The Best and Worst of Marisa Tomei

“The Best and Worst of” series chronicles the career highlights and lowlights of an actor starring in one of the week's new theatrical releases. This week, I take a look at the filmography of “Spider-Man: Far from Home” star Marisa Tomei.

Films starring Marisa Tomei that I've seen:
My Cousin Vinny 
Four Rooms
In the Bedroom
Anger Management 
Wild Hogs 
The Wrestler
Cyrus
The Lincoln Lawyer
Crazy, Stupid, Love
The Ides of March
Trainwreck
The Big Short
Captain America: Civil War
Spider-Man: Homecoming
The First Purge

Best Performance: The Wrestler (2008)
The Wrestler is unquestionably anchored by Mickey Rourke's performance as emotionally-and-physically broken wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson. Even though she picked up an Oscar nomination for the part, I think Tomei's contributions to this masterful character study are underappreciated. Her uncompromising turn as Cassidy, a stripper who develops a bond with Ram in part because of their shared status as "has-beens" in their respective professions, raises the emotional stakes of the film and helps make the conclusion even more gut-wrenching  

Worst Performance: Wild Hogs (2007)
Even those who are fortunate enough to act for a living appear to hate their jobs from time to time. Tomei is rocking a look here that alternates between being perplexed and ashamed-which is a natural reaction to have when you're an Oscar winner starring in the movie equivalent of a bad CBS sitcom.

Best Film: The Wrestler (2008)
Mostly known for being a provocative filmmaker that puts audiences in a mental vice grip, a grounded human drama like The Wrestler marked a huge departure for Darren Aronofsky. This raw character study centered around an aging wrestler (Mickey Rourke) who is struggling to cope with his failing health, fading fame and lack of finances allowed him to show a different side of his visceral directorial style. His no-holds-barred storytelling style creates this thorough understanding of the immense emotional and physical suffering wrestlers go through to keep their careers going as well as the struggles with human connection that develop from living such an isolated lifestyle. I believe The Wrestler is every bit as good, if not better than his most acclaimed pieces of mindfuckery (Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, Pi), and would love to see him make another grounded human drama at some point.

Worst Film: Wild Hogs (2007) 
Middle aged suburbanites embarking on a cross country motorcycle trip full of crotch kicks, heated confrontations with a real biker gang and William H. Macy getting repeatedly humiliated didn't exactly make for comedy gold. While it never reaches the level of ineptitude or obnoxiousness as some other movies its stars have appeared in (Be Cool, Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, Lucky Numbers) the yucks and entertainment value are still very minimal.

Thank you for reading this week's edition of “The Best and Worst of”. The next victim of my praise and ire will be “Crawl” star Kaya Scodelario.