Ryan Reynolds’ career has been both fascinating and frustrating to watch develop. Blessed with good looks, quick wit and a chiseled physique, the Van Wilder star is about as quintessential a leading man as we have in this day and age. However, as he’s evolved from the snarky frat boy roles of his early career to the larger scale, mainstream ones, something just hasn’t quite clicked. It’s hard to blame him, as his infinitely likable screen presence always makes him a pleasure to watch, but the films he’s tried to break in with just haven’t worked. Green Lantern, R.I.P.D, Self/Less, the list goes on and on. Seemingly tired of these missteps, and up until recently desperate to get his long gestating passion project, Deadpool, off the ground, Reynolds has taken an intriguing career path. He’s somewhat adverse to typical leading man roles these days, opting to star in smaller films that often times lead to his best work. The problem? Nobody sees them. So now, to shed some light on the work this wonderful performer has given us before his big break finally comes, here are five Ryan Reynolds roles that are more than worth your time.
5. Monty in Waiting…
As somebody who’s worked in a restaurant, Waiting… might hit home for me a bit more than other folks. Not only are all the interactions with the customers, managers and lazy ass busboys completely accurate, but there is always at least one Monty. The guy that thinks that he’s the king of the hill just for being the most handsome post-pubescent young dude working there, who spends the entire day running his mouth to everybody. Reynolds embodies this persona in what is the most enjoyable of his early dirt bag roles. It’s not the greatest movie in the world, and there’s a great deal more to talk about with the other films, but it’s a solid and somewhat under-seen comedy that could make a lonely Sunday afternoon a little more enjoyable.
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4. Frank Allen in Chaos Theory
It’s rare that we get a true screwball comedy here in the 21st century, but this odd little mess of a movie comes pretty damn close. In it, Reynolds plays Frank Allen, a high strung public speaker and efficiency expert who finds his own life unraveling before him after a freak run-in with a pregnant woman. It’s not the best movie, in fact, certain parts of it are pretty sloppy, but the flaws are entirely validated by Reynolds’ performance. He throws out all of his patented likability and embraces the side of his persona that’s more rough around the edges, and the film is served greatly for it. He’s a ticking time bomb here, and it’s a great deal of fun to watch him unravel, piece by piece, as each scene passes. There are some moments of truly inspired comic lunacy here, which take the story in a direction that I gamble was a bit too dark for the studio and audiences to stomach. Not a great film by any means, but certainly a fun one that contains some of the first indications that Reynolds was an actor capable of more than the hand he had been dealt so far.
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3. Will Hayes in Definitely, Maybe
Now here’s a leading man role that Reynolds knocked out of the park, which of course means that it got completely lost in the shuffle. Such a shame, as this film is one of the most enjoyable romantic comedies of recent years (possibly ever). In it, Reynolds’ Will is tasked by his daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin) to tell the tale of how he met her mother, whom he recently divorced. In order to spare her some dirty details and to make it more bearable for himself, he decides to change the mother’s name, and have his daughter guess who she could be. Sure, it’s a only slight riff on the formula of How I Met Your Mother, but here it’s injected with a bit more subtlety, honesty and heart. Just as he did in Chaos Theory, (which interestingly enough debuted only a couple months later), Reynolds slides out of the more mean spirited snark that dominated his performances up until this point, and embraces his kinder, gentler side to great effect. We see a lot of different facets of Will throughout the peaks and valleys of his life. Watching him try to explain all of this to his daughter, we realize that he needed to hear this story more than she did, and that transition is masterfully brought across by both the performance and a sharp script. Reynolds’ fantastic chemistry with Elizabeth Banks, Rachel Weisz and especially Isla Fisher only sweetens the deal, and ensures that this is one romantic comedy that is definitely worth checking out.
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2. Jerry Hickfang/ Bosco/Mr. Whiskers in The Voices
Now, time for the real heavy hitters. The Voices does not just contain one of Reynolds’ very best turns, but for this writer’s money it just may be one of the greatest horror comedies ever made. The story centers on Jerry, a sweet, somewhat infantile man working in small town’s bathtub factory. He’s got a raging crush on Fiona (Gemma Arterton), a radiant British woman, but he simply can’t seem to tell her how he feels. However, a simple case of social awkwardness this isn’t, as every night he goes home and speaks to his cat Mr. Whiskers and his dog Bosco, as they engage both the innocent and potentially murderous sides of his personality. It would be very easy to over-play a role like this, especially when you throw in the voice over roles, but the balance between adorably sweet and heart-breakingly terrifying that Reynolds hits is nothing short of amazing. It’s a turn both indicative and worthy of Anthony Perkins in Psycho, with notes both hysterical and deeply disturbed. While there a great deal of exaggerated and humorous flourishes, director Marjane Satrapi is brave enough to sharply turn the film into a deeply tragic direction in the second half, and Reynolds is right there with her. While Reynolds has given another performance that I find superior enough to this to rank number one, make no mistake, this is the best film he’s ever been in.
1. Paul Conroy in Buried
When I think about what separates a good actor from a great one, one of the key factors is the ability to hold the audience’s attention. In Buried, Rodrigo Cortes’ phenomenally bold thriller, it is up to Reynolds to not only do that, but to essentially fill an entire film with nothing but his presence, and he rises to the occasion in spades. The film takes place entirely in a small box that Reynolds’ Paul Conroy has been buried in six feet underground by a group of terrorists who demand a large sum of money for his release. It’s a one man show without even much freedom of space for Reynolds to physically express himself, and yet, he’s utterly captivating. From the opening frame, through each bated breath and terrified phone conversation, Paul is not only completely empathetic, but pragmatic enough to not spend the entire portion of remaining oxygen screaming for help (as I’m sure many of us would do). It’s an acting feat that is nothing short of olympian, that was criminally robbed of any recognition come awards time despite being far superior to a similar turn by James Franco in 127 Hours (which don’t get me wrong, was also an amazing film). It proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that Reynolds is a deeply untapped recourse in dramatic work. While Deadpool will undoubtedly catapult him to becoming the star he was always meant to be, hopefully he does not forget to continue to take roles in films like this along the way.
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