmaker Trey Edward Shults plunges you into the depths of a troubled family with evocative imagery and an immersive soundtrack. Shults has shown promising talent before, but Waves proves he can take you on a harrowing journey that still finds room for grace and forgiveness. - 4.5 out of 5 apples
Billy: A This is Us rip off was my presumption on going into Waves. It turned out to be so much more. A stylized first hour about intense familial and societal pressure brings a uniquely powerful soundtrack that brings a necessary pace to what would have been too much to handle subject matter. After the shocking conclusion to the first act it transitions the focus on to the importance of forgiveness. For oneself and the people around you. What could have been a drag turned into a borderline masterpiece. The Lucas Hedges storyline was the only thing that partially took me out of the otherwise perfectly tuned emotional story, but the conclusion of it made it work overall. - 4.5 out of 5 apples
Marriage Story (in limited release now, Netflix on December 6)
Billy: The first day of the St. Louis International Film Festival opened with Marriage Story and it was the perfect event film to start it off. An open bar lubed the audience up enough to get our hearts open to digest such a heavy tale. Honestly, this was my first ever Noah Baumbach experience and it did not disappoint. Never has an opening to a movie so convincingly showed the love these two characters had (has?) for each other and then creates instant doubt by thrusting the film straight into the separation process.
Adam Driver (Charlie) and Scarlett Johanson (Nicole) will get Oscar nominations for their efforts. The way Baumbach moves the camera creates an intensity that enhances the already intense dialogue. The intensity is not constant in Marriage Story, though. A much more realistic approach to how divorce works and seen through the eyes of the adults, not the child. Divorce is a topic that is already avoided in cinema and if it is addressed we are told of the divorce. Allowing the characters to not be their worst immediately shows the gradual progression "the courts" (Alan Alda is amazing in this movie) forces manipulation upon these couples.
Marriage Story stumbles towards the end when the theatrical performances turn somewhat fantastical. Baumbach attempts to fuse so many genres together and one genre he brings into it took me out for the quick five to ten minute scene. It rebounds hard into a cautiously happy ending that left the audience silent and in awe with what they saw. - 3.5 out of 5 apples
See more reviews on our Letterboxd page
Links to get you hyped
Next March Ben Affleck will play an alcoholic basketball coach in The Way Back, which released a trailer this week featuring a wonderful Bon Iver song. Affleck has been in and out of treatment for alcoholism for years, so it will be interesting to see how he approaches something so personal.
Filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson (There Will Be Blood, The Master) is returning with a 1970s-set high school movie. Might this be the early stages of another classic from PTA?
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