I was inside a movie store last week, looking for a secret Santa gift for my cousin. I was going through the stuff and my eyes fell on ‘Gladiator’. Needless to say, I stopped – picked it up – took a good look at it – and only then put it back. Christmas is gone (and we were all happy with our gifts) – what stays, however, is my love for Mr. Crowe. So once again I found myself thinking of writing a review and finally I’m actually doing it (specially since its on a topic that is not even listed on mouthshut…so here goes my mouthpad). Also, before I proceed I’d like to apologize for the preceding (unnecessary) rant but I felt the need to do so because the source of inspiration is as important as the resulting content.
My ‘love’ -as I put it- for Russell Crowe is pretty new, considering I was mesmerized by SRK when I was way younger. That died long back and without any regret...but Crowe seems like he’s here to stay. I know there would be many who must have watched all of Russell’s movies. I have had the pleasure of watching a select few, despite that I consider myself a fan and hence the review. The first movie of his that I watched was Gladiator, and that too, on TV. So I can’t claim to be a ‘Crowe’-buff. But what’s amazing to me was the fact that I LOVED the movie...not because I had already heard about it, but because I saw the ACTOR glare out at me. He stood tall based on the sheer power of his performance – no hype! I watched it once, and just about grasped the basic plot and the big picture. I watched it again – and found innumerable subtleties performed with considerable ease by Crowe (I don’t mean to under-state the excellence of the movie as a whole, it undoubtedly was flawless). The vastness of the character was mind-boggling. Crowe’s character was a fine role and his performance was even better. He played the role of a man who was an invincible warrior, a loyal statesman, a gentle father and husband, and of course, a ruthless gladiator. To quote, “..I am Marcus Desmond Cornelius, Commander of the armies of the North, loyal servant to the true emperor of Rome…father to a murdered son, husband to a murdered wife…and I shall have my vengeance in this life or the next.” Phew!! (This is my tattered version of the dialogue, but I tried as far as I could remember). That dialogue sums up the enormity of the character for me and I can only add that Crowe or anyone else couldn’t have done a better job of delivering.
Moving onto other movies (and not in so much detail), I want to say at the outset that I have been impressed by every performance of his that I have watched so far. A Beautiful Mind, where he played the schizophrenic professor, John Nash was the next role that put him in the limelight. Well, I’m not going to talk about the Oscar nominations or the awards that he actually won, because that is only secondary. I am going to focus on Russell Crowe, the actor and the consistency of his performances that have helped him make a place for himself in the hearts of many fans such as myself.
The other movies that I would like to mention are ‘Proof of life’ and ‘The Insider’. Two very good movies and of course, Russell Crowe stole the show. In ‘Proof of Life’ he played a professional negotiator. His co-star was Meg Ryan and this movie is another one of my favorites, especially because of Russell Crowe’s skills and his suave-cum-sensitive portrayal of Terry Thorne (the negotiator). In The Insider, he was paired with Al Pacino – a hard-hitting, in-your-face kind of a movie about the malpractices in the tobacco industry. I don’t remember much about this film, but it did leave its mark as far as Crowe was concerned. So my romance continued…
The next two movies are ‘The Quick and the Dead’ and ‘Proof’. These are not so much Russell movies, since Quick and the Dead had others such as Gene Hackman and Sharon Stone. He was good again in that rugged, fearless, cowboy sort of a role opposite Sharon stone. In Proof he was the friend of a blind photographer – he managed to convince me even here, though it was not a dazzler.
To sum up, I love the man’s acting skills and his ability to emote with sensitivity. He has a mild expression and piercing eyes, and a smirk most often than not. Most importantly, he fits the roles he attempts, which contributes to making him seem effortless at his job. I have to apologize for the omission of movies like Cinderella man and others (I haven’t watched them yet). The ones listed above, though few in numbers are the primary source of my inspiration. I choose to ignore all news (or rumors) of him being a “spoilt-brat” throwing lamps and phones at waiters and what not. On a lighter note, a friend of mine thinks Russell Crowe looks and behaves like a monkey – and I say, “He’s good at his antics”. What do I care?!!
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