Aaron Eckhart: Nice and Easy |
|
Versatility may as well be Aaron Eckhart's middle name. From comedy and romance to action and drama, Eckhart--as a both a leading man and supporting character--has appeared in films of all genres.
Most tend to associate the 38-year-old, California born Eckhart with ERIN BROKAVICH, wherein he sympathetically played the role of Erin's (Julia Roberts) motorcycle-riding\ child rearing boyfriend. Yet, what some may not realize is that Eckhart is as equally good in supporting roles as he is in leading roles.
Take for example the romantic-comedy-drama, CONVERSATIONS WITH WOMEN, though Eckhart's character simply goes by the name of 'man', he has been cast in the film's principal role opposite Helena Bonham Carter. Dialogue-driven with underlying sexual tensions, ultimately, the film evolves into a revelatory experience for the two central characters, Eckhart (man) and Carter (woman.)
As Eckhart said on the website cinecon.com of CONVERSATIONS WITH WOMEN, "It is a mature adult love story, I think it's a fantastic love story, It's not juvenile-it's got adult themes. It's really about two people being in love, and it's intimate, it's funny, it's sarcastic, it's hurtful...it's really a sweet film, I'm very proud of it."
This fall season of 2006, in addition to CONVERSATIONS WITH WOMEN, Eckhart can also be seen in two suspense thrillers: THE WICKER MAN (cameo role) directed by Neil LaBute and starring Nicolas Cage and BLACK DAHLIA the James Ellroy adaptation directed by Brian DePalma and featuring Josh Hartnett, Scarlet Johansson and Hilary Swank.
Based on a true police crime case during the 1940s, BLACK DAHLIA centers around the death of young, beautiful woman named Elizabeth Short (Mia Kirshner) who came to Hollywood with all the intentions of becoming a 'star' actress. A legendary unsolved murder, within the film version, Eckhart plays Sergeant Leland 'Lee' Blanchard
And, on the filmforce.ign.com website, Eckart's take on BLACK DAHLIA was "I think it's right down [De Palma]'s ally. Femme fatale, cop movie, noir, tough guy, sexy, ambiguous... We had a lot of fun making the movie."
"I play a police officer from 1947 – his name is Lee. He has very hot blood, he's an ex-boxer and like every human being, he does both good and bad deeds." Eckhart continued. "The most important thing for the actor is to find the positive in his character's personality and to love him even when he does not so decent things. Thus, the audience is able to connect to the good and forgive the bad."
Though Eckhart has been acting since the early 1990s, it was not until he first partnered with director Neil LaBute in the COMPANY OF MEN (1997) that he began to attract attention for his ability to apply his good looks to playing characters with insolent-like behavior. Portraying Chad the cad so convincingly, Eckhar won the Independent Spirit Award–Best Debut for his disturbing performance.
As Chad, the office worker who makes a bet with a colleague as 
Eckhart works his stuff in THANKS FOR SMOKING |
|
to which one of them can first capture a deaf co-worker's love; he resorts to insincere repertoire and insulting remarks behind the deaf girl's back. At the time of the film's release, some of the dialogue was quite shocking as apparently insulting a deaf girl is not quite practicing P.C. This then painted Eckhart's character as a major a*&-hole for he spearheaded the inhumane competition.
He re-teamed with LaBute in YOUR FRIENDS & NEIGHBORS (1998) to play, Barry, the somewhat more honest half of a romantic partnership in which it is actually his partner, Amy Brennerman (Mary) who is doing the cheating. And though Eckhart's writer-director pal, LaBute may be credited with crafting the edgy dialogue and creating convoluted interplays between modern characters, it is Eckhart who is able to effectively capture the essence of these narcissistic men who harbor a slight disdain against women.
After bouncing around a bit with supporting roles in MOLLY (1999) opposite Elisabeth Shue and ANY GIVEN SUNDAY (1999), Oliver Stone's inside look at the world of professional football, Eckhart landed the role of George in the Academy Award winning ERIN BROKAVICH (2000).
Subsequently in addition to working twice more with LaBute in the dark, offbeat comedy NURSE BETTY (2000) starring Renée Zellweger and the period romance\ mystery POSSESSION co-starring along with Gwyneth Paltrow; Eckhart also landed some plums roles, i.e., the sci-fi THE CORE (2003) with Hilary Swank and Ron Howard's Western drama-THE MISSING (2003) with Cate Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones.
It was however, THANK YOU FOR NOT SMOKING (2005), the dark comedy with political undertones that had critics agreeing that Eckhart as Nick Naylor had found his niche playing the well-liked lobbyist who knew all too well how to make non-advocates of the tobacco industry see his point.
Obviously Eckhart is very adept at adapting to the tone and feel of a film regardless of its genre or the leading lady whom he is playing opposite. Of the variety of characters he ahs played and continues to take on, Eckhart stated, You have to keep it honest for yourself,It's not that you get bored, it's more enticing to go out and try for different things that you don't necessarily think that may be good for."
On account of his ability to morph himself into such a wide range of roles, Eckhart appears to be a favorite among casting agents. Though, fortunate to have his pick of future projects including: BILL as a guy, who disgusted with his cheating wife and dead-end job, winds up mentoring a rebellious teen; and NO RESERVATIONS with Catherine Zeta-Jones as a premier chef who wins guardianship of her niece, Eckhart stated that he presently most partial to romantic comedies.
For someone who has taken on both good and bad guy roles, he concedes that he would now like to do more movies that make people feel good....
Aaron Eckhart on MatchFlick
 email this column to a friend
Comment on this Column:
Sorry, you must be a member to add comments to columns.
Join or Login. |
 Subscribe to MatchFlick Movie Reviews through RSS
|
| Take One Look |
Every other Friday
A capsulized profile on an emerging talent, i.e., actor/director in the film world and a snippet as to why he or she is destined to soon become a household name.
|
| Nancy Simon |
A Chicago-based freelance writer and film enthusiast, Nancy has an insatiable curiousity and knack for picking out talented, promising individuals.
|
| Contact |
If you have a comment, question, or suggestion, you can send a message to Nancy Simon by clicking here.
|
|
