For about as long as I've known who he is, Christopher Walken has been regarded as an almost mythical figure of comedic creepiness, the kind of person whose mere presence in a movie is funny. We don't come out of Wedding Crashers talking about anything he did in the film, we just laugh at the fact that he was actually in it.
What I'd like to know is: how long has this been going on?
It's easy to forget that Walken is an honest-to-God Oscar winner (for The Deer Hunter), and that he won it for a performance that, in my opinion, ranks right up with Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates in Psycho and Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lector in The Silence of the Lambs as one of the most disturbing ever captured on tape (why were the first two examples I thought of both guys whose first name is Anthony and last name ends with "-kins"?).
These days, to the extent we consider him "good," it's not because he actually is, but because he's not. He is now camp personified, and like an acting equivalent of Ed Wood, we're never quite sure if he's in on the joke or not (actually, it would seem obvious that Ed Wood wasn't, in fact, in on the joke, but still... one can never really be sure). His legendary appearances on Saturday Night Live are memorable not for any sense of comedic timing he brings, but because he has none whatsoever. "By the time I'm done, you'll be wearing gold-plated diapers." An awkward pause follows, as Walken stares straight ahead at nothing, leaning forward and wobbling ever so slightly as he stands silently. I imagine the cue cards reading, "Ferrell, Fallon, Parnell: stare at Walken in disbelief for at least 5 seconds" after every one of his lines.
I'm not the one to say for certain when Walken made the transition from serious actor to Shatneresque comic prop (the kind of actor whose roles are usually discussed by beginning with, "Hey look, it's..."), although his appearance in Heaven's Gate, Michael Cimino's notoriously disastrous follow-up to The Deer Hunter, probably didn't help. All I know is that something happened between 1978 and his Fatboy Slim video. (Hey look, it's Chris Walken! And he's dancing! How droll!)
Any suggestions? Comments? Etc.?
In the meantime, an interesting tidbit of Walken trivia: he was George Lucas' second choice to play Han Solo.
1 comment:
Funny thing is Walken was a dancer back in the day, which is why his "Weapon of Choice" rug-cutting wasn't half bad. I, too, have hoped that he would get/take another role that showcases his true talent ... but the best I think we've had in ten years has been his half "Shatnereque" (good call) and half acting role in "Suicide Kings."
-- d.a.
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