Heartland: Bang Bang
Aces character actor Tim Blake Nelson goes 12 rounds as a not-so-lovable loser.
For Heartland Film Festival schedule and tickets, please click here.
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Tim Blake Nelson is one of our better and more interesting character actors.
(I always thought he looked like a grown version of the kid who ate spaghetti in the bathtub and lifted silverware weights in Harmony Korine’s “Gummo.”)
He’s probably best known for his work in the Coen brothers’ “Oh Brother, Where Art Thou?” and “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” and has dipped his toes into the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Samuel Sterns/The Leader in “The Incredible Hulk” and the upcoming “Captain America: Brave New World.”
Nelson has been gifted some of the better roles of his career in recent years with his turn on HBO’s “Watchmen” and as the titular character of the 2021 oater “Old Henry” (Christopher Lloyd’s review here).
His portrayal of washed-up pugilist Bernard ‘Bang Bang’ Rozyski in editor/producer/director Vincent Grashaw’s “Bang Bang” (screening at 7:30 this evening at Kan-Kan Cinema as part of the Heartland International Film Festival) is another awesome late-career turn.
Bang Bang is a bum. He was a bad dad to his grown daughter Jen (Nina Arianda), who herself is now a better parent to a teenage son named Justin (Andrew Liner). When work takes Jen from Detroit (with Cincinnati filling in for the Motor City) to Chicago, Justin suggests he stay with his estranged grandfather. Jen doesn’t like the idea and neither does Bang Bang … at first.
When Bang Bang learns the young man has gotten into trouble for fighting, he sees a protégé-in-the-making. Bang Bang enlists the services of his sole friend John Eton (Kevin Corrigan, another aces character actor) to help him train Justin.
Getting back into the fight game spurs Bang Bang to rekindle his relationship with the cancer-stricken Sharon (Erica Gimpel of “Fame” fame), who may be able to use her sway to get Justin a bout with one of the boxers handled by her cousin Darnell Washington (Glenn Plummer, a mainstay of awesome mid-1990s movies such as “Speed,” “Strange Days” and “Showgirls”).
Darnell is everything Bang Bang isn’t. He’s been successful whereas Bang Bang’s been a failure. Darnell’s running for Mayor of Detroit whereas Bang Bang can hardly bother to bring himself off the couch … unless it’s for a beer. The two men are natural born enemies with a storied history and a strong distaste for one another.
“Bang Bang” didn’t resonate with me as deeply as Grashaw’s previous effort “What Josiah Saw” (my review here), but it’s still very much worth seeing for Nelson’s performance alone. His Bang Bang is fascinating and funny despite being utterly deplorable. I also really responded to Liner’s sensitive performance as Justin and got a kick out of seeing Celina Lamon (of Indianapolis indie “Last Days of Summer,” which is also playing Heartland) turn up as Justin’s friend/love interest Mel. The one fight sequence we get, which was choreographed by Grashaw, is a doozy that’s expertly performed by the actors, shot by cinematographer Pat Aldinger and edited by Grashaw.
“Bang Bang” is a character study of a broken figure who’s a real character or a likable movie about an unlikable man … mileage may vary as a result.
Check out the trailer for “Bang Bang” here.