MovieChat Forums > John Heard Discussion > Favorite Roles? (other than Home Alone)

Favorite Roles? (other than Home Alone)

posted 5 years ago by snepts (11123)
22 replies | jump to latest

I'm glad he got to make Home Alone and star along side the wonderful Catherine O'Hara and hopefully made a lot of money. But I really liked him in After Hours and Sweet Land and he also did some TV work and seemed like a very reliable actor. He worked a lot and I always paid a little more attention when he was part of the ensemble.

After Hours
Sweet Land
Law and Order

And this is vastly underestimating him. Just glancing at his IMDb roles shows he was in LOTS of things.

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[–] rudeboymurray (3279) 5 years ago

His performance in Cutter's Way is superb and really should have gotten him an Oscar nomination.

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[–] Sandman81 (1509) 5 years ago

He was great in the hand full of episodes he did in the first season of The Sopranos. Even got brought back for a dream sequence in season 5.

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[–] snepts (11123) 5 years ago

I binged The Sopranos back in the Blockbuster days and absolutely loved it. But I don't remember everything so I'd love to revisit it and see Mr Heard again. That show had lots of characters !

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[–] PaladinNJ (21528) 5 years ago

Jack Saunders in Deceived with Goldie Hawn

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[–] snepts (11123) 5 years ago

Wha ...?

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[–] [deleted] 5 years ago

Alex Cutter in Cutters Way, the man acted the ass out of that film

magnificent.

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[–] Moviebuff1 (2835) 5 years ago

Alex Cutter.

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[–] snepts (11123) 5 years ago

Looks like we have a quorum for Cutter's Way.

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[–] Tricklebrook (314) 5 years ago

I liked him in "The Milagro Beanfield War." Although that movie is so old, most of you probably haven't even heard of it.

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[–] snepts (11123) 5 years ago

Read the book ! Still have it ! Loved it !
In the vein of Tom Robbins and maybe Richard Brautigan.

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[–] Tricklebrook (314) 5 years ago

Yes!! The book is fantastic. I just about choked to death laughing when I read it.

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[–] snepts (11123) 5 years ago

Good on you ! A friend gave it to me a long time ago but gave it a lukewarm review. I sat on that thing for a decade or more, then finally pried open the pages and it was a genuinely fun read. Bing !

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[–] Tricklebrook (314) 5 years ago

I think it's even more fun for those of us who grew up in rural New Mexico. So many things are familiar and ring true.

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[–] Owlwise (1535) 4 years ago

Definitely Cutter's Way! But also his roles in Chilly Scenes of Winter, Between the Lines, and Mindwalk.

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[–] TrentnQuarantino (9227) 3 years ago

I've never seen Cutter's Way or Between The Lines.

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[–] Owlwise (1535) 3 years ago

Cutter's Way is superb, with a searing performance from Heard, and an equally good performance from Jeff Bridges as Heard's initially non-committal friend. But Heard owns the film with a blazing, ferocious intensity. It's an unjustly neglected coda to the 1970s' streak of powerfully cynical films about political, financial, and moral corruption, with the cynicism having its roots in a shattered idealism that still yearns to make things right. Heard's physically & psychologically damaged Vietnam vet seethes with bitterness & venom, but he's not a stereotypical "vets are psycho" caricature. Even at his worst moments, we can understand what's driving him: the sense of betrayal by everyone & everything, and the hunger to balance the scale's of justice—not just legal justice, but moral justice.

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[–] TrentnQuarantino (9227) 3 years ago

> Heard's physically & psychologically damaged Vietnam vet

Thanks. Now I remember why I didn't see it .... there were so many cliche and idiotic movies about the Viet Nam war that I was just totally uninterested. I will have to put that on my list and catch it at some point.

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[–] Owlwise (1535) 3 years ago

Don't worry, you won't see the typical cliched Vietnam vet in this one. Heard's character is deeply wounded, but he's not that one-dimensional caricature. He's a human being fighting to regain his wholeness as a human being, by holding the powerful accountable for their crimes. He mirrors the desire of many Americans then for just such an accounting.

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[–] TrentnQuarantino (9227) 3 years ago

Sneak Previews' review
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnC_UmMktYE
I think I have to go along with Roger the Round Ebert ... strongly do not Recommend.
Apparently Heard is not the star of the movie, Bridges is, and I know he is a good actor and very popular but I have never really liked Jeff Bridges. I did like him in Star Man though.

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[–] Owlwise (1535) 3 years ago

That's a fair response.

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[–] Topcat81 (222) 3 years ago

I liked him in 187 with Samuel Jackson. He portrayed that scumbag teacher, childers to the t.

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[–] blue1981 (7831) 3 years ago

I'll always remember him as the sleazy executive in Big

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