#336. Angelina Jolie

One wonders if Angelina Jolie would have become an actress had her father not been Jon Voight. Perhaps her upbringing allowed her exceptional connections and nurturing of thespian talents that eventually allowed her to break into Hollywood. Of course, much of Jolie’s talent subsists in her sultry appearance and demeanor, which could have likely brought her stardom even with the absence of her famous father. Nevertheless, Angelina Jolie has indeed become a recognizable name in the realm of cinema, no doubt half in part to her relationship with Brad Pitt and the tabloids’ obsession with the couple. While she has portrayed many strong and independent women, it comes as no surprise that many of her humanitarian efforts have been to strengthen and empower women of all ages. This week’s two films highlight some interesting roles filled by Angelina Jolie.

Salt
Year: 2010
Rating: PG-13
Length: 100 minutes / 1.67 hours

As action films have evolved over the years, there have been more opportunities for strong female protagonists. Some actresses, like Michelle Rodriguez, make these roles into violent, militaristic characters. Others, like Scarlett Johannsson, tend to mold these characters into expertly trained assassins. Angelina Jolie manages to strike a delicate balance between the badass and the professional. Of course, this didn’t happen overnight. From her starring roles in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) and Lara Croft: Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life (2003), to supporting roles in Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004), these women live by their own rules. Even starring alongside Brad Pitt in Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2005), Jolie’s character can hold her own amongst the male-dominated action heroes. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that a film like Salt (2010) can use all of Jolie’s talents to bring action to the big screen.

Two years after her rescue from a North Korean prison, Evelyn Salt (Angelina Jolie) is brought under suspicion from her employers at the Central Intelligence Agency when a Russian defector enters their office and refuses to be debriefed by anyone but her. During his testimony, it is revealed that Salt is a Russian sleeper agent (a la The Manchurian Candidate (1962)) meant to infiltrate the CIA and execute a mission to destroy the United States. Not wanting to be captured so easily, Salt escapes and performs her own mission to survive. Memories of her childhood flood her mind as she realizes the truth of her past. Unfortunately, to get Salt to comply, her present is threatened when her husband of two years is kidnapped. Wanting to sever ties with her past, while also saving the world in the process, she turns rogue and goes after the other Russian sleeper agents to stop their nefarious schemes.

The Tourist
Year: 2010
Rating: PG-13
Length: 103 minutes / 1.72 hours

Much like other Oscar-winning actresses before her, Angelina Jolie received her first Oscar early on in her career for her supporting role in Girl, Interrupted (1999). This is usually seen as a vote of confidence that these actresses will go on to bigger and better things. At the very least, there are a diverse set of films in Jolie’s filmography, including Maleficent (2014) and Wanted (2008). But, as is often the case, a certain genre seems to be the prevalent force in her repertoire. Even the animated fare of the Kung Fu Panda franchise merely gives Angelina Jolie another opportunity to portray a character skilled at fighting. Of course, films like Wanted and The Tourist (2010) help to paint these characters as more mysterious than your standard action fare. This intrigue is deftly paired with the overt sexuality that Jolie can bring to these roles, which actually might be considered a step backward from previous roles.

Elise Clifton-Ward (Angelina Jolie) finds herself on a train headed to Venice after she received instructions from her lover, Alexander Pearce, to find a random man and pretend that this man is him. This ruse is meant to throw Scotland Yard off their trail, as Alexander has been dodging taxes for years and owes the British government nearly £1 billion. Of course, not only are government officials after Alexander, but the Russian mafia is as well. Consequently, Elise chooses Frank Tupelo (Johnny Depp) to accompany her to Venice where they dance the night away only to find themselves in a high-speed boat chase as their creditors track them down. While it is revealed that Elise is not who she seems, there comes a moment when Frank shows everyone that he’s been hiding something significant about his true identity as well.

2 sum it up: 2 films, 2 action-filled Angelina Jolie roles

Bacon #: 2 (Kung Fu Panda / Dustin Hoffman -> Sleepers / Kevin Bacon)

#173. Gary Oldman

“You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”

This quote from Harvey Dent in The Dark Knight (2008) is interesting because it can also be run in reverse. To prove this point are the roles performed by Gary Oldman. While his recent work has been portraying characters who are closer to hero than villain, much of his success started with portraying villains. In the aforementioned Batman film, Oldman takes on the role of James Gordon, which he carried throughout the trilogy. Another character he portrayed was that of Sirius Black from the Harry Potter series. Sirius started out as a villain but became more of a hero as the films progressed. Of course, when it comes down to it, he really understands the role of the villain and excels in it. This week’s two films highlight some of Gary Oldman’s villains.

The Book of Eli
Year: 2010
Rating: R
Length: 118 minutes / 1.97 hours

One of the more interesting villain archetypes is that of the man in political power. There’s an amount of protection that covers the villain when he is an elected official or even someone whose job it is to control the justice of an area. Many consider Gary Oldman’s performance in Léon: the Professional (1994) to be one of his most memorable. In the film, he becomes the character of Norman Stansfield, a corrupt DEA agent with a penchant for pills and a love for Ludwig van Beethoven (who Oldman also portrayed in Immortal Beloved (1994)). Because he is an agent of the DEA, Stansfield has many resources at his disposal to ensure he doesn’t get caught in his corruption. However, as was the case in The Book of Eli (2010), Gary Oldman’s villain was eventually thwarted by a lone vigilante who was just trying to maintain the greater good.

The vigilante opposite Oldman’s character of Carnegie in The Book of Eli is none other than the titular Eli (Denzel Washington). Carnegie runs a small town in an apocalyptic wasteland, controlling water and other resources, but really looking to branch out into establishing more settlements under his rule. To do this, he is looking for a particular book, which he believes Eli has in his possession. This book is the Bible, which he thinks he can use to control people to do his bidding. After trying to take it by force and failing, Carnegie eventually is able to make a trade for the book by threatening the life of Solara (Mila Kunis), a girl who has befriended Eli. Unfortunately, once Carnegie opens the pages of the Bible, he finds that it is entirely in braille, and his blind mistress cannot read any of it.

Air Force One
Year: 1997
Rating: R
Length: 124 minutes / 2.07 hours

When it comes to the worst villains, those who assassinate the rulers of countries are often at the top of the list. Presidential assassins become instantly infamous, even if they are killed shortly after committing the atrocious act. Aside from John Wilkes Booth, the man who assassinated Abraham Lincoln, the best known Presidential assassin is Lee Harvey Oswald: the man who killed John F. Kennedy. With this role in the 1991 film, JFK, Gary Oldman started on his path of portraying villains, the short list of which includes Count Dracula (Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)), Jean-Baptiste Emmanuel Zorg (The Fifth Element (1997)), Dr. Smith (Lost in Space (1998)), and Lord Shen (Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011)). Of course, one additional attempt on the President portrayed by Gary Oldman was as Egor Korshunov in Air Force One.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many of the former Russian states are in turmoil as despots take control. One such despot is General Ivan Radek (Jürgen Prochnow), the dictator of Kazakhstan who is taken out by U.S. troops. On his trip home from a diplomatic visit to Moscow, President James Marshall (Harrison Ford) and his family are flying in Air Force One when Egor Korshunov and a group of terrorists sympathetic to General Radek hijack the jumbo jet, demanding he be released. Even though the Secret Service think they have let the President get away in an escape pod, he remains on board, using his former military skills to thwart Egor’s plans and rescue the hostages held on board. Unfortunately, Egor is shrewd and uses the President’s family to control the Commander-in-Chief. Will everyone survive, or will the terrorists win?

2 sum it up: 2 films, 2 great Gary Oldman villains

Bacon #: 1 (Criminal Law / Kevin Bacon)