Small Roles…. Big Performances Blogathon

Friend of FRC Ruth from Flixchatter has organized her very own Blogathon, what sort of friend would I be not to get involved..?

Blogathons seem to always pass me by, I often kick myself for missing the deadline or simply forgetting through being too busy. I am a sucky blogger at times. But when Ruth from FLIXCHATTER announced this one, I had to get involved

SMALL ROLES…. BIG PERFORMANCES

But what is it all about?

The idea of this blog-a-thon is to shine a spotlight on the ‘unsung heroes’ if you will, the overlooked performers who add so much richness/entertainment value to the film no matter how brief their appearance is, but yet they don’t get the credit they so deserve. 

When I read this brief there was one person that shot straight to the front of my mind, Ben Foster.

Ben is always fantastic in every film I have seen him in, from The Messenger to Alpha Dog, he always seem to give his all to the role. But I do not want to highlight those films. They are great and liked by many, instead I want to talk about one particular scene from a very average film The Mechanic that made me sit up and notice Foster once and for all.

Starring in this remake of a Charles Bronson action thriller Ben Foster plays Steve McKenna, who is a hit-man in training under the supervision of Statham’s mono-syllabic Bishop. He is sent on his first KILL where he has to take down a behemoth of a man Burke who has a penchant for young small men. Foster is sent in to seduce him, drug him with roofies and then silently take him out. Simple and clean.

However Foster’s character wants to make a name for him self and decides he wants to take down this man giant man on man in a straight fight, despite the huge difference in size.

The pair head back to Burke’s apartment, and this is where Foster and his amazing skill takes over. The tension he is able to bring to the scene is excruciating. As the scene slowly builds to the ultimate fight you are left totally on the edge of the seat. Foster manages to build and build this single-handedly without making it feel corny or false at all. He then goes on to steal the film completely from the British Actions star.

OK the film os less than average but Foster and his on-screen presence more than make up for the unrealistic action sequences and poor script. You never know what you are going to get with Foster, always looking like he is about to break down or freak out. One thing you are sure of though, he will be committed 100%!

Another role that Ben Foster has excelled in is the role of Charlie Prince int he great western 3:10 TO YUMA. Starring alongside Hollywood heavy weights such as Christian Bale and Russell Crowe didn’t seem to faze Foster and he stole every scene he was in as the slightly unhinged henchman and right hand man of Ben Wade. I am not going to highlight one particular scene with this one instead I will let this video highlight his great one-liners…

I would love to see Foster in larger roles, even in more lead roles in the future. He certainly has the chops to make it as one of the greats.

What are your thoughts?

You can find all the other entries to this great blogathon HERE on flixchatter