No Heroics, Please: Peter Sarsgaard's Method

Hats off to Peter Sarsgaard for his smart, pensive acting. As it turns out, tomorrow is his birthday (b. 1971) and Jarhead, one of his films, is set for DVD release tomorrow, as well. Coincidence or syncronicity?

In any case, Jarhead is one of the better war movies I've seen (and I've seen a lot over the years), despite its being overlooked in recent awards ceremonies. Sarsgaard plays Troy, a sniper in the U.S. Marine Corps during the first Gulf War.

Sarsgaard has chosen a variety of projects, from bleeding edge -- such as his role as psychopathic John Lotter, (complete with "problems with impulse control") in the horrific Boys Don't Cry (1999) and as wealthy dot-com entrepreneur Richard Longman in the sexual psychodrama Center of the World (2001), and most recently in The Dying Gaul -- to notably edgy characters in the more mainstream Shattered Glass (2003), Garden State (2004), and Kinsey (2004). He also plays alongside Jodie Foster in Flightplan (2005).

By way of introduction for those who've not come across his work, see him play it straight in Shattered Glass (in the role of embattled editor Chuck Lane) as he confronts fabricated stories in journalism -- this one is so inoffensive but interesting in content that it can be shown to high school and college classes without reservation.

Sarsgaard comes across in all his roles as intelligent, eccentric to varying degrees, and charming. He is also complex and mysterious, reflecting a Catholic background that eschews easy answers. He is someone to look out for, certainly.