For my money there are two stand out performances in the final season of THEGREATESTTVSHOWEVER — The Wire — one is Clark Johnson, who delivers the most dead on portrayal of a newspaper man I’ve ever seen. The other is Tom McCarthy’s weaselly (is that a word?) turn at a brown nosed reporter. Even disregarding his other work as a character actor (whatever that means), it is a safe to say that the guy can act. However, great actors don’t always make great directors, but McCarthy is certainly an exception to that rule, if it is one.
His first two films The Station Agent and The Visitor have several things in common; they both deal with themes built around isolation and loneliness, but more importantly the concept of a surrogate family. In some cases revisiting similar themes could spell trouble for a director’s second film, but McCarthy is such a good storyteller that even if you immediately realize the commonality it is quickly disregarded as you get completely wrapped up in The Visitor, especially Richard Jenkins. The phrase “subtle, nuanced performances” is pretty overused these days but I’m not sure how else to describe the kind of performances Tom gets out of his actors. He seems so in tune with what he wants and doesn’t want from his actors and is able to convey that and bring it out in such a beautifully understated fashion.
Anyway, this is merely my feeble attempt at shouting into the cyberwebwiki abyss that I for one am grateful that Tom McCarthy is making films, and feel very encouraged, in particular these last two years, by the state of (“independent”) American cinema. (Don’t even get me started on Ronnie Bronstein’s Frownland, I’m saving that for another blog entry.)
