Welcome Back Woody (An Ode To Woody Harrelson)

Who the fuck doesn't love Woody Harrelson? He's one of the most under-rated character actors I've ever seen. It always seems he's in-and-our of show business, and America always catches him at the wrong time. Well, I'm here to congratulate Woody on his upcoming films and wish him luck (Zombieland and Defendor). But, most people ask where has he been? Or, you might be sitting there and pondering why the hell I'm talking about Woody Boyd from Cheers. The answer's simple: he's badass. Even when he's not playing an outlaw or psychopath, he always pulls a good performance. I mean, shit, Matthew Mc-allrightallrightallright has built a career attempting to be as charismatic as Harrelson....and it doesn't work. And you know WHY it doesn't work? CAUSE' HE AIN'T WOODY HARRELSON.

And here are the reasons Woody is amazing:

Ok, I'll start off with the obvious. Although most people hate Natural Born Killers, I enjoy it immensely everytime I see it. Sure, Oliver Stone took a brilliant Quentin Tarantino script and screwed him over. And obviously Stone is completely off his fucking gourd. But there's just something about this acid trip on celluloid that is absolutely fun. First-off, Mickey and Mallory Knox are pretty much satan's version of Romeo and Juliet. They drink, smoke, screw, do drugs, kill, and for most of the movie feel no remorse. The characters live under a "the end justifies the means" mentality that Woody revels in while playing Mickey. Say whatever you want about the film itself, and even down it if you will for Stone's off-the-wall direction style, but this role was meant for Harrelson. Up until then, he didn't really have a badass character to play. Most of the time, he was the awkward goofy guy swilling drinks next to Ted Danson. In here he took CONTROL, man, and he made fate work in his court, and got away with it. Nothing spells devil-may-care more than a bloody shotgun and your favorite girl by your side.

The People Vs. Larry Flynt pretty much cemented Harrelson's status as a great actor. Harrelson takes a pretty much unlikeable man, and turns the story into a tearjerker about a man fighting censorship. Obviously, the direction of Milos Forman was at play here, but it's Harrelson that took the film from a biopic about a backwoods porn peddler into a biopic about a tragic hero (or sorts). There's range here. Harrelson grows just as Flynt did during his tumultuous career, and he didn't even wait for the central point in the story to take place. Flynt was portrayed as a man who loved what he did, regardless of exactly what "it" was. It's because of this that I'm proud to put this film on the rundown because it's a very layered film. Sadly, not many people share the same view as I do, but I believe perhaps if the film were remembered slightly better, it could grow to cult status in time. If not for anything else, the story of censorship and Harrelson's acting job is worth seeing it.

By now, the obvious choice would be to talk about White Men Can't Jump, but we all know it's a great film filled with excellent performances.....so, there's really no point to bring it up. Rather, I'd like to turn your attention to a slightly over-looked role:

CARSON WELLS! It doesn't MATTER if Woody was in No Country For Old Men for less than a half-hour! It shows his staying power that he was in the film for a brief amount of time and left an impression with the audience. By being quiet and reserved, we got more of a picture than if he were jumping up-and-down and turning into a killing machine. It was the quiet cool that drug out the small nuances of the performance. Think about it, everybody and their mothers were deeming Javier Bardem as the ultimate badass of the film, and granted.....yes, he was. But then there was the guy YOU forgot about, Carson mo-foin' Wells. It was Wells that had the balls to go after Anton, and it was Wells that came around and already KNEW the situation. Remember now? The hospital scene? Yeah. Stop and go back, look at the film, and then tell me how simple you are if you forgot Harrelson's scenes.

Now, of course, the most logical place to go would be Woody in Kingpin. but, besides being the Farrelly bro's best movie, we already KNOW how hilarious he can be. But here's a comedy you may have missed:

Enter the one and only time I've seen Harrelson tackle physical comedy: Scorched. It's a sort of shotty ensemble piece about four or five characters (three of which are co-workers at the central setting: a bank) and an utter asshole who ruins everything for everyone he comes in contact with played by John Cleese. Harrelson plays a animal loving hippie who has big plans to destroy Cleese and take his large sum of money from his safety deposit box. Cleese apparently killed one of Harrelson's ducks, and ever since, he swore revenge. With this, we see Harrelson battling a small dog, his un-parked car, and even a large metal fence.....and it's hilarious for every second he's on-screen. This proves even more that his versatility is to be admired. If you haven't heard about this one, and chances are you haven't, try to find it. It's on amazon for about $10 (I'll even link it for you, how's that?). Other than Harrelson, it's got a funny story, and overall, it's an enjoyable comedy that doesn't get bogged-down in Hollywood bullshit.

But thusly ends my proof that Harrelson is the man (or...the woman if you're watching Anger Management.....SEE?! A fucking camelion, right?). We should all rejoice that such an actor is still in our midsts. It'd been nice if Woody somehow saw this article one day and got a kick out of it, as somebody needs to remind him how awesome and how appreciated he truly is.