Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Comeback Kids


ALfred Hitchcock and David Bowie reading








I haven't seen it yet, but I understand Mickey Rourke has made a fantastic comeback in The Wrestler. My favorite comeback is John Travolta's in Pulp Fiction. After a couple of those "Look Who's Talking" movies, almost anything would have been an improvement. But Pulp Fiction catapulted him into serious stardom. (He could use another good movie right about now).

What contenders do you have for the greatest comeback? It doesn't have to be in movies? How about in novels or music too?

19 comments:

John McFetridge said...

I liked the first Look Who's Talking more than I liked Pulp Fiction which I found to be just teenage boy fantasy-cool, quite shallow and more manupilative than most romantic comedies.

A few people are hoping Mickey Rourke's success with The Wrestler means that Killshot will finally get released.

Jacob Weaver said...

The first person that came to my mind was Charles Willeford. From '53 to '62 he wrote quite a few classics. (Pick-Up and Cockfighter to name a few).

He only had one story published between '62 and '84. (Although that story, The Burnt Orange Hersey, is probably his best work)

It wasn't until over 20 years later, when the beginning of his Hoke Moseley series was published in '84, that he gained his first real financial and critical due.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I was rooting for Mickey until I heard him trash Sean Penn's performance. Now I see he's only come back in some ways.

Todd Mason said...

Then again, it's a pity that Penn gets such a free ride, however spiteful and childish Rourke's comments might be. I haven't seen MILK, but imagine that Penn is still spitting out scenery-bits that had been caught in his teeth from ALL THE KING'S MEN and MYSTIC RIVER.

I have to wonder if we mean that the artist has started producing again, or in restored form (I guess Willeford is a good example) or if the Audience has Come Back. I'm hard-pressed to think of too many artists who've Just Stopped and then chose to work again, though there are some.

Lisa said...

I've got a soft spot for Martin Landau. He had some great roles in the 80's and 90's in Tucker: The Man and His Dream, Crimes and Misdemeanors and Ed Wood. I just checked and he's still alive and working and he's due another good role.

Dana King said...

I'm a big fan of Mickey ROurke as an actor; too bad he's such a jerk.

Robert Downey, Jr. may be on the cusp of a big comeback if he can stay out of rehab.

My favorite comeback story is Mario Lemieux, who had a couple of them.

I guess the greatest comeback for a writer would be Robert Ludlum, who made his big comeback after he was dead. Now that's impressive. ;)

David Cranmer said...

Frank Sinatra in FROM HERE TO ETERNITY. His career both in film and music was in decline before Ava and her contacts gave him a boost with this role.

Martin Edwards said...

Sherlock's return from the Reichenbach Falls still must rate pretty high in the comeback stakes! Happy new year, Patti.

Charles Gramlich said...

I tried to watch the first Look who's talking and made it about a third of the way through before it just got too silly. Pulp fiction, on the other hand, is one of the few movies I can watch over and over again.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Oh, thanks for remembering Landau. That was such a great one. Frank Sinatra for sure. Who knew he could act before that. Downey rises like a phoenix every few years. Happy New Year, Martin. Sherlock never goes away for most of us. Yes, I am also a big fan of Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, but he could use a comeback about now.
Love Willeford but I have to say The Burnt Orange Heresy kind of eluded me.

Todd Mason said...

Landau was pretty good on ENTOURAGE a couple of seasons back as a not completely washed-up producer. I suspect George Pal was among the models for the character.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Very amusing, yes. And he was so wooden on MI or perhaps it was the scripts?

Todd Mason said...

I suspect it was the tiredness of the entire enterprise by the time he joined. He was even worse on SPACE: 1999, that miserable waste of time, so bad productions apparently coax bad performances from him, or did in the 1970s.

Clare2e said...

I love this topic, but I'm mostly drawing blank. Thumbs up on Landau!

Another actor like this who might kinda-sorta qualify is Christopher Lee. He did most of his big film work, notably horror, through the early 1970's and until he popped up again in Peter Jackson's Lord of The Rings. Tim Burton also always uses him if he can.

While checking this out, I learned that Lee has a library of 12,000+ occult volumes, speaks 5 languages fluently and 3 others passably, is a step-cousin of Ian Fleming, is the only member of the modern LoTR film's cast and crew to have actually met Tolkien and re-reads the trilogy annually, worked in RAF intelligence during the war, is the son of a Contessa and great-grandson of an opera diva in Australia, has been married to a Swedish actress for for almost 50 years, and only smokes Montecristos.

Should I ever become that interesting, please do revive me somehow.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Me, too Claire. But forget the middle thirty years.

Jacob Weaver said...

What about David Caruso? He walked away from NYPD Blue for a movie career.....ouch. Now he's on one of the most highly watched TV shows in the World.

I guess it's easier to come back to television than movies.

pattinase (abbott) said...

Great example, Jacob. I still can't stomach him though. His ego lifts right off the screen.

Jenn Jilks said...

I would like to comment on music! Messiah remains one of my favourites, no matter who conducts!

I like revisiting the musicals with the young people in them, too. We saw a couple at Shaw.

pattinase (abbott) said...

I find that young people do musicals very well. Their singing ability outshines their acting usually.