How do you feel about recycled cast? In this film, The Actor, Toby Jones plays four distinct characters. None of them interact; they are four separate people … but they are all played by the same very recognizable actor. So what’s the point? To make the film feel like a play? Ok, it does. Where does that get you? To make this film feel unreal? To feel like a dream? Such a feeling is backed by a cinematography which often brackets and silhouettes the upstage action. And, again, where does that get you? To mess with the minds of audience members? Maybe, but, once again, where does that get you?
Do you see where I’m going here? The Actor only had set roles for two players: our hero, Paul (André Holland), and his love interest, Edna (Gemma Chan). Every other role in the film is covered by an actor who will be recycled for a different role. This is quite the economical gambit; the film definitely saves money on extras, but why? Why is this necessary? On the one hand, our hero is an amnesiac, so the direction here might lead a viewer to get wrapped up in the surreal feel of every new scene. I think this is what writer/director Duke Johnson was going for.
On the other hand, such a gambit completely compromises the reality of the world on screen. When I see Toby Jones playing somebody who wasn’t the first somebody, I say, “I’m watching a movie.” There is no suspension of disbelief at that point in my viewing. It’s all disbelief. Period. I think this is the exact opposite of intention, hence, I question again and for the final time, where does that get you?
Paul Cole took a nasty lump from a jealous cuckolded husband at the start of this play. He wakes in a hospital in Ohio knowing not a thing about himself and having little to his name. Slowly, he discovers he’s an actor with a Manhattan address. What is he doing in Ohio? How does he makes it back?
Oh, I gotta say, for 1950s Ohio, this place is hilariously non-racist. Trump-voting Ohio seventy years chronologically advanced is more racist than the Ohio depicted 
in the film. Almost by fate, Paul finds a job, a house, and a girlfriend (Chan) in small-town Ohio. The question instantly becomes: which is superior, the sweet-yet-unassuming blue collar life Paul has now or the upscale acting career he once held? And how can Paul know without investigating?
The Actor has merit. I like the questions it asks and the problem it presented. But I cannot say I enjoyed the feel of the picture in any way. The Actor presents as a play which makes me wonder why I’m not just watching a play. And what is the point in presenting a conflict when the antagonist is going to be a friend three scenes later? I’m going to say, “no” on this one, but it’s possible that in the future, I will get long-term amnesia, watch this film again, and decide I like it.
There once was an Actor named Paul
Who got his head bonked in a brawl
Now he’s in no hurry
Cuz his life is all blurry
Is new life better, or will he reject all?
Rated R, 98 Minutes
Director: Duke Johnson
Writer: Stephen Cooney, Duke Johnson, Donald E. Westlake
Genre: Movies that look and feel like plays
Type of being most likely to enjoy this film: Member of this troupe
Type of being least likely to enjoy this film: People put off by the recycling of cast
