Ben Foster: Killer Role
Foster Corners Market on Psycho Killers in Hostage, Alpha Dog, Yuma
Jun 6, 2008
Killer Good Foster
Actor Ben Foster has quietly been making his way up the Hollywood ladder, giving compelling performance after performance. He is probably best know for playing psycho killer characters, most recently in the Western 3:10 To Yuma, but what’s most impressive about Foster as an actor is how he’s played those characters. To most moviegoers Foster is likely still at “Oh, that guy” status, but it shouldn’t be much longer before he ascends to a higher notoriety.
Hostage
Foster played Mars Krupcheck in Hostage (the Bruce Willis-headlined kidnapping thriller) with a perverse gleam in his eye and a macabre sensibility. The film itself was generally received as mediocre (it’s listed at 34% on critic tracker rottentomatoes.com), but Foster’s performance in it stands out as one of the few reasons to see the film.
Alpha Dog
In another Bruce Willis film, Alpha Dog, Foster played violent Jewish neo-Nazi Jake Mazursky. Foster amped up his performing style to play the drug-addicted character, his face twitching, hands constantly fidgeting, and body ready to snap at a moments notice. Alpha Dog was another film generally considered only ok (55% on RT), in which Foster’s standout performance was a big reason to see the film.
3:10 To Yuma
Foster’s performance in the Western 3:10 to Yuma represented his bravest acting choices in the vein of psycho killer roles to which he has arguably been typecast. Yuma was a prominent film in which Foster had a large enough role to showcase himself to a mass audience. He surely knew going in that a film starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale would attract attention. But instead of overplaying his character Charlie Prince, the fiercely-loyal sidekick to Crowe’s Ben Wade character/a vicious killer, Foster chose to tone himself down. He was quietly menacing, sometimes oddly comic, his movements almost feline in their grace. Foster’s bold acting choices paid off, as many major critics praised his performance as stealing the movie away from his bigger costars. Variety’s Todd Mcarthysaid of Foster’s performance, “If anyone's going to gain the most, career-wise, from "3:10 to Yuma," it will definitely be Foster, who puts the kind of indelible imprint on this juicy role that, in earlier eras, allowed such thesps as Lee Marvin, Richard Boone, Dan Duryea, James Coburn, Jack Palance, Lee Van Clef, Strother Martin, and others to immortalize themselves in the annals of western villainy." Those are major comparisons, and a big compliment from Mcarthy.
The Future for Foster
It is unclear as of yet to what heights Foster’s star may rise to. But one thing viewers can be assured of is he will never give the same performance twice. With Hostage, Alpha Dog, and 3:10 To Yuma Ben Foster had three roles he could have played exactly the same way. Instead he found ways to make each performance different, yet still menacing and intriguing each time. A very creative and intense actor, Foster has major potential to become a big star.
