An ode to Sam Rockwell

Three month and a half months later...

The moral of my blogging story seems to be that I am a semi-unreliable narrator. Life caught up to me over the past three and a half months. I moved back to DC from New York, started a new job and have been settling down in my new apartment. It seems ironic and appropriate that my previous post ended with excitement over a Sam Rockwell film and I can open this one with excitement over another.

First, I am going to rewind to the Tribeca Film Festival and tell the funny tale of how I ended up at the North American premiere of A Single Shot. When I bought my tickets, I was blissfully unaware the screening I was attending would be any different from the two others I attended earlier in that week. The first sign I was not in Kansas any more was the line around the corner. The second were the people dressed in suits compared to my casual Friday wear and finally was the entrance:

I literally walked a red carpet, and the story only gets better. In the huge auditorium, I end up sitting four rows behind David Rosenthal, Sam Rockwell, Jeffrey Wright and Kelly Reilly. Needless to say, I totally geeked out. The film itself was also excellent and I highly recommend it. An Appalachian noir with amazing story structure and acting skills throughout. Unfortunately, about the fifth question in the Q&A following the film was about gun control which wasn't even important to the narrative. I really dislike anyone's want/need to be THAT GUY.

Returning to the present, I recently saw The Way, Way Back, written by Academy Award-winning screenwriters Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. The WWB is the right balance of comedy and drama, but the best part of the film is, as I have coyly been hinting, Sam Rockwell. My favorite scene shows young Duncan on his first day at the water park. Sam plays Owen with an energy that is both maniac and infectious. The only downside to the film is Sam's energy seemed to be restrained the rest of the film and you really, really wish it wasn't.

I'll close out this post a little differently than usual, with a Sam Rockwell retrospective. A few of my favorites for your Netflix/Amazon Prime/etc. cues include Moon, Choke, Matchstick Men and I'll throw in some Charlie's Angels, just to get a little bad boy Sam Rockwell in there. Which films do you like from Sam?