Bow down to Sir Anthony (From Western Telegraph)

Bow down to Sir Anthony

It doesnt seem that we Welsh get many opportunities to boast that we have conquered the world. Thankfully though, we do throw up enough world class singers and actors to keep us from disappearing from the world stage altogether. There can be little doubt that the king of British movie actors over the last two decades or more is Sir Anthony Hopkins. He may be an American citizen, but all the water in the Wye could not wash the Welshness out of his majesty!

Anthony Hopkins is quite simply a superb and truly gifted actor, one of my all-time favourites. You dont have to be an expert in theatre or film theory to see that he simply steels almost every scene in which he appears. His particular gift is hard to put your finger on, but its basically that you cant take your eyes off him.

He is very still as all the best screen actors are but its his ability to play so many different characters with the same depth and quality that sets him apart from so many movie stars. Take Silence Of The Lambs for example. In the film that made him a world star, and an Oscar winner, his character, Hannibal Lecter, appeared on screen for just 22 minutes. His portrayal of the sadistic serial killer made Hannibal Lecter a household name but more importantly the character became a bogeyman of the modern era. Hopkins characterisation managed to enter the psyche of the population as the human embodiment of evil (try and imagine another actor playing the role).

My favourite Hopkins movie is Remains Of The Day. In that role as the butler bound by his duty and afraid to enter into a love affair with Emma Thompson, he exhibits the subtlest blend of stillness, reserve, relaxation and that inner fire (maybe madness), like a volcano waiting to erupt but giving the impression of being a dead immovable mountain, which is riveting agony to watch. So Anthony Hopkins is great!

But his real life eccentricities lead him to take on more films than many of his counterparts that are also in a position to pick and choose. Apparently he loves to work. This is the reason I assume that he agreed to take the role in his latest movie Bad Company, a silly comedy thriller. Comedian Chris Rock plays a CIA agent who dies in the opening action.

His boss played by Hopkins tracks down the dead agents estranged identical twin a, mouthy street hustler, also played by Chris Rock. Hopkins has to convince him to pretend to be his brother in order to foil a terrorist attack. Having led the horse to water he has to make him drink though, and so half the movie is given to training Rock to look and act like a CIA agent. Funny? It nearly was. The second half then moves up a gear, but doesnt really speed up, as they try to outwit the terrorists. Bad Company comes from the producer Jerry Bruckheimer, of 80s glossy blockbuster fame, and director Joel Schumacher, the trash auctioneer. Its worth seeing, as any Hopkins movie is, but only for that reason.

It feels like an 80s movie. Replace Rock with a young Eddie Murphy or Richard Pryor, add a Jan Hammer synthesised pop score and youd be right back in the days when shell suits were the next big thing. But this is the summer of 2002 and Bad Company finds itself in far better company than perhaps it deserves. It was never meant to be a summer movie but the terrorist attack on New York saw it bumped to the summer season where now it must struggle against the likes of Spider-Man and Minority Report. Its not a big movie or particularly funny (though it does have its moments) nor is it particularly exciting. As I say, I assumed that Hopkins did the movie because he does so many, but the other day I saw him interviewed and he said he took this job without reading the script only to find himself wondering why during the filming.

Neither the studio, nor Schumacher, nor Bruckheimer will thank him for saying that on a TV show broadcast a fortnight before Bad Company is released. I suppose when one is renowned as one of the best actors in the world one doesnt care what one says.

So Bad Company wont set the world alight for Hopkins but its pretty decent weekend movie fair Vaughan Sivell