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AND NOW THE EW ANSWERS

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clarkjohnsen

In Reply to: What is the best movie ever directed by an actor? posted by clarkjohnsen on September 20, 2004 at 07:36:47:

There are FOUR:
Marlon Brando's sole directorial effort, One-Eyed Jacks, has a captivating grandeur cut with intimacy and rage.
Robert Redford dug deep inside himself to stage the suburban catharsis of Ordinary People.
Steve Buscemi's Trees Lounge is a superb tale of booze, lost youth, and Long Island.
(I liked many of youse guys' choices too: Of course Citizen Kane, although Orson had been only a radio (and stage, some) actor; Clint Eastwood's opera are grand; Charlie Chaplin -- I think EW just forgot; Victor's list of semi-obscurities is good and it earned him an insult from the usual quarters; and yes, Quentin must qualify.)
AND THE WINNAH (and I'm inclined to agree) --
The greatest film ever directed by an actor is Robert Duvall's The Apostle, a masterly study of a modern tent-show preacher torn -- sublimely -- between grace and sin.
-- Owen Gleiberman

Follow Ups:

No fair... you didn't say only American one. - Victor Khomenko 20:15:52 09/21/04 (0)
The Bicycle Thief is so superior to all of the above it is a joke.
Oh yes... "The Apostle",,,, yes, it was good - rnhood 15:53:03 09/21/04 (1)
I would not have picked it first but, it was a very good movie and reasonably well done with a reasonably accurate portrayal of the life of an honorable Southern revivalist(or should I say evangelist). Because I grew up in God's country (that'll be the South) and have been through a tent or two (or three) I actually thought the movie lacked just a bit of the life that the real event brings. But the movie centered mainly on the life of one individual - a modern evangelist struggling to contain or manage sin in his world of grace - and Duvall did a very, very good job of portraying this character.
- Agree entirely. nt - clarkjohnsen 10:35:08 09/26/04 (0)
  a
I thought Tres Lounge sucked big time - I like Buscemi & was expecting more. NT - PdL 15:46:24 09/21/04 (2)
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- Although I don't think it sucked big time, I would say it sucked more than I had expected - rnhood 15:59:30 09/21/04 (1)
  Buscemi shined in movies like Reservoir Dogs and Fargo, and most of his others too. But I guess it is the overall realistic portrayal of "low life" that is done in a slow and methodical fashion that makes Trees Lounge a success with the critics. It takes the time to drive home the point. Just like Reservoir Dogs and Freeway and Fargo, it was a very good "low life" movie.
  - Re: Although I don't think it sucked big time, I would say it sucked more than I had expected - PdL 16:12:35 09/21/04 (0)
    I agree with your Buscemi comments.... although I think a movie like Barfly does a better job at portraying low life alcoholics than Trees Lounge. Or maybe TL was just too slow for me and I got bored.... been quite a while since I saw it but I definatly recall being let down.

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