The Underrated: Malcolm McDowell

"Now let's make things nice and sparkling clear..." - Alex DeLarge

As amazing as it must have been, one still has to think that a problem with playing a character as inevitably iconic, and with such greatness, as Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange would be that people might always think of you as Alex DeLarge from A Clockwork Orange. I disagree however, as Malcolm McDowell, the actor who infamously played the sadistic and gleeful Alex, is still a great actor. Now, okay, I'm sure people don't all think of him just as Alex and nothing else and know he is a good actor. Therefore he wouldn't be considered underrated, right? Well, if this were true and he were rated to the amount he should be, he wouldn't be starring in Rob Zombie's Halloween "revisions" and guest acting on Heroes. The last big budget movie he was in was Book of Eli, and while good, that wasn't a wholly great movie (and he was only a cameo near the end).

McDowell's portrayal of Alex reminds me a lot of, and probably inspired a lot of, Heath Ledger's portrayal as The Joker. They both play twisted and relentless men of unspeakable violence and unimaginable joy, violence and joy that the actors seem to be taking and putting their own brand on to an untterly convincing effect. After The Dark Knight, Ledger would no doubt have been showered with other big parts (he was even getting some and completed some during filming) had he not died. One would think the same thing would have happened to Malcolm McDowell, who's character and performance were even greater in many ways. This might not have happened because of the backlash against A Clockwork Orange when it first hit the theatres. It was given an X-rating and banned in England after all. Stanley Kubrick, the visionary director behind the movie, soon rejected the movie and McDowell as well after the negative criticism (Stanley you were a master, but you were also a fucking prick sometimes). So instead of getting Shakespearan roles and big name villains afterward, McDowell got Caligula, a movie that started out a historical epic before morphing into a sleazy and tasteless porno that was later known as one of the most bashed and hated movies of all time.

There were good roles after the initial reaction to ACO, like his creepy part in Cat People, a thriller that is all kinds of strange. He's done some cameo work in raunchy cartoon shows like South Park and Robot Chicken. Most notably though, he took the role once dominated by Donald Pleasance: Dr. Sam Loomis from the Halloween series. Though Zombie's retelling of the first Halloween was pretty damn weak, McDowell was great as Loomis because he played a different kind of Loomis. Don't get me wrong Donald Pleasance's Loomis is perfect and my favorite, but he does come across not at all like a doctor and more of a badass version of that standard old guy in horror movies who goes around moaning "You're doomed. You're all dooooomed!!!" McDowell's Loomis seemed like a believeable child psychiatrist. He cared about his patient, but was later opportunistic when time came to make money off of him and write a book. His later transition to Pleasance's style made sense but didn't feel right. So McDowell did a good job as Dr. Loomis not because he played a big hero but because he played a believeable doctor.

A part I am more impressed with is McDowell's portrayal as one of the main villians of season one of Heroes. McDowell played Daniel Linderman, an Ozymandias type of anti-hero who believes destroying New York City can play a part in bringing the world to a state of peace. I found it ironic he played a villain mainly because his power was healing (not very villainous). Still, in the few times Linderman was there he was one of my favorite characters. He had an air of wisdom and knowledge but at the same time was an obvious manipulator. While on his own level of corruption, McDowell brought some subtle nuances of humanity that really worked. He was a fun character on the show. Fortunately he only starred in the seasons that were really cool, as opposed to the ones that were really bad.

The point is the same as any of these posts: why is this guy underrated? He's a great actor who is never given a role big enough or noticeable enough to show that off. I'm looking forward to watching a movie of his from a few years back called Gangster No. 1, in which he plays an older version of Paul Bettany's hoodlum character. Looks very good. Give Malcolm McDowell good roles, he's an old man it's not like he just needs time to blossom. If you don't, then I say great bolshy yarblockos to you!!!

This has been another edition of the Underrated from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.