He's so good it hurts

..at being manipulative, in the dramatic roles he has played, it's overwhelming. I only knew him from his popular, upbeat, fun movies before I recently decided to dig deeper.

I saw Gossip and The 24th Hour back-to-back a few days ago and I must say I didn't feel so good after it. It's something about watching his performance. It's emotionally draining. And then last night I decided to check on that TV movie he did called Bella Mafia which everyone on this board seems to recommend. He is terrific in the role, but again I felt the same restless feeling. It kind of sucks the life out of you, it makes me almost grateful that he embraces his comedic side more. LOL.

At first I thought maybe it's just because I'm not used to seeing him in a full-blown serious role. But I survived 10th & Wolf. And even Straw Dogs. In these two films he didn't do so much in-your-face kind of acting. He played it subtly in these two films. But also I realize the fact that in these films he didn't play "the manipulative character" I mentioned earlier.

In Gossip he kind of tricks you into being on his side the whole movie, but you cannot seem to really trust him either. You want him so bad to be right even after knowing he's wrong. You wish it's the other characters who are wrong and then you get caught up and don't know who's right or who's wrong anymore. (Or maybe I just got a little too deep into the movie )

And then in The 24th Hour he does it again! Playing with the viewer's trust. Well or in this case, my trust. One second you despise him, the next second you sympathize with him. One minute you disapprove of his doing, the next minute you agree with every word he says. It's this kind of thing that makes the viewing experience emotionally tiring.

I don't even have to start on Bella Mafia, do I? How he managed to still gain my sympathy in his final scene even after everything he did.

It's his charm, isn't it? He was born with it, wasn't he? It's natural, you can't fake something like that. The he-seems-like-a-nice-guy-i-cannot-believe-he-did-terrible-things image of his.


What does it matter what anybody thinks? Most people don't think.