Two Sides to Great American Myth-Making
Eastbound & Down (2009)
rating: 5 out of 5 cravats
on HBO at Syl's
The best, funniest, and sweetest show on television is all of those things both because and in spite of Danny McBride. In everything else I've seen him in, he steals scenes so effectively that he might just as well take the rest of the movie with him when he goes. Kenny Powers is the perfect larger-than-life id of a small-town king like Bust-Ass, the kind of fictional persona that Hollywood stars could once happily hitch their careers to.
I went to Monument Valley with Syl last weekend (no need to pretend I wrote this in April). I thought, as one will, of big circus tents and slabs of steak and enough alcohol to keep Duke, Ward Bond, and Old Mose happy. But what did John Ford and John Wayne have on me and Syl, at least as far as friendship is concerned? A good cinematographer, maybe, and an honorary chieftainship or two. And that got me thinking about Ben Best, Jody Hill, and Danny McBride, who were friends first, in North Carolina, before they sat down and suggested Eastbound & Down to HBO.
The rest of the cast is hired hands. John Fawkes, who acts like he was always Kenny Powers' older brother, grew up in Minnesota, and even had a guest spot on one of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's best episodes. His resume reads like a stock Western stunt man's, with a hundred random TV credits to his name. And how is Katy Mixon not the real-life high school crush who makes April Buchanon so believable?
No point in saying they were born to play the roles they do. As John Ford would mutter through his well-chewed handkerchief, it's a job. But Eastbound & Down belongs to its supporting cast and crew as much as McBride, and if a topless barfly on the back of a Sea-Doo isn't exactly Cicatrice on horseback, there's a lot more truth to the girl on the jet ski than Henry Brandon painted red. Everything I imagine behind the scenes on The Searchers is front and center in the friends of Kenny Powers, whose best years, when you think about it, were when he played for the Braves.
Kenny and Duke both are proud to have never drunk a glass of water.
rating: 5 out of 5 cravats
on HBO at Syl's
The best, funniest, and sweetest show on television is all of those things both because and in spite of Danny McBride. In everything else I've seen him in, he steals scenes so effectively that he might just as well take the rest of the movie with him when he goes. Kenny Powers is the perfect larger-than-life id of a small-town king like Bust-Ass, the kind of fictional persona that Hollywood stars could once happily hitch their careers to.
I went to Monument Valley with Syl last weekend (no need to pretend I wrote this in April). I thought, as one will, of big circus tents and slabs of steak and enough alcohol to keep Duke, Ward Bond, and Old Mose happy. But what did John Ford and John Wayne have on me and Syl, at least as far as friendship is concerned? A good cinematographer, maybe, and an honorary chieftainship or two. And that got me thinking about Ben Best, Jody Hill, and Danny McBride, who were friends first, in North Carolina, before they sat down and suggested Eastbound & Down to HBO.
The rest of the cast is hired hands. John Fawkes, who acts like he was always Kenny Powers' older brother, grew up in Minnesota, and even had a guest spot on one of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's best episodes. His resume reads like a stock Western stunt man's, with a hundred random TV credits to his name. And how is Katy Mixon not the real-life high school crush who makes April Buchanon so believable?
No point in saying they were born to play the roles they do. As John Ford would mutter through his well-chewed handkerchief, it's a job. But Eastbound & Down belongs to its supporting cast and crew as much as McBride, and if a topless barfly on the back of a Sea-Doo isn't exactly Cicatrice on horseback, there's a lot more truth to the girl on the jet ski than Henry Brandon painted red. Everything I imagine behind the scenes on The Searchers is front and center in the friends of Kenny Powers, whose best years, when you think about it, were when he played for the Braves.
Kenny and Duke both are proud to have never drunk a glass of water.
posted by NPK at 10:42 PM
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