Treat Williams is among the many actors that kind of gets lost in the shuffle even when he’s been around for so long that he’s kind of like a permanent fixture. In truth he seems like someone that got hot in the 70s, which he did, and then rode the 80s wave all the way to the 90s where he started getting hot again. The only thing is he seemed to have taken a back seat at that point and was content to get whatever he could, meaning more B movies and TV films than big-name pictures. To be honest it does kind of suit him since he does have the skill and the talent to be on the big screen, but again, he’s kind of settled into the smaller roles and been the support guy that’s good at what he does but isn’t always leading material. He’s had a few uncredited roles in bigger films such as The Empire Strikes Back, but these are roles you’d have to actually look hard to see him in. Whatever the case though Treat is still around and he’s still been doing what he loves to do.
Here are a few movies where he really got to stand out and made a difference in the film.
Things To Do In Denver When You’re Dead
It takes one botched assignment that none of the guys wanted to do in the first place to put them on the hit list and earn them the dubious honor of being stalked by none other than Mr. Shhh, a notorious hitman that never fails to find and eliminate his targets. One by one each of the men in Jimmy’s circle fall, until finally Mr. Shhh gets to Critical Bill, who Treat Williams plays. His character is something of a psychopath since he’ll go megaton on just about anyone the moment he feels the need or feels provoked in any way. When he kills the boyfriend of the girl that he and his buddies are trying to bring back alive and then his buddy kills the girl by accident the Man with the Plan sentences them all to buckwheats, meaning death by as painful a process as can possibly be imagined. The only thing about this is that Critical Bill is so paranoid and constantly on edge that he gets the drop on Mr. Shhh and the two of them end up killing each other. It’s kind of a fitting end to such a crazy character.
Deep Rising
What do you get when you take a Cambrian-era underwater sea creature, a thief, a bunch of mercenaries, and Treat Williams? Yeah, you get this would be blockbuster. To be honest it wasn’t the worst idea that’s ever been unveiled but it could have done with a bit more work to make it a little more threatening. A lot of times the characters made it sound as though it was another walk through a frightening park filled with giant sea worms that could swallow you whole and then spit out the bones. It could have done without the huge reveal at the end, showing that it was one monster that controlled all the other tentacles. The idea of making it a hive of sorts that had infiltrated the ship might have been a little better, and the use of one-liners and quips could have been reduced by half at the very least. But the core idea was pretty solid and Treat played it as well as he could from start to finish.
Deadfall
Treat gets to play the overprotective father in this thriller that pits a pair of thieves, brother and sister, against their unwitting victims and the local police department as they attempt to flee across the Canadian border. When the pair split up to try and find a way across the border on their own they both encounter those in their path, but while the brother tends to just shoot first and go on his way the sister actually finds a man that she develops feelings for and comes to the point that she turns on her brother and helps those that are attempting to stop him. It’s an interesting movie but the reception it got wasn’t quite that great, meaning that it was all but buried when it came out.
So to be honest Treat has been doing just fine with his career since things have been going at an even pace for quite some time and there’s no reason to think they’ll stop anytime soon. Even being in his late 60s he’s doing very well and is showing no signs of wanting to call it quits. As the years continue to go on we’ll see how that goes but until then it’s a pleasure to see him show up every now and again.
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