Phoenix rises: Ascending the A-list

“To Die For”
This forgotten little 1995 gem, adapted by Buck Henry and directed by Gus Van Sant, was a brilliant dark comedy about a ruthless woman (Nicole Kidman) who won’t let anything stand in the way of success as a TV newswoman. To reach her goals, she hires three teenagers, about whom she is filming a documentary for a local station, to bump off her boring husband (Matt Dillon). Phoenix plays the kid under her sway who is hopelessly infatuated by her beauty and sexual charms. He is wonderfully inept and naïve; Phoenix shows glimpses of the well-rounded actor he has evolved into during the intervening years. The picture, which exaggerates — but not too much — the craving for fame that is ubiquitous on today’s reality show landscape, also is worth seeing for some supporting turns by Casey Affleck, Illeana Douglas and Wayne (“Helloooo, Newman”) Knight.

“Buffalo Soldiers”
Set in 1989 in Germany while the Berlin Wall is coming down, this is Phoenix in another black comedy about a soldier sent to the Army as an alternative to prison. He bides his time by working as the company clerk and selling drugs and other black-market products, like missile launchers. It satirizes the military in much the same way that “Catch-22” and “M*A*S*H” did in their times. The problem here is that “Buffalo Soldiers” came out right around 9/11, so the film’s themes suffered from incredibly bad timing. But Phoenix does a commendable job of transforming a character who is otherwise unlikeable, making him fascinating by the sheer magnitude of his bad behavior. Besides working as base hustler, he also sleeps with the wife of his colonel and the daughter of a new sergeant. Phoenix played evil before, in “Gladiator.” This time he plays scoundrel, and to great effect.

“The Yards”
Before “We Own the Night,” director James Gray had the occasion to pair both Phoenix and Mark Walhberg in another gritty crime melodrama called “The Yards” set in working-class Queens. Like his latest, “The Yards” also garnered a strong mixed reception. It broke along party lines of those who enjoy being beaten with a cinematic crowbar, and those who don’t. It’s sort of a Greek tragedy covered with grease and dirt. But Phoenix shines anyway in “The Yards” as Willie, the bad-seed friend with the ravishing girlfriend (Charlize Theron) who greets Wahlberg’s Leo after the latter is sprung from prison and helps him along. As Willie, Phoenix manages to bring dimension to a character that otherwise might come off as one-note lug. Although Willie is tragically flawed, Phoenix makes sure he doesn’t overplay the fact. Watching “The Yards” and then comparing Phoenix’s performance in it to the new “We Own the Night” might just serve as a lesson both in consistency and growth for an actor.

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