Tom Jolliffe digs deep into The Dusty VHS Corner for a trio of Eric Roberts movies…
There have been a few stars over the years who started brightly only to see their career fade and sometimes even plummet. Perhaps one of the best examples of someone looking set to become a regular face at Award shows, particularly during the nominations montage, before falling from grace, was Eric Roberts. In fact one of his earlier films, The Pope of Greenwich Village, saw Roberts star with Mickey Rourke, whose career followed the same trajectory. An early run of solid films with critical acclaim, followed by a lengthy spell largely spent in B-movies, with the occasional more high profile bit part thrown in. Whilst Rourke had a second coming with The Wrestler recently, Roberts is still waiting for such an opportunity, and it’s an opportunity that would be fully deserved.
Before becoming something of a sitcom gag, often with the suggestion that he tends to star in TV movies, or low rent B-movies (which might be partly true of course), Roberts hit the ground running. A Golden Globe nomination for his breakout role in King of the Gypsies got him noticed. In the middle of the 80’s he then had his biggest success with Runaway Train, which saw Roberts receive an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. This is also often something overlooked by some who see his prolific B-movie appearances as some sort of badge of badness. Whilst some of the films are indeed terrible, Roberts is often reliable.
Is he underrated as an actor? Absolutely. Roberts is an actor who can provide intensity, edginess and something a little different, if given the opportunity. His best role remains something of an underground cult film. One that has escaped the viewing of many. Star 80, Bob Fosse’s film based on the true story of former playboy bunny and pornstar Dorothy Stratton who was killed by her disturbed husband Paul Snider. It’s not a fantastic film by any means. It’s well made, and interesting but you can also understand why it wasn’t a huge mainstream success. However, Robert’s performance as Snider is exceptional. It’s a deeply disturbed, dark and often vile character, and Roberts is fully invested (by his own admission it took a lot out of him playing the role). It might have been Runaway Train which got Roberts his Oscar nomination, but Star 80 is the role that really shows off his talent, and the film still saw him receive a Golden Globe nomination.
The whole 80’s decade was pretty solid for Roberts. A string of critically lauded films and performances, if not box office success. It was a decade that the likes of De Niro and Pacino predominantly struggled in, certainly in terms of matching their output in the 70’s. The 80’s was a time when a new generation and new breed of intense actors seemed like they could break through, including Roberts and Rourke. It didn’t quite happen, and a few of those acting behemoths who rose in the 70’s had a resurgence in the 90’s as Roberts and co began floundering.
Despite the drop though, Roberts has still done a host of enjoyable films and continued to have some stand out performances of the last 20 plus years. Films like It’s My Party in the 90’s, to more recent fare like the highly enjoyable low budget actioner, The Butcher which saw Roberts back on inspired form in a film owing a lot stylistically to the great, gritty flicks of the 70’s. Likewise Roberts is still occasionally seen as a reliable character actor to place in big screen films, appearing in The Dark Knight, and also typically reliable as chief villain in the first Expendables film.
Here I look at a few choice Roberts B Movies.
By the Sword (1991)
The humble sports film. Often inspiring and provides ample room for montages and life lessons. We’ve seen them all, boxing, basketball, baseball, football (UK and US), and more. It has to be said we’ve not often seen a film devoted to the art of fencing buy By the Sword is just that.
Here F. Murray Abraham (another who broke out big and then seemed to fall off the A-list map) stars as the mysterious man with a desire to teach fencing, who appears at the school of a fencing Maestro, played by Eric Roberts. Abraham hides a dark past which has a connection to Roberts. As the film progresses, Abraham rediscovers his competence at fencing and his teaching methods clash with Roberts, before an inevitable showdown when Suba’s (Abraham) past is revealed.
With a few slightly uninteresting and redundant sub-plots in place, By the Sword takes a reasonably interesting premise, and also does a good job of capturing the essence of fencing. It’s not a fantastic film by any means but it has a number of strengths in its favour. The fencing sequences are strong. There’s a really good score from Bill Conti as well. The biggest strength of the film is the two leads.
F. Murray Abraham, who showed his capability for brilliance in Amadeus, is excellent here. He’s a character struggling with demons of the past, and in trying to simultaneously start his life over again. Roberts as “the Maestro” is a man driven by pride and ego who wants to inspire victory at any cost. Roberts is fantastic as the undefeated, former Olympic champion who’s completely lost his humanity. This is two great actors, really elevating what is essentially mid-Saturday afternoon TV movie fare, to something that feels genuinely decent.
Beer rating: ★ (can be enjoyed sober)
The Nature of the Beast (1995)
By the mid-90’s, Eric Roberts was producing a long line of straight to video films. Likewise, Lance Henriksen was by this point a stalwart in these types of film, but like Roberts added a level of quality to some of them.
Henriksen stars as Jack, a travelling paper salesman on a long drive home along a stretch of road currently blighted by a serial killer known as “the Hatchet Man” as well as there being reports of someone having absconded with a briefcase full of two million dollars worth of mob money. Along the way, Jack encounters the drifter Adrian (Roberts). Adrian latches on to Jack, as both men share dark secrets. It appears as if Henriksen is the man with the briefcase full of mob money, escaping to the safety of his suburban home, whilst the intense and enigmatic Adrian, we assume is the serial killer as most people he encounters end up dead. The two butt heads constantly with Adrian taking delight in winding up Jack, before things inevitably come to a head.
This plays like Hitchcock meets The Hitcher. Make of that description what you will. If that sounds bad, you probably won’t enjoy it. If it sounds good, you probably will. It of course doesn’t come close to Hitchcock at his best, nor even to the unique brilliance of The Hitcher, but never-the-less, The Nature of the Beast is a solid thriller, raised above the straight to video median thanks to the two leads. Henriksen plays it edgy, nervy and his development over the film is interesting. Roberts as antagonist is typically reliable. He’s enigmatic, intense and unstable. The film largely rests on scenes between the two actors and because of the strength of their performances, it largely works.
Beer rating: ★ ★
Best of the Best (1989)
Ready? Okay…three…two…one…”Pop it Tommy!” Okay, now that I’ve got that little reference out the way for all you Best of the Best fans, to all others, here I shall explain to you the brilliance of this film.
Best of the Best is part sports film, part action film. There’s a mix of Rocky, Kickboxer, The Karate Kid and more. Roberts stars as Alex, a struggling single father, whilst Phillip Rhee is Tommy, a Tae Kwon Do expert haunted by the death of his brother who lost his life in a competitive bout. Roberts and Rhee are persuaded to join the US team at the World Championships, headed up by their manager, James Earl Jones.
In terms of these kind of films you ordinarily wouldn’t expert the acting pedigree of players like Roberts, Earl Jones and Sally Kirkland who have all received recognition from the Oscar board. The cast of course don’t have the same sort of script to work with as they would have at the critically acclaimed best, but still elevate Best of the Best above the average for this genre. Roberts gives it some heart. Phillip Rhee provides the more elaborate fighting and is solid enough with his acting with it, whilst Chris Penn also shines as an ignorant red-neck fighter who eventually learns the error of his ways.
Best of the Best is a really solid film. It would spawn an eclectic mix of sequels, including the obligatory more of the same second, before Roberts departed for a third and fourth which were more straight up action orientated, dipping into the run and gun genre. The fight sequences, choreographed by Simon Rhee, are well done.
Beer rating: ★ ★
Next time: So Bad It’s (Gloriously) Good.
Tom Jolliffe
