Title: Man on Fire
Writer: A.J Quinnell (novel), Brian Helgeland (screenplay)
Director: Tony Scott
Year: 2004
Actors: Denzel Washington (Joyhn W. Creasy), Dakota Fanning (Lupita Ramos), and Radha Mitchell (Lisa Ramos)
In the movie, Man on Fire (2004), there are three stars I have identified to be the main characters: Denzel Washington as Johyn W. Creasy, Dakota Fanning as Lupita Ramos, and Radha Mitchell as Lisa Ramos.
In this movie, Denzel Washington would be categorized as a Personality actor. Reason being is that Goodykoontz states, “An actor whose own personality tends to define all the characters he or she portrays, so that the actor’s name alone lets audiences know what the screen character will be like” (2014). Denzel is usually portrayed as the tough guy, no nonsense, get the job done type of guy and with this film he managed to pull that off because he needed to save Lupita from the kidnappers. In this clip, Denzel shows that he doesn’t care much about the bad guy and will do anything to get answers.
I would consider Denzel’s acting to be realistic acting because it’s almost very natural to him and that is what draws the audience in. He is one with the film and portrays it with all his emotions, rage, fear, and love all at the same time. This is what makes him such a great actor.
Dakota Fanning as Lupita Ramos could be categorized as a Wild Card. You will notice how little she trusts Creasy at first and slowly transitions into building a form of trust with him as time goes by. During the film, she barely talks to him at first and loosens up a bit after she realizes he is looking out for her best interest; for example the scene when she knew someone was following them in another car, she didn’t trust that he would get the license plates because Creasy was driving so she went ahead and wrote it on her notepad. Her acting style is stylized because of her ability to switch it up in all her different films. In Uptown Girls, she can was mean and bratty and in this film, she was very devoted and loving toward Creasy after a certain period of time knowing him.
I don’t know much about Radha Mitchell, but I would categorize her to be a character actor. Her role was Lupita’s mother, and she succeeded that role by how much passion she felt when Lupita was kidnapped. She adapted to the needs to the script and focused on how to mourn the potential loss of her child. She used her rage as a weapon to help Creasy save her daughter and when they reunited at the end, you could feel the love she had been missing while her daughter was gone because she played the role so well. Her acting style would be realism acting because during the film, everything felt so real, from the sadness in her eyes as she cried to the happiness in the body language when she held onto Lupita.
I would say Denzel’s characters in most of his movies are the tough and no nonsense guy; he would be placed in the same category for most of his movies. He is usually a go-getter and does anything to get what he wants, even if that means manipulating others to get it. It may seem as though he doesn’t know how to play another role because most of his films are tough, but there is always a sentimental past throughout all his movies when the audience can look past the toughness and this makes him such an outstanding actor. For instance, in the movie John Q (2002), he plays the role as a father who is about to lose his son because he doesn’t have enough money to pay for a heart transplant. His acting style was still very tough and he held people hostage, but to me, this amazing because he still brought out a sensitive side while being tough. You can sense the fear in his voice because his son is sick.
People see his movies because of the simple fact that he is intriguing and he does what he likes.
References:
Goodykoontz, B. & Jacobs, C. P., (2014). Film: From seeing to watching (2nd ed.). San Diego, CA. Bridgepoint Education, Inc.
Man on Fire (3/5) Movie Clip- Suppository Bomb (2004). YouTube. Man on Fire (2004). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/5JU326dvQ2g
John Q (emotional scene). YouTube. John Q (2002). Retrieved from https://youtu.be/2sked9dSoFk
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