Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
The name James Gandolfini might
always be synonymous with his HBO anti-hero Tony Soprano, and for good
reason — the troubled Mafioso in David Chase's masterful drama proved to
be an unprecedentedly complex character, played to perfection by New
Jersey native Gandolfini. But that doesn't mean we should shirk the
remainder of the actor's work. With roles in crime dramas, satirical
comedies, intense thrillers, and family fantasies alike, Gandolfini has
proven himself a versatile powerhouse, capable of any cinematic turn. In
honor of the late hero of screens big and small, we've compiled a
gallery of some of his greatest contributions to the realms of film and
TV. Click through to get a new picture of just how much Gandolfini could
do.
True Romance
Kicking
off his career as an onscreen Mafioso, Gandolfini took on the role of
mobster henchman Virgil in Tony Scott and Quentin Tarantino's True Romance,
charged with the deplorable task of raining blows upon star Patricia
Arquette... before getting his comeuppance (and hard) when she strikes
back with a vengeance. A smaller role, certainly, but one of the film’s
most unforgettable scenes, imbued with a sting thanks to Gandolfini's
commitment to the character’s criminality.
Killing Them Softly
As a
washed-up hitman who's thrown away much of his fortune — and life — on
whiskey and whores, Gandolfini manages to bring pathos to a vile killer
who's contemptible in almost every way. Somehow, he still makes us care.
Get Shorty
Adding yet more gang activity to his résumé with the crime comedy Get Shorty,
Gandolfini took on the task of running some sordid operations (armed,
regrettably, with some particularly incompetent worker bees). As "Bear,"
Gandolfini exhibited the gruff and burly mob man identity that defined
the genre in this offbeat satire, having obvious fun with the quirky
caricature.
The Man Who Wasn't There
As a
murderous department store manager who makes the sorry choice of
tangling with Billy Bob Thornton, Gandolfini teased out the pathetic
side of his persona — the whiff of Willy Loman-esque desperation that
he'd also convey later in Killing Them Softly.
Zero Dark Thirty
In a film
already carrying so much weight — a film about war, terrorism, and the
tireless quest to apprehend the most infamous monster in the world — it
would take quite a performance for an actor to come in two thirds of the
way through the picture and deliver a fresh new plate of anxiety,
simply for his presence as an American authority figure. Gandolfini, as
the director of the CIA, lays waste to the spines of everyone around
him, hiking up the tension (and excitement) of the powerful film.
Crimson Tide
It
requires a formidable presence indeed to hold your own with titans like
Gene Hackman and Denzel Washington. But Gandolfini did just that as
warmongering Lt. Bobby Dougherty in Tony Scott's pressure-cooker
submarine thriller. Onboard the cramped, claustrophobic sub USS Alabama, his hulking physical presence came across as even more intimidating.
12 Angry Men
It would come as no easy task to remake one of the greatest dramatic triumphs in cinema history: 12 Angry Men.
But the cast assembled for the 1997 TV movie would prove a treasure
trove, amounting unparalleled veterans like Jack Lemmon, Ossie Davis,
and George C. Scott. Of course, as a relative newcomer, Gandolfini had
his work cut out for him, but more than kept up with the team of
longstanding big screen heroes as the sixth juror in the fateful case.
In The Loop
As an
unflinching adversary for Peter Capaldi's sharp-tongued Malcolm Tucker,
Gandolfini brought both an air of tension and a thick layer of comedy to
the revered political satire In the Loop. As the hardnosed Lt.
Gen. George Miller, equipped with a booming comeback to any one of
Capaldi’s acerbic jabs, Gandolfini stole more than his share of scenes,
laying down stone-faced threats of violence that are at once hilarious
and horrifying.
Not Fade Away
Underneath that rhinoceros-tough veneer Gandolfini is a softie in his reteaming with Sopranos
auteur David Chase. In the 1960s, his Pat is the dad to a teenager
(John Magaro) trying to start his own Stones-style rock band. Forget the
Stratocasters. When Pat is diagnosed with cancer it's your
heart-strings that will be plucked.
The Mexican
Gandolfini
had played many a hitman by the time he took the role of Winston Baldry
in Gore Verbinski's 2001 south-of-the-border comedy-thriller. But he
had never played a gay hitman before. Gandolfini's genius was
being able to take a character that could have been a flamboyant
stereotype and make him very, very human.
Where the Wild Things Are
When you
think of James Gandolfini, you are inclined to recall the tough guys,
the villains. But the actor can handle heartwarming with the best of
'em, offering his timbers to the character Carol in Spike Jonze’s
adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are. As a close companion
to adventurer Max, Carol offered the hero (and the audience) a friend, a
parental figure, and an insight into childhood vulnerabilities. Thanks
to Gandolfini’s voiceover work, all of these elements carried through
with extreme power.
The Sopranos
And finally, of course, The Sopranos.
As Mafioso, family man, tortured son, and duck enthusiast Anthony
Soprano, James Gandolfini exhibited the full range of the human scale of
emotionality and morality. We loved Tony, and we hated him. We
sympathized with him, and we found him deplorable. Gandolfini managed an
actor's dream with Tony, giving us a mysterious, captivating,
true-to-life yet fantastical character in his greatest role of all.
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