Looks like in March Olyphant is going back to be a lawman with simmering fury just beneath the surface on FX’s Justified. I am trying to think of a role Olyphant has been in that I did not like and am coming up empty. I thought he brought an edge to that movie role with Bauer’s daughter in in it. Girl Next Door, maybe. The brief article here brings up the movie Go, which I sometimes forget. Its like he is always a bit more dangerous and unpredictable than the role would call for, which is always a positive and brings something few others can as a result. I even liked that mediocre Summer movie with the killer on the island that was full of holes. Ahh, that’s it, the Perfect Getaway.
FX does not have its own site yet, but I did see a preview after Damages last night that immediately brought Deadwood to mind and with most folks, I would say trying to copy a successful formula would be lame and pretty much a wasted effort. However, since we only got 3 Seasons of Deadwood and I dug Olyphant’s character so much from the very first episode, I don’t really care. This one will get a pass for several episodes…if it needs it.
“Olyphant stars in the lead role of U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens. Givens is a modern day 19th century-style lawman, enforcing his brand of justice in a way that puts a target on his back with criminals and places him at odds with his bosses in the Marshal service. That conflict results in a reassignment for Givens to the U.S. District covering the town where he grew up. He is an anachronism – a tough, soft spoken gentleman who finds his quarry fascinating, but never gives an inch. Dig under his placid skin and you’ll find an angry man who grew up hard in rural Kentucky, with an outlaw father, who knows a lot more about who he doesn’t want to be than who he really is.”
EDIT: Then there is also the following “The Crazies”, which comes out next month ans I saw the trailer before Eli. A town gets an insanity disease…his outfit may give his role away:
I think he’s a good actor, but he’s certainly had a couple of dodgy roles. He was a pretty limp baddie in Die Hard 4.0. He was quite poor in Dreamcatcher too. He wasn’t really helped by the script in either case, admittedly.
Well, if you are going to actually try to think of some. ;) I agree, though. i saw both of those and he was, it would seem, very forgettable. I think he has just found what he is good at and plays it perfectly. Even if he plays each sorta similarly now, I enjoy him so much it does not matter at this point. I may tire of it one day, but for now, he can do no wrong.
His character is basically Wyatt Earp in staredown mode from Tombstone (which is alluded to with the framed Tombstone poster in the chief’s office) , combined with the seething anger of Seth Bullock from Deadwood. Then again, Olyphant is really good at portraying barely-restrained, underlying anger, violence, and/or danger, as seen in his turns in Deadwood, The Girl Next Door, and Go.
I like the ending dialogue where he states something to the effect of, “I never considered myself a very angry man…”, to which the woman replies, “You’re the angriest man I know.”
I just wonder if the show will have an antagonist equal to Ian McShane’s Swearengen?
My wife and I really enjoyed it. Her family is from outside Lexington, Kentucky and we both agreed the accents in the show were pretty good. We also agreed that no way it was filmed there though, and as it turns out the pilot was shot in Pittsburgh and surrounding areas.
Also, not everyone from rural Kentucky is crazy (like the brother’s wife) or racist (like the bad guys), so hopefully they’ll expound on that a bit more in future episodes. Good stuff for the pilot though, looking forward to seeing more. Olyphant is perfect for the role.
I enjoyed the pilot and will be tuning in next week. The scenes between Downtown (yes, I just made a Major League 3 reference) and Olyphant were among the episodes highlights but the ending sequence was good as well (not just the lines, but the pacing and delivery).
Yes to all of that. The seething in Deadwood was what really hooked me on Olyphant. Seriously, he can do that same dude all the live long day and I would be fine with that.
I had seen the character actor that played his nemesis last night somewhere before and I was pleasantly surprised how good he was and hated that he was going to die…and then he did not. Then I wondered what they are going to do with that storyline. That dude was really good. (EDIT: I think that is who peacedog referred to)
Expecting a McShane character is too much to hope for. Especially since, I assume, the series will mostly be comprised of one-off episodes with some plot lines in the background. While I prefer the Deadwood serial nature, I do not think it would get as many viewers. Lost seems like a very fortunate anomaly. And Damages for that matter.
Also being a SOutherner, and hearing how Hollywood, generally, butchers the accents. I agree with Slainte. The differences between Alabama’s/Georgia’s and Kentucky’s is often screwed up. Good job there.
Yeah, that’s who I was referring to (the nemesis/childhood BFF). I don’t know how he can return in a significant role: surely he’s going to spend some time in the slammer for threatening his brother’s widow and then attempting to shoot her (or Olyphant). OTOH, maybe Raylen’s past will mean a conviction is more problematic or a sentence is reduced. I tend to like Groggins (the actor who played the nemesis). I had to go look up his IMDB page. I know he’s been all over the place on shows. He was also on The Next Karate Kid. Meaning he’s had the misfortune of being in two movies that were consiered trash efforts in noteworthy series (both series of which went steadily down hill after the first episode, though Tamyln Tanaka was so yummy in Karate Kid 2. And I have an inexplicable soft spot in my heart for Major League: Back to the Minors).
I don’t know that it’s a sure thing this will be more one-off eps or not. Certainly the pilot was fairly self contained (with hints at larger Aryan doings, Olyphants recent and troubled history, and the stuff with his ex and his father being potential larger-arc plot hooks going forward). But several of FX’s flagship series are serials, and well done ones (Breaking Bad and Sons of Anarchy). To the best of my knowledge they’re doing ok ratings wise (the seasons keep coming, anyway).
Oh, this is based on Elmore Leonard books (revolving around Raylen). I did not know that.
