Film Review: ‘The Actor’ is a Trippy and Unique Experience from Duke Johnson

There’s a unique sensibility to the work of Duke Johnson. He, along with Charlie Kaufman, blew me away with Anomalisa, immediately endearing me to him. The wait for this live-action feature debut has been a long one, as The Actor took quite a bit of time to develop. Initially, Ryan Gosling was set to star in what presumably was a larger budgeted effort. Eventually, he transitioned to just an executive producer role, but the film itself is finally here. Folks, it’s plenty weird, but boy did it linger in my mind once the credits rolled.

The Actor has a film noir feel to it, even if it’s much more of a vibes piece in the end. Does everything work in the movie? Absolutely not. However, watching the very specific way in which Johnson opts to depict it becomes lightly hypnotic. There’s an immersive quality here that Anomalisa shared as well, which is clearly a hallmark of Johnson’s features. Once you get on its wavelength, you’re down for anything that might happen within.

We meet Paul Cole (André Holland) in the aftermath of a savage beating. An actor, he was with a woman when her husband walked in, attacking him. He wakes up with no memory of who he is or how he arrived at this spot. Needing to get out of town, he only has the money to get to a mysterious small, effectively stranded. Needing money to get home to New York, he gets gets a job at the local plant, borrowing money from a co-worker in order to eat and rent a room. Essentially, he’s starting from scratch.

Without any true identity or a sense of purpose, he has a standoffish quality to him, though that starts to fall away when he begins wooing a local in costume designer Edna (Gemma Chan). Of course, he still wants to get home, though that proves troubling, especially as small bits and pieces of his past slowly come back to him. Especially as everyone around him begins appearing in multiple roles, time and space become slippery, leading Paul to question everything.

André Holland is excellent here, as is Gemma Chan. Their chemistry pulls you along, even if the story itself does have to keep you somewhat at arm’s length. There’s a confusion and innocence to Holland’s Paul that sucks you in, while hinting at potentially something darker or deeper within. Chan plays Edna with an elusive quality, which actually does boost the romantic feel of their courtship. Together, they make their scenes come alive. The supporting cast is essentially an acting troupe playing multiple roles throughout, which include May Calamawy, Edward Hogg, Toby Jones, Simon McBurney, Tracey Ullman, and more.

Duke Johnson directs the project, while co-writing the adaptation of the Donald E. Westlake novel Memory with Stephen Cooney. Johnson makes everything both disconcerting and pretty, which is quite something. Moreover, the stage-like way in which scenes and perspectives transition is very unique, keeping you both interested and off-balance. The script leaves a lot for you to figure out, which could go either way for audiences, but Cooney and Johnson trust their viewers. Either way, the look of the flick is so compelling, it’s hardly an issue.

The Actor will either work for you or it won’t. I would hardly begrudge anyone just throwing up their hands and saying it wasn’t for them. For me? Watching Duke Johnson do this thing is oddly hypnotic, so it worked for me. I’m pretty much down for whatever he opts to tackle, too. So, bring on more of the strange!

SCORE: ★★★