There are these certain things in life that everybody gets so obsessed with, and so you start maybe not liking these certain things as much because everyone else does. At least, I have sometimes fallen victim to this. I think if you're honest with yourself then you know that it is true for you as well.
Regardless, and as sad/cruel/etc. this may be, I began to regard Heath Ledger as one of these. I loved him in Brokeback as many of my friends scorned the film (probably because of their own closeted homosexuality). I watched Ten Things I Hate About You, and even though J Stiles did her best to bring it down, Heath made that thing at least respectable. And who could forget a Knight's Tale, the film in which he won over the hearts of every (young, old, moms) girl in America.
But even after all this, he wasn't idolized. Don't get me wrong here; people definitely liked the guy. But he just wasn't memorable enough for them, and then as I said, after Brokeback it seemed as though he plunged in the popularity polls.
I won't sit here and give you some monday morning quarterback spiel about how I could see the greatness in his acting and how I felt like, deep down, he was headed for a troubled future (my theater teacher this year actually claimed that she could see through Heath's acting that he was taking his roles too far, and this could be suicidal. Obviously she dropped this fascinating insight on us long after Heath was six feet under). But I certainly respected the guy's work, especially his decision to take a role that I am pretty sure 99% of the other A-Listers in Hollywood would have turned down.
So yeah, he passes away, and suddenly, he is everyone's favorite actor. It's pretty sad if the man has to die for you to remember his name. He was a great actor, but he wasn't as good as people made him out to be after he was gone.
But maybe he was that great. Maybe I needed to examine his acting a bit more closely, not just his progressive role choices. But I didn't want to, because I was afraid I would see his movies through biased eyes, and subsequently would join the masses of all those hailing Heath.
Alas, I did it anyway. I headed to Blockbuster and rented A Knight's Tale and Brokeback Mountain. Ol' Ten Things was left off the list. I watched them both, back to back. And the answer, although I tried to fool myself into thinking it was, came as no surprise.
He was great. The best, perhaps. I know nothing about analyzing acting. I didn't need to. I knew--I know what feels real. I know what it feels like to be so caught up in a film that you told yourself you would never watch so that it not only completely engulfs you and makes you think that what is happening on screen is real-life, but it completely changes your perspective on the way you view the world. Heath's acting has...damnit, HAD the ability to do that.
And now he's gone. Now, a standard has been set. Henceforth, performances will be judged with one question: Could it compare to Heath's?
Ah well. On to the film I saw tonight. The Black Knight. Heath's last hurrah.
The first Batman movie (Bale era) was good. I am not a huge superhero fan. But it was good. I respect Christian Bale's skills. He's a very solid actor. Thankfully, Batman's love, Rachel Dawes, who was played in the prior movie by Katie Holmes, was replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Completely on a physical basis, this might have been a bit of a downgrade. But Gyllenhaal's acting more than made up for this.
Christian Bale is a good Batman. It doesn't take much more then a stern, deep voice and a handsome face to pull off this character, and he does so remarkably.
Aaron Eckhart plays Harvey Dent, who later becomes Two-Face. He was boring during his time as Dent, but this is not a testament to his performance so much as his character. He really came alive though as Two-Face, showing flashes of anger rivaling Willem Defoe's Green Goblin.
The rest of the supporting actors, including one of my faveys, Morgan Freeman (who seems to be in a lot of supporting roles these days sadly), provide a good transition from the last film into this one.
And of course, Heath. The guy was downright scary. He really did not seem like himself. It didn't even feel like he was acting. I couldn't even imagine "the actor who played The Joker" to be sane because Heath was so damn convincing! A bit of a change in role for him, but I am really glad I got to see him in a film like this. It shows me he can really be phenomenal in whatever role he is put in. I was rooting for The Joker all the way. I really wanted to see him get the best of Batman.
I don't even feel like getting into the actual details of the movie. It was two and a half hours long and it would take me forever to go back and recount the entire thing. Plus I am sure you are going to go out and see it soon, if you haven't already. I loved it, I bet you will, or did.
Goodnight. Rest in peace, Joker, you sly dog!
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