And there we go. Because I will say that as much as I did enjoy it – you should absolutely go and see this – the rest of the cast was sort of mixed results, sometimes surprisingly so.
No bad performances, mind you. Just things here and there that occasionally left me wanting a bit more. But I will admit to sometimes seeing things a bit differently than a lot of people – maybe “oddly” – when it comes to critiquing stuff like this. The audience were into every cue and emotional beat, so… what do I know?
McKean was both an unknown and a pleasant surprise – no idea he was in this until I got the Playbill – who… I wish worked out better? Like, was the part simply made for Alan Arkin or something, and now I can’t see anybody else play it? I dunno, but all I can say is that I couldn’t shake the “uncanny valley” feeling that it felt like McKean playing Levene… playing Aronow? Does that make sense?
McKean – who is a strong strong actor – played Aronow with this meekness that felt unearned. Aronow is clueless, Aronow is pathetic…… but he’s not sympathetic. Levene is sympathetic. He’s going to lose, he’s simply going to lose; you know that from the time you get introduced to him. But you want him to win, somehow. Even though it’s not possible. Aronow is merely a victim of circumstance, but not an altogether sympathetic* one.
*(I think I wanted to use a different word here.)
Going back to BCS, I’m a wee bit surprised that McKean missed the mark a little bit in his interpretation of the character, because I felt like he could have drawn a fair amount from his take on Chuck McGill. There are bits of sadness, a pathetic nature to that character… but you also get the feeling like “Come on… you could free yourself of this, if you really wanted to.”
Again, and I fully concede that this could just be me, McKean’s portrayal was too “Mr Smith Goes To Washington” when it should’ve veered closer to “Fargo”. Think Jerry Lundergaard or Lester Nygaard – those kind of characters where you pity them, but don’t necessarily feel sorry for them.