Wanting to be sociable, I went with my uncle and cousins to the movies yesterday to see the new Mark Wahlberg vehicle “Contraband,” and 110 minutes and almost as many plot holes later, I came to the following conclusion: Marky Mark is no movie star.
Sure, he has the square jaw, impressive physique, and intimidating glare of all the action stars of yore, but he lacks the clear charisma and charm of his movie star peers and predecessors. What made the Bourne movies so good is that while Matt Damon may have shared the same characteristics as Wahlberg, he also was easy to root for because of his natural charm. He was able to elevate what could have been a by-the-numbers action franchise with his performance alone, something Wahlberg has never been able to do in any of the films where he has been the clear star.
His first shot at carrying a major film was Tim Burton’s critically reviled remake of Planet of the Apes. While many of the problems of that film are not Wahlberg’s fault, if he had even an eighth of the movie star charisma of the film’s original star, Charlton Heston, the film would have worked quite a bit better. The trend continued through his next few films, including another remake with Wahlberg playing the same role as another great star, Michael Caine, in 2003’s “The Italian Job.” While that film is much more enjoyable than “Planet of the Apes,” Wahlberg is not the main reason (that would be Edward Norton) and the film itself still isn’t that great. After that came 2005’s “Four Brothers,” 2007’s “Shooter,” and 2008’s “Max Payne,” all mediocre action films that have been relegated to constant play on weekends on TNT and FX. The nadir of Wahlberg’s career as a leading man came with M. Night Shyamalan’s disasterpiece “The Happening.” He was roundly criticized for his expressionless face and wooden line delivery, and while some of the blame can be attributed to Shymalan’s incompetence, Wahlberg still had the chance to bring something interesting to the material and decided not to even bother. He was even overshadowed in his dream project, 2010’s “The Fighter.” While Wahlberg himself is not bad as Mickey Ward, he was unfortunate to be overshadowed by two Academy-Award winning performances from Melissa Leo and Christian Bale.
However, even though Wahlberg may not be able to carry a film on his own, I still enjoy him immensely when he gets to share the spotlight with other really talented actors. The first and best example of this is Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterpiece “Boogie Nights.” While the film is nominally Wahlberg’s story, it’s really an ensemble piece and he fits very nicely in the cast that includes Julianne Moore, Don Cheadle, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John C. Reilly, William H. Macy, and an Oscar-nominated turn from Burt Reynolds. Wahlberg also gave a fine performance in “Three Kings” when he got to share the spotlight with George Clooney and Ice Cube. He also did really good work in other films where he played a supporting role such as “I Heart Huckabees” and “The Departed,” for which he received a deserved Oscar nomination as a foul-mouthed cop who becomes rightfully suspicious of Matt Damon’s character. A few years later, he gave enjoyable performances in two comedies: a small but memorable role in “Date Night” and in “The Other Guys.” He was allowed to play the straight man to one of Hollywood’s most talented comedic performers, Will Ferrell, and their chemistry really made the film a joy to watch.
Looking ahead to Wahlberg’s films post-“Contraband,” there are signs both good and bad that he is leaning towards more films where he is not the main star. His next film, the Seth Macfarlane comedy “Ted,” could be an absolute disaster with him as the clear lead (clear human lead at least. Macfarlane voices his teddy bear come to life. Good god…). However, another of his upcoming projects, “Broken City,” looks more promising, as he will get to share the screen with Russell Crowe and Catherine Zeta-Jones in a film that has the following synopsis from IMDB: “An ex-cop trailing the wife of New York City’s mayor finds himself immersed in a larger scandal.” Assuming Wahlberg is the cop, I hope for the film’s sake that Crowe gets to chew his fair amount of scenery as the mayor.
My ultimate feeling is that Mark Wahlberg will rotate between star vehicles and ensemble pieces while producing half of HBO’s programming on the side. However, if I were his agent, I would have Marky Mark pursue a role along these lines that I guarantee will get him the best reviews and box office of his career. He should be second in command of some elite secret ops unit, the guy who is the brawn to the leader’s brains. The two should butt heads at some point bringing up some traumatic even from Wahlberg’s past with him staring down the leader with his formidable “I can kill you with my bare hands and you know it” face. Seriously, this was role Mr. Funky Bunch was born to play. Somebody start writing this thing and get his agent on the phone, stat!
(Note: I wrote this Saturday morning before "Contraband" ended the weekend as the #1 movie at the box office, grossing over $24 million through Sunday with the holiday still to come Monday. Due to the lack of other options, it'll probably have some legs and make almost $100 million, but no matter how much money the film makes, my opinion of Wahlberg does not change.)
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