If you’ve ever watched Jeff Goldlbum in a movie then you know that he makes a few weird noises now and again. A lot of times when he does it he seems to be in the middle of a thought or perhaps warming up to something that could be important and should be listened to. But if you take all those noises in this context it does sound pretty funny. He’s been known for a long time as a kind of eccentric person that has some weird and in some cases very funny mannerisms that people take note of and either like or can’t stand. All in all though these noises are part of what make him a great actor.
In various movies he’s made the same kind of sounds before speaking and it’s usually led to something funny, provocative, or something that might just change the course of the film since he’s been a main character so many times it’s hard to count. For instance in Independence Day he was probably one of the smartest people in the entire movie and yet he was listened to the least until his theories proved to be right. “Look, giant alien ships just invading our space for no reason and settling over some of our most populated cities. Let’s try to talk to them!” Cue Jeff with his weird noises and the discovery of a deteriorating signal that suddenly makes so much sense as it’s a countdown to t-minus extermination. And yet even after the aliens fire a warning salvo at a chopper that’s flashing light at them the world doesn’t seem to think that there’s a problem. “Oh, maybe they misconstrued our meaning.” Cue the “ah’s” and the “ums” as Jeff wonders just how people can be that clueless, even in a movie. Yes it’s meant to be funny if you’re laughing.
And then let’s take Jurassic Park and the sequels that came after. He might have only made it into the second movie while the rest of the original cast didn’t, aside from a cameo by Richard Attenborough, but his noises turned a little more dire at this point as he couldn’t quite believe that anyone would be sent to an island where dinosaurs are known to exist after hearing about the horrors that went on during the first movie. Just the reaction he gives to John when he figures out that Hammond has sent people to the island to check on the specimens is enough to know that he’s anything but impressed in the sequel, and is more than ready to tell John where he can put his proposal. But when he gets there he’s even less impressed and in disbelief that anyone would still not believe the stories he had to tell when he got back the first time. Seriously, as brave and intrepid as people are in the movies they’re never given that much of a chance to be all that bright or wise.
Jeff Goldblum’s noises seem to echo that sentiment.
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