Six Essential Performances By John C. Reilly

john-c-reilly

BOOGIE NIGHTS (1997), THE GOOD GIRL (2002), WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY (2007), THE PROMOTION (2008), TERRI (2011), WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN (2011)

John C. Reilly’s role in this summer’s Guardians of the Galaxy is small (really small). But what he lacks in the size of role he makes up for in quality, as Reilly brings his standard, affable everyman to yet another film with complete commitment. Able to go easily from comedy to drama (often in the same film) the beloved character actor still feels somewhat underrated in Hollywood. From his first appearances in the dark Causalities of War as one of the deviant soldiers and his hilarious performance in We’re No Angels as a lovable young priest, he proved he had range.

Able to go easily from comedy to drama (often in the same film) the beloved character actor still feels somewhat underrated in Hollywood.

While he was terrific in his first small film roles (and popular in the theater world) it was his appearances in Paul Thomas Anderson films that brought the name of John C. Reilly to wide attention. While he is brilliant in Hard Eight and one of the few truly endearing characters in Magnolia, his role in Boogie Nights as scumbag porn star Reed Rothchild is arguably his best in showing the range and depths he could go mining for both the humor and pathos of a character. Reed, the most devoted member of Dirk Diggler’s entourage is somehow pathetic and protective at the same time. His scenes in action-themed pornos are hilarious examples of how to play “bad acting,” as are his scenes in the recording studio when trying to be an 80s rock star. But his descent into the drug world, following the lead of Dirk, is also truly sad and contains tragic moments for a character we could have hated if played by a less capable actor.

As the husband of Jennifer Aniston in The Good Girl, Reilly’s supporting role holds the movie together. His character isn’t doing anything terrible in his marriage, but his co-dependent relationship with his best friend and his lazy love of TV makes her frustration with her marriage seem (at least at first) completely reasonable. And as annoyingly hilarious as he is when on the couch (or bed) with his friend watching television, the brief moments of intimacy with Aniston show why they are together…and leave no doubt that he truly loves his wife. This was the movie that made audiences take a second look at Aniston’s acting abilities, but Reilly’s performance is just as good, especially in their finally emotional scene together.

Reilly became one of the go-to best friend/cuckold husbands in films for a few years, always committing to his supporting roles. But he finally landed a leading role in the painfully unappreciated Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story. Playing on every single music biopic cliche, Reilly gave one of the funniest performances of 2007. And as he proved once again (after his nominated performance in Chicago) Reilly is also a talented singer. The movie was a box-office disappointment (and still hasn’t been embraced as a true cult hit), but was praised by critics who pointed out Reilly for fully committing to playing his ridiculous character with absolute realism, rather than ever winking at the audience.

Reilly is so compassionate as the one decent, positive adult figure in Terri’s life, it becomes his film as much as it was newcomer Jacob Wysocki’s.

Reilly’s underplaying comic characters, especially those with a pathetic quality, might be Reilly’s greatest skill as a film actor, and The Promotion is another perfect example. Reilly’s character, a Canadian immigrant trying to steal a promotion from Sean William Scott’s character, is one of his funniest, but also lowest key comic roles. From pretending to be injured by a bag of tater tots to using inappropriate phrases “by accident,” he underplays every moment so you are at times unsure if he’s clueless or just passive aggressive. When he begins to lose control (another skill he has in spades) with his wife and reverts to using pot and alcohol, we see Reilly’s sad, little boy quality which somehow makes his character’s attempts to steal a job feel sad rather than devious. Despite every stupid, cruel thing he does to Scott’s character, there is a humanity and decency in his character.

Decency is arguably the most dominant trait in his character in the film Terri where he plays a concerned high school vice-principal. Wanting to make a difference in his school, he takes an interest in the well-being of Terri, an overweight, depressed social outcast who wears pajamas to school. Despite the movie being essentially a teen dramedy, Reilly is so compassionate (owning to his own experiences as a “loser”) as the one decent, positive adult figure in Terri’s life, it becomes his film as much as it was newcomer Jacob Wysocki’s. And there is something wonderful about Reilly’s ability to play off of teen actors with the same give and take chemistry he has with his best adult co-stars.

The compassion and chemistry he had with teen actors is on display in the other movie he made 2011, but couldn’t have been more different. Both about troubled teens, his role as all too decent father Franklin in We Need to Talk About Kevin is one of the most disturbing films, and roles, in Reilly’s filmography. Unwilling to accept his cold wife’s insistence that their son has violent tendencies, he continually believes the best in his son; despite seeing multiple examples that at best his son is troubled and at worst his son is a psychopath. As an audience, we know from the beginning that his son did commit crimes, which makes seeing Reilly’s character insist that his son is “a good kid”  painful, infuriating, and yet, completely reasonable. How could a loving parent see that kind of evil in their own child?

Reilly appears in Guardians of the Galaxy this week and Life After Beth August 15th.


 

What is John C. Reilly’s greatest performance?

 

Read more from The Interrobang Recommends including Six Essential Performances, Add it to Your Queue, Lock Yourself in Weekend, The Filtered Excellence and more.
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Lesley Coffin is a feature editor for FF2media and has also written the books Lew Ayres: Hollywood Conscientious Objector (2012) and Hitchcock's Stars (2014), and currently writing a third book. Follow on twitter @filmbiographer for thoughts on movies and cat pictures.
Lesley Coffin
Lesley Coffin
Lesley Coffin is a feature editor for FF2media and has also written the books Lew Ayres: Hollywood Conscientious Objector (2012) and Hitchcock's Stars (2014), and currently writing a third book. Follow on twitter @filmbiographer for thoughts on movies and cat pictures.