Tucci Heads to TV
The film heroes I cheer are usually met with silence. It's not that I'm cheering the underdog or the bad guy. Instead, I hurrah names that make on-lookers crinkle their foreheads and ask: "Who?" When everyone was cheering Kurt Russell in Executive Decision, I was chanting: "Go, Joe!" From his brilliant performance in Brother From Another Planet to playing an incapacitated hero on the almost-doomed jet, Joe Morton is one of my heroes. I was, therefore, letting out all sorts of frowns when I heard he was joining the ensemble cast of the sci-fi show,
If that wasn't enough, Stanley Tucci is now headed to television as well. My Puck, my Mr. Kubrick, is playing a brain surgeon on 3 lbs. Leading the cast, Tucci is Dr. Douglas Hanson, an emotionally detached brain surgeon who is only interested in the inner-workings of the brain, and not the human casing it resides in. Yes, another hospital show with more surgeons to lead the hordes of television surgeons already out there.
It seems like a big waste to me. There are times that it works, like Mandy Pantinkin as a grim reaper, but there a times when it's just a waste. Joe Morton is worth more than a quirky sidekick, and the Tooch should have something better than adding more to the pile of over-used themes. Are these shows really worth the talent contained within them? Forget about the state of TV -- what will happen to the state of film when great film actors have to get day jobs?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
11-15-2006 @ 10:33PM
Peter Martin said...
FWIW, Tucci is one of the producers of 3 LBS., so it's more than a "day job" to him. And, as much as I love his film work, an impartial look at his filmography reveals as many stinkers as gems. It's all about the role, and, TV offers as many good ones as film (i.e. not many).
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11-17-2006 @ 6:40AM
Nick James said...
Isn't Stanley Tucci also the name of the security guard in DExter who had his leg lopped off by the Ice-Truck Killer? I think so. Something Tucci.
Anyways, 3 lbs. does not seem like it's all that hot, but then again it's not exactly my kind of show, I guess.
Meh.
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