Jason Schwartzman Archives

I wonder whether Jason Schwartzman will have the career vault that Johnny Depp and Robert Downey, Jr., had—whether years of being glorious in non-mainstream roles will suddenly make Hollywood (and the audience) decide that Yes, we always loved this actor and now we want to see more of him because he’s our guy, somehow, right at this moment. Perhaps you’re thinking Schwartzman is too odd and smart and non-traditional for a Pirates of the Caribbean or Iron Man, and he wouldn’t want that kind of thing anyway. Of course, you might have said that about Depp and Downey in the era of Dead Man and Air America.

7 Chinese Brothers is one of those movies that demonstrate Schwartzman’s unique value onscreen.

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Anyone who had trouble putting up with Ben Stiller’s abrasive title character in Greenberg might pause before entering the world of one Philip Lewis Friedman. A bearded New York novelist whose second book is about to be published, Philip is self-centered, vindictive, and—worst of all—articulate. He’s played by Jason Schwartzman, an actor unafraid of letting his least appealing qualities hang out. Schwartzman understands how to throw himself into this kind of egotist; we can enjoy the actor’s skill even as we’re being repelled by the character.

In Listen Up Philip, this guy is meant to be a throwback to a certain kind of ’70s antihero (the movie’s got the grainy look of the era), as well as the kind of literary character that might have sprung from the pages of Philip Roth. Having said that, he’s still a jerk.

Continue reading at Seattle Weekly

Tag: Jason Schwartzman

Film Review: ‘7 Chinese Brothers’

Film Review: ‘Listen Up Philip’