Ticket 2 Ride

Who is John Cusack? I ask that because he was a very hot actor, but he’s harder to find these days. The actor/writer/producer was a teen heartthrob in the 1980s; then a leading man in A-list films for a couple of decades; now, a middle-aged character actor. Some of his career moves are baffling.

Cusack’s IMDb.com bio states: “Wary of fame and repelled by formulaic Hollywood fare, he has built a successful career playing underdogs and odd men out–all the while avoiding the media spotlight.”

John Cusack is an apocalyptic shit-disturber, if you believe his own words. Not a label his management probably embraces. That’s Charlie Sheen territory.

“In the last few years, I haven’t been able to get projects financed,” he said in a Guardian interview. “That could be a function of getting older. Or it could be a function of being cold.”

In 1997, Cusack had what was an incredible year for any leading man: Grosse Pointe Blank, Con Air (produced by Jerry Bruckheimer) and Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (directed by Clint Eastwood).

All very successful films, but success is a fickle thing. Misplayed or underestimated, time moves on and opportunities are lost. I’m not saying that Cusack derailed his career, but why did he go cold so quickly? Some of his choices baffle me, but I don’t know what he was offered. His own projects were hit and miss. Grosse Pointe Blank was a huge success. Hot Tub Time Machine (2010) was a financial success, but not exactly a career builder. It felt like an extension of earlier characters like Martin Blank.

In between 1997 and 2010, Cusack appeared in only a few very commercial projects, although 2001 was a solid year with the romantic comedies Serendipity and America’s Sweethearts. In 2005, Cusack starred in Must Love Dogs, so he was a marketable rom-com guy, but don’t typecast him as a rom-com actor. To ensure that, he made War, Inc., Runaway Jury, Being John Malkovich and the Shakespearean Hot Tub Time Machine. He played the later version of Brian Wilson in Love & Mercy, and Richard Nixon in The Butler. Seriously? Yes. Daring, and interesting, but character roles.

A leading man’s years are limited, unless you are Tom Hanks, Brad Pitt or Al Pacino. Cusack is now 57 years old, still young enough for plenty of great roles, but the heartthrob days, and most likely the rom-com days are over. There aren’t many rom-coms for AARP members, not even on Hallmark Channel, although there is The Golden Bachelor on reality TV.

In the past five years, Cusack has appeared in the films Distorted, River Runs Red, Never Grow Old and Pursuit. He also appeared in the Amazon series, Utopia. Heard of any of these?

We can always remember Cusack as one of the best young actors from the 1980s. He wasn’t a member of the brat pack, but he had the cool, aloof, outsider quality, Stand By Me, Sixteen Candles, Better Off Dead, The Sure Thing, Say Anything. Defining movies, defining roles. Even when he had a very small part, he was memorable, and it was no surprise the roles got better.

What’s evident is that John Cusack is an actor, and shied away from the movie star jet stream. A-list roles and big paychecks were fun and provided opportunities, but wasn’t enough to sustain his deeper quest. These are just my thoughts. Cusack is a fine actor whose resume is impressive and bulging with risky, quirky roles.