Sunday 21 August 2011

Paddy!


Paddy Considine gleefully unicycles along the thin line which divides genius and idiocy: he creates characters which seem to be broad stereotypes then invests them with depth and subtlety and brings them to life. He can convey a wide range of emotions, evoke a wide range of reactions: he can make you laugh, break your heart, scare the shit out of you. In short, he’s an actor. A proper actor, an idiosyncratic, charismatic guy who enlivens every production he appears in. Good or bad (and he is occasionally awful) he always gives value for money, and that means a lot in this strained economic climate.



I most recently saw Paddy in the excellent ‘Submarine’. Paddy plays Graham T. Purvis, a New Age life coach and aura expert. Self-styled Guru Purvis, with his martial arts moves and spiky mullet is an obviously comic character – almost anyone could play him and let the haircut squeeze a couple of easy laughs out of the audience. Paddy goes beyond this, though, to create someone who is ridiculous, yes, but also real. For all his swagger and life affirming psychobabble, Purvis is a mess: embroiled in a failing relationship, performing to half empty halls, living in a sparsely furnished house his aunt left him. His attempts to rekindle something with an old flame are similarly pathetic, culminating in a seedy sympathy hand job in the back of his grotesquely decorated van. The stigma of this second rate indiscretion drives him back onto the road, alone. It won’t be the last shame filled wank the inside of that van will see.





The best thing about Paddy is that he is actually in the public consciousness: constantly working, occasionally appearing in Hollywood blockbusters, lending his wonky talent to any number of productions, making them better, worse, far more interesting. I guarantee that in years to come, long after we’re all dead, people will watch his films and think ‘who the hell is that guy?’, and that’s pretty cool when you think about it.

3 comments:

  1. Great blog, mate. I always find Island Of Terror a witty and informative read, so I thought I'd just post a comment to say thanks - you've given me a "heads-up" on pop cultural oddities I'd never have been introduced to if I hadn't stumbled across your corner of the internet.
    Talking of which - any chance of a piece on "What Became Of Jack & Jill", a great 70's curio starring the lovely Vanessa Howard & not-so-lovely Paul Nicholas plotting to bump off his dear old gran to inherit her house? It seems to be completely unavailable on video or DVD, and I have a horrible feeling that it's actually a load of old rubbish, but I'd love to read something about a film which has stayed in my memory after a solitary viewing during my early teens.
    Oh, and how about Frankie Howard's "The House In Nightmare Park"? I have got that on video, and it's fab, but it fits the remit of this blog perfectly, and I'd be interested in your thoughts on it.

    As for Paddy, I'm in complete agreement - great actor and hugely under-rated. My favourite performance has to be in "A Room For Romeo Brass" where he manages to be both laughably pathetic and yet rather scary & disturbed at the same time. He's destined to be a cult figure in years to come, I think, a 21st century Freddie Jones...

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  2. Unmann-Wittering25 August 2011 at 12:03

    Ah, really glad you like it. I have got a really crappy copy of ‘Jack & Jill’ somewhere. I remember it as being slightly dull, but I should revisit it.

    'The House In Nightmare Park’ is on the list, planning to do a double bill of that and ‘Bloodbath At The House of Death’.

    The great thing about these sorts of films and TV is that there is so much of it and, just when you think you’ve seen it all, something else comes along and knocks your pop socks off.

    I thought initially that I might do IOT for a year, but I’ve now realised I’m here for the duration. 21st Century Freddie Jones – Considine should put that on his CV and business cards IMMEDIATELY.

    Cheers! Paul.

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  3. Don't know this bloke at all (not surprising - I'm ten years at least behind the times all the time) but he sounds good.

    "Shame-filled wank" - excellent expression. God knows I've had a few.

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