Tommy Lee Jones

[india7]

As Kafka is with Alan Rickman, I am with Tommy Lee Jones! Here - lemme re-post a little sumpin' I put up in the UnpopularMovie Opinions thread to explain how I got started on the love:

Okay, one of my favorite movies in the world is this really bad disco/horror/slasher film (no, really!) from 1978 called Eyes of Laura Mars, and it's notable for me for three things:
1. I was 13 the first time I saw it, and it was the first time I'd ever seen Tommy Lee Jones, who I instantly fell in love with, and who I still love and have been seriously hot for ever since. I don't care how old and cranky he is - HAWT! You know how Kafka gets over Rickman? Yeah, me with Tommy Lee Jones.

I just love the man. Loooove him! The fact that he beat out two really great Oscar-worthy performances (John Malkovich for In The Line of Fire and Leo DiCaprio for What's Eating Gilbert Grape?) and won Best Supporting Actor for The Fugitive is just icing on the cake of an already fabulous performance that I could watch over and over again.

What made his win even better? Upon accepting his Oscar, with his head shaved bald for his role in Cobb, he stood at the microphone and eloquently said, "What can a man say at a moment like this except.... I'm not really bald!" LOVE!

Yes, I've heard he's a jerk, and difficult to work with, but have I mentioned? LOVE!!!

So here's the craggy, tough, fast talkin' Texan's very own thread!

[kafka]

I love him. I'd never heard that he's unpleasant to work with but, even if he is, it truly doesn't stop the love.

I can't think of which of his movies I love more but I think one of his most impressive performances was in Cobb. I enjoyed him in The Fugitive but, honestly, and as a TLJ fan, I thought Malkovitch should have gotten it for "In the line of Fire." He was simply AWESOME in that! (Yes, I love Malkovitch too, so I was torn that year.) That said, TLJ should have gotten nominated for Cobb (unless he was and I simply don't remember).

There are so many of his films/performances I've enjoyed. He was great in Blue Sky with Jessica Lange, and I've already mentioned elsewhere my embarassing love for Space Cowboys. Another one would be the evil DA in the John Grisham film, The Client. Even in really lousy films, he can make it worth watching for the dry, smart-aleck, wry humour he brings to each part. He always makes me laugh. And he somehow manages to make you root for even despicable characters. So talented. And yes, sexy too!


ETA: India, I'm so glad you started this thread.

[Deleted]

I love him too - I can't tell you how many times I have seen both The Fugitive and Blue Sky. He is so good in both parts, he just dominates the screen.

Interesting bit of trivia - he and Al Gore were college roommates.

[india7]

Yup, that's true, Shopper! TLJ spoke at the Democratic convention in 2000 in support of his old roomie!

Kafka, gotta disagree with you, buddy! I think the race for the Oscars that year was a very tight one between those three, but I think TLJ absolutely deserved it! However, in the same breath, I can also say how Malkovich did too - TLJ just deserved it a teeny bit more, IMHO. Too bad they were both the same year! And TLJ didn't get nominated for Cobb - I'm pretty sure that movie sank like a stone!

LOVED him in The Client! Sooo incredibly sexy in the classy suits! However, the part at the when he is just TOTALLY worn down by Susan Sarandon, and they're sitting in that diner where he's agreeing to the terms for the boy and his family? No suit - she's broken him down to the point where he shows up in an old sweatshirt and a backwards baseball cap! I thought I'd die from the sexiness!

[kafka]

The Fugitive had lots of funny lines in it but my favorite is probably this:

Dr. Richard Kimble: I didn't kill my wife.
Deputy Marshal Samuel Gerard: I don't care.

That always makes me laugh. That completely flat, disinterested, bored "I don't care" just cracks me up. It's so TLJ.

The one film of his which I didn't like and just couldn't finish: The Hunted. I don't know why because there are some decent actors in that, along with Benicio Del Toro. I think I probably wasn't in the right state of mind when I rented it.

[india7]

Well, to be honest, as much as I worship him, there are a few of his lesser known films that I've missed - he's just done so many of them.

One of my faaavorites is his role as Loretta Lynn's husband in Coal Miner's Daughter - they were so perfect together, what a great acting job on both of their parts!

And another favorite Line from Men in Black, when he's showing Will Smith the new microchip disc for music? "Dammit, now I'm gonna have to buy 'The White Album' again!"

He's up next in A Prairie Home Companion with Meryl Streep and Lindsay Lohan.

(Ohhhh, Kafka... I fear you and I may have to keep this thread going!)

[Deleted]

Gnarliest. actor. ever. I love him, but am afraid I'd be scared witless if I were to ever meet him or interview him. (Not that there's much chance of either.) Supposedly he really is rather... difficult... in real life. But he seems like the real deal, he doesn't pretend to be something he isn't. And he really values his privacy: doesn't just say he does. Private life questions are apparently totally off limits during interviews, meaning he'll just glare if they're asked.

He's always great, no matter what the movie. And he makes the perfect straight man: witness Men in Black.

Haven't seen his latest movie. Three Burials... but have heard it's excellent.

[india7]

mimmilina said:

meaning he'll just glare if they're asked.

Oooh, and he has a great glare!

I have heard he's difficult, but you're right, it is in the context of just being a no-bullshit kind of guy. I remember reading an interview with him right after the Long Island Railroad shootings (in the early '90s), and for whatever reason, the interviewer asked him something about the "Long Island Railroad shootouts". He very tersely replied, "Shootings - one person. Not shoot out. Shootout implies that gunfire was returned, and as we know, that wasn't the case." And then the interview continued! But he's supposedly a VERY intelligent guy, and will put someone in their place who's speaking out of context like that.

[mariposalabrown]

I worked on Man of the House, and can tell you that Tommy Lee Jones is nothing but nice, and not difficult at all. He was a producer on that movie as well, so everything was very efficient and professional, since he didn't want to waste money. He's super nice, has one of the best voices I have ever heard, and the deepest wrinkles I've ever seen in my life. We all had big crushes on him.

He also had the best catering I've ever had on a set, and we never had to work longer in a day than predicted. For that I'll love him forever.

[Deleted]

Eagerly awaiting the Tommy Lee Jones/Josh Hartnett father-son film.

No, it hasn't happened nor is it in the making but for goodness sake, the two of them could be related.