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Broderick's perma-performance.

Posted by: Delvino 08:05 am EDT 10/28/15
In reply to: re: Ishy pans SYLVIA in the Times - drummergirl 07:50 am EDT 10/28/15
The notice taken this morning of the Broderick boilerplate boy-man shtick seems behind the curve. He's been using this for so long, it's almost a trademark, and for better or worse, what audiences expect for their (fill in the blank, from TDF to Premium). We can all list countless performers who recycle or lean into an existing persona, all the way to the bank. Our tolerance for the steady predictability varies, based on a subjective appreciation of the markers. I can think of a number of film and television actors whose bag of tricks feel overused; Broderick may be unique in that he employs his more consistently in theater.

To me, it's more about the turn he made as Leo Bloom (stepping into Gene Wilder's shows, after all), when the young leading man became a character actor. He never quite pulled up the Bueller DNA again (look at him in old films like "Godzilla," the first remake, when he was till persuasively a young lead, picture quality irrelevant). He's now turned the crazy uncle with the funny voice into a bankable commodity. It may endure, or "Sylvia" made retire some of it. I'm neutral on him as an actor; wouldn't go out of my way to see him in anything, but it's generally because he hasn't surprised me since "The Producers," exactly what Isherwood and company pick up on. Do we really want to know exactly what we're getting? Many do. But maybe "Sylvia"'s box office will be the final piece of evidence here.


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Previous: re: Ishy pans SYLVIA in the Times - drummergirl 07:50 am EDT 10/28/15
Next: Gene Wilder's shoes. - Delvino 08:57 am EDT 10/28/15

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