Films/DVD Asylum

Posted by Ross (A) on October 29, 2006 at 13:26:16

In Reply to: Excellent analysis. Two minor quibbles... posted by sjb on October 29, 2006 at 10:59:35:

--I felt Damon was good as he rose to power and met the girl, etc. but as he settled into his life and the heat was getting closer I felt his acting wasn't as good (or at last his character wasn't as interesting) not having much to offer when he wasn't in full alpha mode.--

I don't know. Upon reflection, there was a subtle but noticable shift in the Sullivan Costello dynamic. As Sullivan gained power in the police department, he started to become resentfull of haveing to defer to Costello. Damon was able to believably conveigh this change in his character. His performance still lags that of DiCaprio, but Damon did show range, depth and evolution that was appropriate to his character's progression through the movie. Given how he was essentially invulnerable, he began to like the trappings of his "success" and it went to his head as they say. Damon was able to demonstrate the evolution. The lack of performance depth at the end may have been consistent with the character. Sullivan was starting to realise that he was loosing control of his situation and reacted with a mixture of shock and increasing desperation. Damon certainly could have done a better job of depicting these emotions but they are still visible in his performance at the end.

Best,

Ross