Sam Rockwell

a TRIBUTE

In all honesty, this is another rabbit hole. But’s it’s worth the time-suck. And if you have time to kill then kill it here.

I have always loved movies. From my 1st big screen experience at the age of 4 going to the Drive In movie theater to see Smokey and the Bandit. Burt Reynolds was it, the captain of cool. He was the alpha dog, the hero, the guy who gets the girl, the renegade, etc.

I lived for the big screen and remember the times my family would go together and watch The Outsiders, Indiana Jones, Batman (with Prince composing the whole damn soundtrack). As I matured and watched all types of movies the genres evolved as did the actors.

¹ Caricature entitled “Sam Rockwell☆Blue Iguana” by Jim Show

Sam Rockwell was the only child of actors and was raised between California and N.Y. after his parents split. In high school and beyond he pursued acting and as the cookie crumbles many young actors struggle and work odd jobs to make ends meet. At one point Rockwell was a private dick’s assistant and was tasked with tailing a chick while she was having an affair. This was from an interview w/ Rolling Stone in 2002. During the mid to late 90’s his career started to gain traction.

1999: The Green Mile

I first saw Sam Rockwell in the Green Mile. The movie was a monster success starring Tom Hanks and Michael Clarke Duncan who was a relative newcomer and stood out to many with his breakthrough performance portraying convict falsely accused of murder. However the guy who stood out to me was “Wild Bill” Wharton who played a low-down despicable convict who continuously terrorized the inmates and prison guards with reckless abandon played by Rockwell. We all know Tom Hank’s career but in my opinion he never really swung for the fences like Rockwell did so screw you Tom Hanks or as Jiminy Glick likes to call you “Tom Hank”.

2000: Made

Jon Favreau’s vehicle once again had him and Vince Vaughn driving & provided a substantially low brow comedy about two wanna be gangsters staying in N.Y. on a job tripping over themselves to see the job through with an array of hilarious encounters and mishaps. Rockwell plays the hotel clerk who shows Vaughn and Favreau’s characters their hotel rooms. Rockwell’s character is a bright-eyed, innocent, earnest, effeminate version of an otherwise mundane forgettable character but somehow he nails it. His interaction w/ Vaughn’s character are understated and sell the scene as Vaughn is vintage in his wisecracking role.

2002: Confessions of Dangerous Mind

This is the 1st film I saw Rockwell as the starring role playing Chuck Barris who was best known (in my parent’s generation) as the creator the Dating Game and The Gong Show. Directed by George Clooney, the movie is an adaptation based Chuck Barris’ memoir in which he claims he was a CIA hitman. For clarity this is Barris’ account of events not necessarily rooted in fact. The movie follows Barris’ upbringing and how he got involved in the television industry and eventually became a contract killer for one of our Government’s most lethal spy agencies. My take away from this film is that Rockwell has the ability to turn on a dime with comedic prowess but will also flat out darken any given scene with his inherent ability to snuff somebody out with no remorse.

2003: Matchstick Men

Playing opposite Nicolas Cage in Matchstick Men can’t be an easy feat. However Rockwell not only hold’s his own but steals scenes like Ronald Acuna stealing bases left and right in the 2023 baseball season. Cage and Rockwell play a couple of con men who embark on a “long con” to earn serious dough until things go sideways and a surprise ending. The emotional distress felt by Cage’s character is well balanced with comic timing of Rockwell. Worth a watch.

2013: The Way Way Back

I gotta give props to my sister on this one. She told me to watch it but didn’t mention Sam Rockwell being in it which brings me to my broader point. When I reminded her of that she just rebuffed: “Sam who?” By 2013 the guy already had book of great movies under his belt with unforgettable turns but most people I still talk to don’t know who the guy is yet I know they have seen him in movies. He gets lost in the characters he churns out. This is what an actor should do. Embrace the art and to hell with everything else (easier said than done and I am a capitalist so it pains me to say that).

At the center of this movie is young teenage boy on summer break at his mother’s new boyfriend’s beach house. The story is prototypical of a young man struggling with the idea of his mom dating someone other than his dad. The relationship between him and the boyfriend (Played by Steve Carell) is awkward, confrontational, and eventually comes to head. In another supporting role Rockwell plays the teen’s new boss at the local water park and takes him under his wing and in the process gets him to come out of his shell. Rockwell uses his humor to develop a relationship and reach the kid and eventually comes to find out the kid is having issues w/ his home situation which was a mirror of his own upbringing.

2017: Three Billboard Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Rockwell got his due: Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He plays a burnt out police officer and this is one my favorite scenes. Watch the movie.

2019: Jo Jo Rabbit

Sam Rockwell plays Captain K in Nazi Germany leading the Nazi youth with daily drills instrumental in turning them into future bloodthirsty Nazi soldiers. The movie follows a young German whipper snapper of a boy who has an imaginary friend none other than Hitler himself. The boy lives with his mom and he learns that his mom has been hiding away a young Jewish girl. Rockwell’s part in this is relatively small but the scenes carry weight

Other notable favorites: Choke (psst, the book by Chuck Palahniuk is better), Iron Man 2, and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

This is where I leave you. It’s an abbreviated compilation but I wanted to put it out there into the universe.

This guy needs to continue to make movies. He’s a gift.

1. Caricature entitled “Sam Rockwell☆Blue Iguana” by Jim Show