2 R. Lee Ermey Full Metal Jacket (1987) Although Gleason has the distinction of being the most colorful cusser in film, Ermey has got to take 1st Prize for the most violently foul-mouthed performance in history. The first 40 minutes or so of the film are all about him, and he’s so awe-inspiringly commanding that the actual war scenes afterward don’t have any punch to them.Add to this the fact that Director Stanley Kubrick allowed him to ad lib about 50% of his lines, which Kubrick only allowed for one other actor in history, Peter Sellers. Kubrick was notorious for being a tyrant on set when things didn’t go his way. But Ermey put him in place at one point, by barking ATTENTION! at him, whereupon Kubrick jumped up straight before he realized what was happening.Ermey was an honest-to-God drill instructor for the Vietnam War, and served a tour in Vietnam, then two tours in Okinawa, and was medically retired for wounds sustained. He knows what war is, and how to train men for it, and that’s why this will probably remain, forever and ever amen, the most accurate portrayal of a Marine Corps DI, and basic training, in all of motion pictures.The tough DI is a stereotype in war films, and before Ermey there were several good ones, notably Jack Webb in “The D. I.” But after Full Metal jacket, up to now, every DI character has been modeled on Ermey’s performance.
Posted on: Thu, 14 Nov 2013 03:23:56 +0000
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