Ruminations on the film choices of Billy Bob Thornton

Do you remember a time when you'd watch a movie featuring Billy Bob Thornton and you would actually see a nuanced character every time. I mean, he got his breakout role in Hollywood was playing a husky mentally deficient man who killed his parents in Sling Blade, and it seemed like he would soon be one of those top-flight thespians we enjoy seeing on the stage and screen.

I am not saying that he hasn't taken some challenging roles since that movie, but it just seems like he is getting way too comfortable playing the variations of a single character type: the alpha jerk, or in a more succinct form, a dick. This is a relatively recent phenomenon with him, but it is still troubling for me.

Don't get me wrong, he plays a fabulous dick, he really does, but knowing that he is capable of so much more than that, it is disappointing to see him play the same kind of role over and over again. Look at the long list of movies where he has essentially played this kind of role: Bad Santa, School for Scoundrels, The Bad News Bears, Mr. Woodcock, and there were elements of this same kind of character in Pushing Tin and if I remember correctly, there was a similar strain in his performance in The Ice Harvest. That's a lot of pricks. Maybe he is taking these jobs because they reflect something deeper about himself... or maybe he is just in those movies for the money. Yeah, it is probably that latter one, because a man with 5 ex-wives could never be an asshole himself.

Now, I can hear some of you out there grumbling that I've never pointed a finger at Samuel L. Jackson for playing a quick to anger black man time and time again, and I will point out that Jackson has both been nominated and won a lot of awards playing that guy, while Thornton only seems to get nominated when he plays a character outside the above type.

So, while it is occasionally funny to see Billy Bob Thorton play a total asshole, I think he should avoid making it the crux of his career this millennium.

Tags: billy bob thornton, ice harvest, pushing tin, sling blade, mr. woodcock, bad news bears, bad santa, career, prick, divorce