Matthew Modine is a good actor, and I’ll tell you why. A good actor is someone that can make you love or hate them. Anytime you feel just ‘meh’ about them it usually means that they’re not that important of a character or they’re just not standing out enough in an attempt to really get a reaction. Modine is able to make you believe in him, like him, hate him, or absolutely despise him. He’s a very underrated actor that doesn’t usually get enough credit but then he doesn’t always play in the big, mainstream films that get that much attention. And if he does it’s usually a role that isn’t that well developed and therefore can’t really be counted on to be much to really cheer for or against. In his younger years he was the go-to but as he’s aged he settles more for shorter roles and cameos. I do wish Stranger Things was a movie at this point because I think he was the right guy for his part.
Here are a few roles you might have recognized him in.
5. The Dark Knight Rises-Foley
He’s kind of a jerk in this film since the police really don’t like Batman and would rather do thing without him. The only trouble is that the police aren’t equipped to handle a man like Bane, which means that they’re vastly outmatched. Of course Foley is the kind of guy that wouldn’t ask for help against a grizzly bear if a guy sitting to his left had a rocket launcher with one in the pipe.
4. Transporter 2-Jefferson Billings
This is another role where he starts off as just a straight-up jerk, but eventually you learn that he can and does have redeeming qualities. Jefferson happens to love his family but he doesn’t always know how to say it. It’s only when there’s a very real threat of losing them that he finally turns it all around. That’s too bad for Frank, but it’s still touching.
3. Gross Anatomy-Joe Slovak
Sometimes the best students are those that don’t take anything too seriously since to do so would be to lose the edge they have in life. Modine plays a college kid that is firmly entrenched in his joker-style mentality despite being able to focus up and do what is needed to pass the hardest course around when it comes to becoming a physician. Now and then a joker is what’s needed.
2. Vision Quest-Louden Swain
Louden wants his life to have meaning and for him at this moment in his life he’s firmly convinced that means taking on and beating Brian Shute, the undefeated state champion wrestler that no one seems able to take down. He goes through hell to get his body into shape and and despite any and all troubles that he has along his course he’s determined to see things through.
1. Full Metal Jacket-Private Joker
“Is that you John Wayne? Is this me?” Private Joker is a guy that just doesn’t know which way he’s turning. He’s dedicated to peace and yet he serves in a time when killing is the prime occupation that he’s taken on in his life. At most he does his best to stay alive and not gather too many enemies along the way.
Matthew Modine is definitely a great actor.
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