Sunday, January 26, 2014

In Character: John Carroll Lynch

One of the things I respect so much about John Carroll Lynch is that he doesn’t rely on his physique to deliver a memorable performance. And what an imposing physique it is: big, brooding, the shell of a man’s man. But for the roles I’ve highlighted in this post, rarely does Lynch use his intimidating stature as a major character point.

Some actors are chameleons, changing their appearance with every passing role, physically separating their real self from their characters. Others appear the same in each role, relying more on internal changes to create a unique character. John Carroll Lynch is the latter, a man we all recognize but whose characters are never the same. From everyman to loving husband to psychopathic killer, most all of Lynch’s characters look the part. What makes them fun is examining what’s inside.

Five Essential Roles
Fargo (1996)
Norm Gunderson
You gotta love good ol’ Norm son of a Gunderson. The man personifies Minnesota Nice with his kind, unassuming, loyal demeanor. Everything he does is done in unselfish support of his wife, Marge. But beyond Norm’s gentleness, I love how Lynch makes him feel like an everyday guy. Listen to the way he snorts loudly as he prepares to make Marge breakfast, or the way he hazily stammers awake as Marge turns off the TV for the night.

It’s those little details that help make Coen brothers’ characters so damn unique. Their writing is an essential part, no question, but it takes the right actor to sell it so convincingly.

The Good Girl (2002)
Jack Field
Similarly to my affection for Norm Gunderson, much of the reason why I adore Jack Field is because he feels so authentic. I mean really, who hasn’t meet a guy like Jack Field? A slow-moving schlub who manages a local store, sneaks packs of M&M’S when no one is looking, calls his employees “good girls,” and lets his staff have the day off after an employee has died.

The Good Girl is full of subtle bits of Americana humor, none better than Jack Field sitting behind a window, telling his staff that a recently deceased employee should be remembered for having “a good attitude…she had ideas.” Seldom can an actor convey the mundane so amusingly.

Carnivàle (2005)
Varlyn Stroud
The main rebuttal to my appreciation of Lynch rarely relying on his imposing physique is, of course, his arresting work on HBO’s Carnivàle. Lynch appeared on the show’s second season, as a murdering psychopath who literally thinks he is the archangel-made-flesh of a murdering psychopath minister named Brother Justin Crowe (Clancy Brown, who I really need to cover in this series as well). Watching Varlyn strut and impose his way through Carnivàle proved to be one of the highlights of that final season. That dude just felt like a monster.

Things We Lost in the Fire (2007)
Howard Glassman
When Susanne Bier’s Things We Lost in the Fire first came out, I remember reading Lisa Schwarzbaum’s review that said the film would be much more compelling if it focused more on Howard Glassman’s domestic troubles. And while I certainly liked Bier’s film more than Schwarzbaum, it’s hard for me to disagree with someone who suggests that John Carroll Lynch lead a film. Any film.

Howard is the kind of guy who needs a buddy. Stuck in a suburban, soul-crushing marriage, Howard takes every opportunity he can to confide in whoever will listen, including a helpless drug addict named Jerry (Benicio Del Toro). “I hate my wife,” Howard shares with Jerry. “I hate everything about her,” he says with a smile so pathetic it can’t even begin to be dangerous.

“How such a husband negotiates a life of uneventful loathing would make a great, adult movie,” Schwarzbaum initially wrote. And the more I think about it… damn if she isn’t right.

Gran Torino (2008)
Barber Martin
Who better to help a young, awkward Hmong kid become a man than an ornery Italian-American barber? Lynch isn’t in Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino for very long, but his profane representation of just another fella ‘round the neighborhood is one of the highlights of the film. The scene where Eastwood and Lynch attempt to teach Bee Vang how to walk and talk and act like a man is certainly the most humorous moment of the film, but also one of the comedic highlights of Lynch’s career. And, by the film’s end, leave it to Lynch to gracefully flip that stereotype-brand comedy into subtle, poignant reflection.

The Best of the Best
Zodiac (2007)
Arthur Leigh Allen
Six minutes. That’s how long John Carroll Lynch’s character in in David Fincher’s crime noir masterpiece, Zodiac. Proof that the power to impose fear on the audience has nothing whatsoever to do with the amount of time you’re on screen.

The Zodiac serial killer terrorized northern California in the late ‘60s early ‘70s, and many closely involved with the case, including cartoonist-turned-novelist Robert Graysmith, considered Arthur Leigh Allen to be the primary suspect. Graysmith’s first book, on which Fincher’s film is based, never tells us who killed those people in the Bay area. Mostly because the world never knew either.

And it’s that constant hint of danger that Lynch brings to the screen so chillingly. When we first meet Allen, the audience has as much fun sizing him up as the police in the scene do. We watch his bulky frame and his awkward mannerisms; we study his voice and wonder why he nervously divulges more information than he has to. We quickly learn to fear Arthur Leigh Allen, but we also wonder if we should just feel bad for him.

Because Allen died in 1992, we’ll likely never know who the Zodiac was (though Graysmith did label Allen as the killer with 100 percent certainty in his follow-up novel, “Zodiac Unmasked”). Fincher knows this, which is what makes Lynch’s final scene of Zodiac one of the single best moments of Lynch’s career. Staring at Jake Gyllenhaal intently, first with the politeness of a clerk helping a customer, next with curiosity, finally with scorn. “You think you know who I am?” Lynch’s look says. Nope, and we probably never will.

Other Notable Roles
In Confidence
It’s important to note that while I am knowledgeable of Lynch’s film career, I am admittedly ill informed about his work in television. Lynch has delivered many memorable characters on the small screen, but the majority of them are unseen by me. Looks like I have some TV viewing to do.

Beautiful Girls (1996)
The Drew Carey Show (1997-2004)
Volcano (1997)
Face/Off (1997)
From the Earth to the Moon (1998)
Tuesdays with Morrie (1999)
Gothika (2003)
The Brotherhood of Portland, New Hampshire (2003)
Confidence (2003)
Close to Home (2005-2007)
K-Ville (2007-2008)
Shutter Island (2010)
Hesher (2010)
Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)
Body Proof (2011-2012)
Do No Harm (2013) 

26 comments:

  1. You know what, Lynch has such a recognizable face that I instantly recognize him every time I see him but I couldn't for the life of me remember his name. I have yet to see several of the movies on this list but I agree 100% with your top pic. I go back and forth between Zodiac and The Social Network as to which I think is the better Fincher movie, but Lynch's performance is definitely part of why I love that film. The way he plays his character as someone who you could honestly see as the killer but also gives you the smallest inclination of thinking that he might not as well is just note perfect.

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    1. So happy to hear you're a fan of Lynch's work in that film. I totally agree, he helps make Zodiac so memorable and great. Me personally, Zodiac is my second favorite Fincher after Se7en. But really, I dig all his flicks.

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  2. Oh, he was fucking great in Zodiac. He is just so calm in that film and yet you wonder if there's something about him that isn't so right. I also love him in Fargo and The Good Girl. An amazing actor.

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    1. Yes! More Good Girl love... that's awesome man. Really happy to hear you're a fan of his work in all of those films. An amazing actor indeed.

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  3. He was sooooooooooooooooooo creepy in Zodiac. I probably remember him the most out of all the actors in Zodiac and that's saying something.

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    1. That is DEFINITELY saying something. Considering how little he's on screen... I mean damn, what presence he has.

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  4. I've seen most of the films you listed, remembered him when you talked about them, but I couldn't have told you off the top of my head that "John Carroll Lynch" was in any of them. I agree Zodiac is the best. In regards to TV I did watch some episodes of The Brotherhood of Poland, New Hampshire. It was pretty bad, despite being developed and written by David E. Kelley. It got cancelled pretty quickly.

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    1. Ahh that's a bummer about the Poland show. I don't get around to TV too much, so I guess I won't have that one at the top of my list. Glad you're a fan of his Zodiac work though.

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  5. He plays a creepy guy so well, Zodiac would get my vote as well. Now I think I'm going to stick that one in my DVD player, I think it's time for a re-watch.

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    1. I rewatched it last week, which inspired me to finally cover Lynch. Such a good movie, and it moves so damn quickly. I love it!

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  6. Oh man.. Zodiac..Fck yeah.. I have to watch it again now.. Oh, and have you done a list post about Zodiac already like you did with Se7en? Maybe I missed it.. or if you haven't.. oh please do, I'd be a happy blogger. :)

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    1. I LOVE your love for Zodiac! I haven't done one of those "things no one else talks about" posts for Zodiac yet, but I will soon. Thanks so much for checking out this post!

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  7. Zodiac is a default film at the house here. When we can't decide what to put in, Out comes that film. Six minutes are you kidding me? The interview scene and the search warrant execution were two fantastic sequences. Fargo summarizes his persona in so many films, good natured everyman. I like all your choices but I have a couple to look forward to.

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    1. I love that Zodiac is a staple of your house. That's great man. I was stunned that Lynch was only in the film for 6 minutes. Thought it was much more. He totally owns that film, doesn't he?

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  8. Oh he is such a great actor. He can be both funny - like in Crazy Stupid Love when he gives Carrel his stuff back because his wife forbid him to be his friend any longer - and scary - like in that Zodiac scene you mentioned. I had no doubt this dude was the killer from the first second I saw him in this film.

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    1. I love Lynch's ability to shift from everyman to comedian to dramatic actor. I liked his work in Crazy Stupid Love, but I thought the material let him down a bit. Still... Zodiac... so good.

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  9. When I first saw Zodiac, I was most enamored with RDJ and Ruffalo's performance, but the more the film's sat with me the more impressed I am with Lynch. It's a tremendous piece of acting that hangs over the rest of the film. No jury would acquit him, but the character is too slippery to ever put himself in front of a jury.

    I wouldn't go so far as to wish for a Howard Glassman-centered Fire (I quite liked that film despite the critical rancor) but he made for an entertaining sidelight. I, too, would love to see Lynch in a lead role. There has to be one enterprising indie filmmaker out there writing a hell of a role for him, surely.

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    1. Holy shit, I love the final sentence of your first graph - so damn true. I'd love to see Lynch lead a film, Howard or any other character. The man definitely deserves it.

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  10. Great actor, glad you pointed out his work in Things we lost in the Fire.

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  11. He's only in Zodiac for six minutes?! Wow, what a brilliant performance with minimal screen time. Love him in Fargo and Gran Torino as well.

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    1. Isn't that crazy!? Six minutes. He can do so much in such a short period of time.

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  12. Zodiac : one of my favorite film ever. That scene with Anthony Edwards, Elias Koteas, John Carroll Lynch, Mark Ruffalo is one of the most powerful of the movie. The decor, sounds and top notch acting is so great ; you can feel the tension, the real police procedural slow pace : no "I know you did it, you asshole !" cop caricature. Zodiac, for me, is a perfect film in casting, story, pace and art direction. Now it will be in my head all day.

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    1. Oh hell yes, I love the film and I love that scene as well. You're right, the scene is so tense and plays against our perceptions of what it will be. Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting!

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