Russell Crowe at the 2000 Oscars Dinner. Photo: Reuters
Last weekend, if you wanted to, you could go see a horror film called The Papa's Exorcist, supposedly based on the true story of Father Gabriele Amorta, an exorcist in the diocese of Rome. If you were expecting a sensitive, truthful tale of religious faith and conflict, you'd be disappointed: instead, the film is a full demon-battling tale based on Russell Crowe's typically solid performance — complete with an Italian accent! like Amort.
It met with lukewarm critical acclaim and commercial backlash, finishing fifth at the UK box office on its opening weekend despite a veritable burst of publicity, and while everyone involved is sure to dust themselves off and move on to other projects (can't wait for The Archbishop' s Amanuensis), the question remains: «What is an Oscar-winning actor doing in such nonsense?»
It's a question Crowe may be asking himself if his dark remarks about the impending sequel to his signature role in Gladiator are anything to go by. While his character was never expected to return, given his heroic death at the end of the first picture, it's clearly unsettling to see Paul Mescal take on the mantle of an indomitable fighter. “I mean, look, the only thing I really feel about this is a little jealousy, you know?” he said with a touch of understatement, which is in keeping with Crowe's often silent remarks to the media. «Because I was much younger and it was the greatest experience of my life.»
«You don't always get that kind of longevity with every film you make, so obviously it has a special place in my heart,» he admitted. But Crowe can be forgiven for wondering how, over the past two decades, he went from making films like Gladiator and The Insider to appearing in B-movies like Daddy's Exorcist and the road thriller. «Upset».
The latter was more notable for being the first film released in 2020 after the Covid-19 lockdown break than for any particular quality, but Crowe was typically flamboyant and charismatic in it. And yet it seems a particularly cruel fate for an actor of his caliber to be a prominent figure in films that do not deserve him. Even when you can imagine an actor sighing, «Think about the money, buddy,» one of the greatest regrets of modern cinema is that it comes down to this.
Russell Crowe in 'The Exorcist of the Pope' Credit: Sony
Early in his career, Crowe flirted with a music career under the inspired/quirky pseudonym «Russ Le Roc». The first song he released was called I Just Wanna Be Like Marlon Brando, and it proved to be an uncanny prescient indication of where his career was heading. Like Brando, Crowe began his career with roles that combined screen-scorching charisma with unexpected vulnerability and furious intelligence.
Brando captivated audiences in Wild Man and Waterfront, and Crowe quickly established himself as a formidable figure in such disparate films as Romper Stomper, the peerless L.A. Confidential and even Denzel Washington's sci-fi thriller. Virtuosity», in which Crowe confidently stole the first place. show from a more experienced actor.
However, by the time Michael Mann cast him on The Insider to play Big Tobacco whistleblower Jeffrey Wigand, he was already showing a different kind of virtuosity. Just as Brando cast aside his innate masculinity in the seventies to downplay the roles of the all-powerful Don Vito Corleone in The Godfather and the tormented Paul in Last Tango in Paris, so Crowe, at a much younger age, was able to take on playing characters decades older than he was, with a hidden intensity that played against his natural charisma.
He was deservedly nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor and undeservedly lost to Kevin Spacey for American Beauty. But now he's established himself as arguably the most exciting and versatile performer of his generation: a man who could even resurrect an entire defunct genre, all but single-handedly.
Stories about the Gladiator are now legends. How Crowe's reluctance to take on a role he considered unworthy was put into context when Mann told him that the chance to work with Ridley Scott («one of the top 2% shooters in film history») could not be realised. passed. How a movie started shooting without a finished script, despite a huge budget and the potential for chaos that came with it. How Crowe initially refused to say the film's most famous line — «I'll have my revenge, in this life or the next» — but then agreed on the grounds that «it was shitty. But I'm the greatest actor in the world and I can make shit sound good.»
And how the movie's wild success not only led to a brief resurgence in the sword-and-sandal genre, but also brought Crowe vertiginous recognition, an Oscar, and a choice of roles. In less than ten years, he has gone from low-budget films in Australia and New Zealand to Hollywood's biggest star. What could go wrong?
Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott on the set of Gladiator Photo: Reuters
Just as Brando ruined his career with statements (usually accurate) that he was difficult to work with, so Crowe's fiery temper came to light in a string of off-screen brawls gleefully reported by far from sympathetic media.
He was expected to win a second consecutive Oscar for his role as a schizophrenic mathematician in Ron Howard's biopic A Beautiful Mind. But after he «violently argued» — descriptions of how brutal it was vary — with Bafta producer Malcolm Jerry about editing his acceptance speech for his Best Actor award, the Academy instead decided to honor Denzel Washington in «Training day», perhaps horrified by how indomitable the actor who was among them. And when, in 2005, in desperation, he threw his phone at a concierge, he was arrested, handcuffed and paid a large amount of compensation, which he called «perhaps the most embarrassing situation that I have ever found myself in.» ”
For the next few years, this dichotomy seemed to define Crowe's life and career. When he was well-played, as Jack Aubrey in Peter Weir's excellent Master and Commander: The Other Side of the World or his oddly sympathetic criminal in James Mangold's 3:10 Hume, he was an electrifying presence. When he clearly felt that the material was beneath him, as was the case with many of his subsequent collaborations with Ridley Scott—the romantic comedy A Good Year being a particularly egregious example—he moved forward, barely bothering to do more than just come and deliver. dialogue.
Russell Crowe as Captain Jack Aubrey in Master and Commander. Credit & Copyright: 20th Century Fox
And as he grew older, the roles that he was offered became less and less interesting. An attempt to reclaim Gladiator's success by reuniting with Scott for another infamous 2010 Robin Hood performance failed, and Crowe couldn't resist flying out of a Radio 4 interview when asked why his Robin speaks with an Irish accent. . («You've got stupid ears, mate,» he told interviewer Mark Lawson.)
After Robin Hood, Crow did not play any more major roles. He had an unexpected success as Noah in Darren Aronofsky's bizarre, forward-thinking epic, but otherwise mostly appeared in a mix of high-profile cameos, minor roles and lead roles in smaller projects. It was brilliant at times: his appearance alongside Ryan Gosling in Shane Black's The Goodfellas played on his tough persona and showed off a comedic gift that he wasn't allowed to display enough; and he was the warm, likable Jor-El (another Brando role) in Zack Snyder's Man of Steel.
But the disappointments and missed opportunities outweighed the successes, and despite his recent Golden Globe for his uncanny portrayal of disgraced TV host Roger Ailes in The Loudest Voice miniseries, it's hard to find Crowe in a job that deserves it. Perhaps inevitably, his most high-profile recent appearance was as Greek-accented Zeus in Taika Waititi's Thor sequel; a look at his upcoming films reveals more Marvel, more horror and, alas, more work that is below his talent.
Russell Crowe with Denzel Washington in American Gangster. Author: David Lee
To some extent, Crowe can be considered an accomplice in this shift in his career. He is a wealthy man, happy to continue living in Australia (on a 400 hectare farm, no less) and not interested in Hollywood games. He was always direct, not afraid to speak his mind on Twitter (there were no corporate accounts for him), and if the work he offered is profitable and interesting, then so be it.
However, anyone who can see the range and breadth of his abilities can be forgiven for being disappointed that the actor isn't stretching anymore. Compared to his Virtuosity and American Gangster co-star Denzel Washington (who, ironically, plays the lead in Gladiator 2), it's hard not to regret Crowe's apparently promiscuous approach to roles.
Washington, who is ten years older than Crowe, is widely known as a choosy actor who can succeed in commercial films like The Equalizer because he alternates them with classy, intellectual projects like Joel Coen's recent The Tragedy of Macbeth. Crowe, who would have made an excellent Macbeth and an equally exceptional Lear, shows no signs of assuming the great roles he now ought to play. But then, of course, scripts can be thinner on the ground.
There is, of course, a solution to this. There are plenty of directors who could get a really great job from an actor, whether it be Mann and Scott or young men like David Fincher, Christopher Nolan or, to mix in a career in which the actor mostly worked with male directors, his early collaborations with Jocelyn Moorhouse in 1991's Proof, Jane Campion aside. All of which could usefully help him subvert his image and bring out the morbid tenderness he so deftly displayed in films like LA Confidential and The Insider.
Hollywood loves to come back, and as the recent revival of Brendan Fraser's career has shown, the middle-aged actor has a strong attachment to the middle-aged actor who is ready to prove himself in new and still unexpected ways. So, Russell, come on. Abandon Marvel, find an exciting director who will bring the best out of you and reclaim your place in the pantheon. Otherwise, you will not be considered Brando's heir, but simply a papal exorcist. And this is definitely a fate worse than a curse.
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