Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted related superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the work of Paul Walter Hauser-whose latest project "Resident Evil" releases in theaters today.
Paul Walter Hauser's Filmography Ranked:
16.Songbird (D)
15.Balls Up (C-)
14.Queenpins (C)
13.Late Night (B-)
12.The Luckiest Man in America (B-)
11.Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere (B-)
10.Americana (B)
9.Super Troopers 2 (B)
8.Da 5 Bloods (B)
7.The Fantastic Four: First Steps (B)
6.Cruella (B)
5.Inside Out 2 (B)
4.Richard Jewell (B+)
3.BlacKkKlansman (B+)
2.The Naked Gun (A-)
1.I, Tonya (A)
Top Dog: I, Tonya (2017)
As this year's edition of the Toronto International Film Festival enters its final stretch, it's fitting that the opportunity to look back at one of the biggest independent movies to debut there in the last decade has presented itself. Not only did I, Tonya earn Allison Janney an Oscar, introduce the world to Hauser and contribute to Margot Robbie and Sebastian Stan being more taken more seriously as actors in subsequent years, it was one of the earliest signs that Neon was going to become a juggernaut in the American indie film space as this became the biggest acquisition they made during their first year of operations following its TIFF premiere. I, Tonya does such a great job of being both a chaotic, darkly comedic look at Tonya Harding's tumultuous life and painting a deeply sympathetic portrait of a woman who was vilified in the media for the actions of the people that surrounded her. It's kind of a shame that it only managed to earn 3 Oscar nominations (Robbie and editor Nicole Karakatsansis received the other nominations) in the very competitive 2017 field, but in my eyes at least, its legacy is far richer than many of the films that were competing for the big prizes that year.
Bottom Feeder: Songbird (2020)
Rushing a COVID-themed pandemic movie into production and releasing it before the end of 2020 was a scummy move by everybody that was involved with Songbird. That being said, being in bad taste isn't even close to the biggest problem with this awful dystopian romance. How quickly Songbird came together is particularly felt in its nonsensical mess of a script that can't decide if it's trying to be gritty or fun, deeply unconvincing central romance (the lack of chemistry between K.J. Apa and Sofia Carson is so immediately apparent that it's almost impressive) and its veteran supporting cast that features the likes of Demi Moore, Bradley Whitford and Alexandra Daddrio seemingly only accepted their roles because the opportunity to leave their Los Angeles-area homes for a bit presented itself. Honestly, the only redeeming element of the movie is Peter Stromare doing the cartoony villain schtick that he's so reliably good at and he doesn't have enough screen time to provide a meaningful jolt in the arm to this otherwise sleepy, stupid affair.
Most Underrated: Richard Jewell (2019)
Now that's he 96 years old, it's safe to assume that Clint Eastwood has retired from directing and acting for good this time. With this in mind, I'm going to declare that Richard Jewell is the last great film he made. It actually serves as a great companion piece to I, Tonya as Eastwood delivers a compelling, thoughtful look at the unholy beast that is our sensationalism-driven media ecosystem that values scandalous headlines over humanity and how that reckless style of journalism contributed to ruining the life of security guard Richard Jewell (Hauser) after he was baselessly accused of staging the planting of an explosive device at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta after being hailed as a hero in the immediate aftermath for alerting the authorities and helping evacuate the area before it detonated. Hauser gives a heartbreaking turn as a man trying to cope with having his name dragged through the mud in the front of the whole world, Sam Rockwell and Kathy Bates further add to this story's rich emotional core with their fiery, vulnerable performance as Jewell's lawyer and mother respectively and Eastwood does a great job of delivering a bittersweet ending that argues that Jewell's eventual exoneration didn't free him from the deep emotional burden of being subjected to such a harrowing witch hunt.
Most Overrated: None
Hauser is the epitome of a modern character actor. With that mantle comes a wide variety of work that spans across many different genres, budgets and release platforms. One thing he hasn't amassed across his impressively dynamic filmography is a film that I consider to be overrated. The heaviest of hitters he's appeared in (I, Tonya, BlacKkKlansman, The Naked Gun, Inside Out 2, Cruella, The Fantastic Four: First Steps) are all movies that I like to varying degrees while the rest are either too small or not broadly liked enough to pick up such a distinction. By the looks of the critical reviews so far, Resident Evil would certainly qualify for overrated status, but I would be stunned and disappointed if that ended up being the case.
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