Cast Off

I went to see THE WOLFMAN last night. In addition to being a generally crappy movie, the filmmakers committed perhaps the worst example of the worst sin in filmmaking I can remember seeing: they completely miscast the lead role.

The protagonist of the movie is an American who goes to London to see his British father, played by Sir Anthony Hopkins, and investigates the mysterious death of his brother. The American is played by Benecio del Toro. Benecio del Toro is a great actor. I loved him in TRAFFIC and FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS. But here's the thing: he's a fucking Mexican. His facial features are that of a Mexican man. When he speaks, it is with a tinge of a Mexican accent. Now granted, he could play parts other than Mexicans - like, say, a Spaniard, or an Italian. He played Che Guavara not long ago; Che was Argentinian. You know what absolutely doesn't work for him though? Playing the American son of Sir Anthony Hopkins.

I mean, at minute four of the movie, when this relationship is established, I just asked myself, "Wait, Benecio del Toro is supposed to be Anthony Hopkins' son? How is that possible?" And then the whole rest of the movie, I couldn't stop thinking about it. It just bothered me. How could the makers of this film commit such a huge oversight, trying to establish that the fundamental relationship of the movie is between two people who have no business even being on the same continent? It was like watching a movie where Tom Hanks says "Ah, here's my long lost identical twin brother: Don Cheadle."

Okay, maybe it wasn't that bad. But it was definitely worse than the last glaringly horrible bit of casting that stood out to me, which was Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane in SUPERMAN RETURNS. She was like 22 in that movie. It was comical how someone who looked like a babysitter was supposed to be a bigshot newspaper reporter. You'll also notice how that role effectively killed her career.

I hope for Benecio's sake he doesn't suffer the same fate at the hands of the imbeciles who blew $150 million on THE WOLFMAN.