A Birthday Special - Tobey Maguire's Performances

 In my last post I started of with saying the post was not really about him and to an extent I kept my promise. However, I said more about him than I really wanted to, but I was trying to make a point.

 This post wil be about him, because, you know, it’s his birthday. Hopefully, I won’t end up talking about me.

 First things first: Happy birthday, Tobey! I hope you have a good one.

 I’m not the only one remembering his birthday. This article was posted in honor of his special day and inspired me to write this entry: As a wry, reticent spectator, Tobey Maguire delivered one of his best performances in The Great Gatsby | Entertainment News,The Indian Express

 Eventhough I agree with the main point of the article, Tobey’s performances doesn’t get the recognition because it’s often too subtle for viewers, the Great Gatsby is not one of my favorite movies. I am, however, very willing to talk about his under-appreciated performances.

 Tobey himself once talked in an interview about how he is not a flashy sort of actor (paraphrased). It also comes through in his performances. Tobey’s performances always serve the story, make the story shine, but that not necessarily showcases the brilliance of his performance. You have to really watch him to see what he’s doing, to recognize the work he’s putting in, to realize how small expressions and actions contribute to a scene but not upstage it.

 I have not talked about ‘No Way Home’ yet, or have I? I might have mentioned it, because that was how Tobey was brought back to my attention. In this post I will use ‘No Way Home’ for comparison. I’m going to compare his performance to Andrew’s. This is not going to be a “Who is the best spider-man?” or “Who is the best actor?”, but rather why most people noticed and loved Andrew’s performance and missed a lot of Tobey’s beautiful subtle actions.

 To start with Andrew. What comes to mind immediately of course is him tearing up after he saved MJ. The memory of losing Gwen in a similar situation combined with relief and a bit of redemption was so clear in Andrew’s expression. Our hearts bled and cheered at the same time and Andrew really brought it across.

Then there’s the scene on the roof, where Andrew’s Peter talks about losing Gwen, becoming rageful and stopped pulling his punches. It was heart wrenching; Andrew’s performance really packed a punch in both scenes.

 In contrast, Tobey’s performance was more restraint. The pain was still visible in his eyes, but unlike Andrew’s Peter, he has come full circle and learned to live with the memory and pain. He’s in a different place, more settled, more mature and therefore his pain doesn’t pack the same punch anymore.

 His Peter is more concerned with his younger counterparts and this is where Tobey’s performance subtly shines. His look at Tom’s Peter when Tom can’t bring himself to say Osborne’s name or when he doesn’t get a reaction when he says he thinks he can make the cure for Osborne. Very small actions, but it tells you how Tobey’s Peter stands in the situation and how he grew when we weren’t watching.

 Or his conversation with Andrew’s Peter about their relationships. Yes, he stays very much in the background, but does some important things that informs the dynamic between the three. He really pulls and keeps them together. He’s the Peter making sure they all three move in the right direction. Small little nudges that might go unnoticed if you don’t pay attention to it. Beautiful story telling, but also nicely performed, right where those nudges belong. Tobey’s Peter isn’t shouty and attention seeking and Tobey knows that. Also, Peter probably learned from the last time we saw him. I’m sure these days he’s very careful not to lose himself in his own glory; that did not go well for him…no matter how funny or cringy it was for us to watch that.

 Tobey’s performance lay for a great deal in facial expressions and reactions in the background while other bigger stuff is happening. Automatically your attention is attracted by the main event on screen, but the stuff in the background is just as important to make it all feel real and not manufactured. You only notice it when the background stuff is not serving the story; it feels grating and distracts you from the story and leaves you with a feeling something was off. That’s the art of serving the overall story.

 This is only No Way Home. Only looking at this movie you might think this was a particular acting choice on Tobey’s part, and probably to an extent it was. However, when you look at his other works, Brothers excluded, that’s the kind of performance he mainly delivers. Controlled and restrained, inward focused, calm or somewhat quiet. These are all qualities that don’t tend to put you in the spotlight. I know this, I suffer from the same problem(?).

 I’m not saying that because of this Tobey is the best actor in the world; he’s not. But I think he’s a better actor than most people will give him credit for. I will admit that I had to learn to appreciate him. Before I dove into his career I didn’t think he was a good actor at all. I changed that opinion; I think he is a good actor, but it is a bit easy to miss, because his performances are so subtle.

 I do wish he had taken a wider range of characters, but most of the roles he played were early on in his career when he couldn’t be quite as picky as he is now. He tended to get typecast quite a bit, and he admits to that. After Spider-man he started to play more roles that gave a bit more variation, like in Brothers or Pawn Sacrifice. Unfortunately, a lot of these movies went relatively unnoticed and got overshadowed by Spider-man. On top of that, Tobey got pickier. None of this helped him get the recognition I think he deserves.

 But at least he will always be Spider-man; this is his gift and his curse. (Blah! Gah! I can’t believe I just wrote that!)

 In my next post I want to talk about James Leer. I’ll leave you hanging with that. If you’re really curious about who James Leer is, Google is your friend.

 As if I have readers…

ETA: I just checked back in time and found this: Wiwipedia: Jake Gyllenhaal's Performances. I had to change the title to this post. It seems, in my opinion, Tobey beats out Jake. Huh! Wot-du-ya-know!