Cary Grant: Never Go Full Drunk.

Cary Grant’s performance of the act of being drunk is A1 stuff. He acutely understands the delicate balance of recreating for an audience a feeling that is both familiar and unfamiliar because it is nor only rooted in emotion, but in actual physical impairment, we know the feeling, but we can’t connect to it because this is not emotion, which is a response, but a provoked response, it may be deep seated but it can be reached and voluntarily initiated. Physical impairment is not really as much a response as it is a lack of one, and when it is ( the case of drugs) it’s the bodies involuntary response. In most cases this is exactly why we shouldn’t have able bodied actors playing disabled roles as it not only has the sting of normative audacity, but it flies in the face of what it is actors do. Put more simply, another good reason physical impairment should not be played is because it inherently requires you to “act” in the most derogatory meaning of the word. Put even more simply in the slightly adjusted words of Robert Downeys actor from “Tropic Thunder” “Never go full Drunk”. There is very little truth in these performances for that very reason, but I digress….Grant understands the idea that the trick with drunkenness a different kind of impairment is to try very hard not to appear drunk, but also understands how it relates and applies itself to his character Roger Thornhill. Alchohol affects people differently , its important to understand who you are sober can be in relation to who you are drunk, but it is also an exaggeration of who you are not necessarily the one you want to count on. Grant decides to slow down Thornhill’s attention while speeding up his focus, because sober Thornhill’s focus is sharp and lingers, but in this state his attention is allowed to roam and be on the go. Cary’s dance background is also put to good use in maintaining his balance while being off balance which gives the perception of drunkenness. Watch how he is kind of spun into the direction of the phone from the bench, this is clearly like a dance , but it’s also part of an effort to be so sure about where he is going. .

Now compare that to this scene from Adam Sandler’s  hit movie Billy Madison….

Again while being drunk, often the importance to each person of appearing to be okay causes a hyper focus on some aesthetics, Sandler instead tries to play up the act of being drunk itself. These are comedic instincts, and though I like Sandler it’s one of the reasons I’m not as big as others on his forays into dramatic roles, hebstill has trouble differentiating how the “asks” are different for each discipline and even in his latest works like Uncut Gems it makes itself known. Anywho in Roger Thornhill’s case Grant decided it was his appearance, and his speech he wanted to focus on, because again he is still who he is, but he's now overly attentive to proving it. The easy choice, the one most actors go for immediately -would've been to slur the words, Grant’s choice is to put an emphasis on everything he says over-enunciating a lot of his vowels, and backing the intent up with unnecessary gestures that are clearly aimed at something but never find their way there, which is a much more authentic idea of drunkenness. The act of being strident about where you’re headed when you really have no clue is a much more interesting approach than simply playing up his character’s obnoxiousness (Sandler). I just want to point out how great this is because so many things even great actors do are not appreciated. This is the work.

Grant’s performance works precisely because it is realistic and it is hilarious and it’s hilarious because its realistic. Choices matter, and there are plenty of great ones made by a great one here. It’s the beginning of the film and it continues to tell us to inform us about whst’s important to Thornhill even when hes impaired, he will be further impaired in various ways during this film but this is what he holds onto, and this is what an actor holds onto to find a role. Detail matters in performance, nothing is to small to be played right, and creatively, and you’d be hard pressed to do better than take a lesson on the art of appearing drunk from quite possibly the greatest movie star in history.