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Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Are you anxious to see ‘Dark Knight’ and Heath Ledger?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As soon as the calendar turned to July, these words, spoken so breathily and with twisted menace by the late Heath Ledger in the trailers for the next Batman movie “The Dark Knight,” began to swirl in my head:
“This city deserves a better class of criminal,” he says so eerily as The Joker. “And I’m going to give it to ‘em.”
“Dark Knight” debuts in theaters July 18. I will see the movie several days beforehand.
I am conflicted about it. I am anxious to see what looks like it could be a great performance. At the same time, I’m saddened at the thought of seeing the film at all. Ledger’s death in January seems too fresh, too tragic.
I think most people are just beginning or will soon begin to realize what a good actor Ledger was. Cate Blanchett was quite good in “I’m Not There.” But I think Ledger did a better job of capturing the conflict in Bob Dylan’s brain.
Ledger was just about perfect in “Brokeback Mountain.” And I’m still wondering why his excellent performance in “Candy,” an Australian tale of bohemians and drugs, never caught fire in America. I thought he was good in “Ned Kelly,” “Monster’s Ball,” “A Knight’s Tale” and “Ten Things I Hate About You.”
I met Ledger in 2002. It was a time when he was first trying to break away from Hollywood’s perception of him: that he should be consistently cast as a teen heartthrob.
Soon we’ll be seeing him as the Joker … deep in character, performing as an artist and not a movie star.
My guess is it will be something memorable to see.
Are you anticipating seeing “The Dark Knight” and Heath Ledger?
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