In the light of his passing, today we pay a tribute to a notable everyman: Brian Dennehy. His barrel-chested physique earned the bear of a man a football scholarship to to Columbia, but it belied his love of drama and theater, and he then completed a degree studying dramatic arts at Yale. The emotionally expansive actor had a career that spanned theater, television, and film, and he was lauded in all three areas, using his down-to-earth demeanor and physical gifts to become one of the most beloved and well-respected character actors of his time.
1. ‘Best Seller’ – The Discovery Of Cleve’s Identity
The setup: Best Seller was part buddy-cop drama, part crime thriller, pitting James Woods as hitman, Cleve, against detective Dennis Meechum (Dennehy). Years ago, during a disastrous tragedy in which masked gunmen stole evidence from a police locker, Meechum was stabbed and left for dead. Surviving, he wrote a novel about his experiences and turned it into a side-career while he continued to do policework. Now, Cleve wants to convince Meechum to write a book based on his life as a hitman for a corporate empire. What follows is a road trip for evidence and witnesses as Cleve tries to convince Meechum of the truth of his story. This scene reveals the secret Cleve has been trying to keep from Meechum all along: he was the masked gunman who gave Meechum his near-fatal stab wound all those years ago.
Why he’s so good: Though brief, this scene is the best example of how Dennehy so often perfectly married his hulking physique with his gift for subtlety. A gift of Dennehy’s was the ability to channel an intensity in his stillness, a potential energy that’s used to such great effect in this scene. Though Cleve gets the majority of lines, it’s Meechum you watch to see what he’ll do. Meechum’s quiet is not the quiet of boredom or vapidity, but of a hawk sizing up prey, his fierce intelligence transforming the rocky crags of his face. When the camera cuts to Meechum, with a single, slight raise of the eyebrow, you know that it’s actually he who holds all the cards in this scene, not the fast-talking Cleve. The slightest of smiles says it all: Meechum has already figured Cleve out and is just letting him play out enough rope to hang himself. Cleve might be the one espousing a seemingly deep philosophy on life, but it’s Meechum who is quietly stripping Cleve down to his core as he listens. A true master, Dennehy shifts the entire balance of power before he ever says a word.
2. ‘Tommy Boy’ – Wedding Dance Scene
The setup: Tommy Boy is a cult classic. The hapless, overgrown man-child, Tommy (Chris Farley) is thrust into the spotlight when he unexpectedly has to take over and save the family business that his father, Big Tom Callahan (Dennehy), began. Reluctantly aided by Richard (David Spade), Big Tom’s smart, snide right-hand man, it’s up to Tommy go to on a cross-country road trip to save the business. While this movie is beloved mostly thanks to the late Farley, Dennehy deserves credit for what he brought to the table. It may not have been a huge role, but Big Tom Callahan gave the movie its emotional anchor and foundation and the wedding scene shows exactly why.
Why he’s so good: If the Best Seller clip showed how Dennehy used his bear-like frame to intimidate, then the father-son wedding performance in Tommy Boy illustrates the other way he employed it as an actor. There’s none of the internal intensity here. Instead, Dennehy is expansive and bright. It’s right there in his name: “Big” Tom Callahan. Everything he does is big, but the selling point of this scene is that both he and Farley move in ways you don’t expect big men to move, both agile and light on their feet. Dennehy brings a boisterous joy to the moment that is unexpected. Big Tom is the kind of guy who only has one volume setting – loud – but is so generous and enthusiastic that you can’t help but warm to him. It could have been a throwaway role played for cheap laughs, but Dennehy gave him an emotional nuance that was more than what was likely on the page deserved.
3. ‘The Belly of an Architect’ – “He’s Dead. Died Screaming.” Scene
The setup: Peter Greenaway’s The Belly of an Architect was the purest of Shakespearean tragedies, a departure for Dennehy, who, up to that point, had made his early career on comedies and playing the heavy. While he’d made plenty of movies, he once said, Belly was the first film he’d ever done. Stourley Kracklite, the architect of the title, is invited to Rome to supervise an exhibition set to open. While there, both his health and his marriage deteriorate. Stourley suffers increasingly bad stomach pains and becomes convinced his wife is slowly poisoning him. His paranoia and obsession spiral out of control and push his young, pregnant wife away. Alone and broken, Stourley is diagnosed with stomach cancer and has only a few months to live, as he learns in this scene.
Why he’s so good: Dennehy’s larger-than-life physical presence often undermined his enormous emotional presence. But Stourley Kracklite is intensely introspective, to his detriment. Kracklite’s monologue is the tortured confession of a man realizing his mind has turned on him like a knife and ruined all he has. As he speaks of the last days of the anonymous man in the bust, but really speaking of himself, all the pathos he feels comes through in Dennehy’s delivery in a voice both leaden and wistful. It’s a deeply internal sort of monologue. He’s speaking to the doctor beside him, but you know he’s gone away somewhere inside his head, has been broken by the news and retreated inside of himself. It’s difficult for someone of his stature to do it, but Dennehy somehow makes himself small, shoulders hunched, shrinking inward on himself, his physical presence as diminished as Kracklite’s hopes. Dennehy’s devastating performance perfectly captures a man realizing he is responsible for the wreckage of his life and out of time to undo the damage.
4. ‘First Blood’ – Teasle Meets Trautman Scene
The setup: Alright, First Blood isn’t exactly a showcase of acting prowess. It’s not going to win any Academy Awards and the franchise it spawned never will, either. But this movie was Brian Dennehy’s breakthrough role. Dennehy was notable as the overzealous Sheriff Teasle, a mouse to Rambo’s cat who mistakenly thought he was the cat chasing Rambo’s mouse. As the antagonist of the first Rambo film, Teasle spends the entire time trying to bring Rambo to justice out of wounded pride. In this scene, he’s introduced to John Rambo’s former commanding officer, Colonel Sam Trautman. The contrast is clear.
Why he’s so good: First Blood was still rather early on in Dennehy’s career, and he clearly hadn’t yet finely honed his talents or his later command of nuance. But already, you can see the seeds of what made him one of the industry’s most respected and versatile character actors as his career evolved. The early ’80s were a time of transition. The current trend in acting is often to rely on naturalism, subtlety, to appear as if one’s not acting at all. Not so in the 80s, where cadence and delivery were still purposely dramatic, even a little cheesy. Yet, even though there are moments where Dennehy falls into that trap, he outacts fellow character actor Richard Kenna as Trautman precisely because his acting isn’t as obvious. Even as the villain, his everyman demeanor infuses the scene. Where Trautman seems like a fictional character delivering lines purposely designed for maximum dramatic effect, Teasle, thanks to Dennehy, feels like a real person you might meet out in the world. The difference is striking, a tribute to the easy way Dennehy stepped into the shoes of whatever role he played.
5. ’10’ – Drinking Doubles/Cabana Scene
The setup: First off, apologies for the low quality of this clip, but it’s one I really wanted to share. 10 was even earlier in Dennehy’s career than First Blood; he’d only had his first credited role a scant two years before 10 hit theaters. The rom-com stars Dudley Moore, then a star, as George Webber, a composer who is suffering a midlife crisis. He runs away to Mexico, leaving his relationship behind to chase a younger woman who has just recently been married and generally makes one bad decision after another. In this scene, a very young Dennehy plays a sympathetic bartender who spends the afternoon and evening pouring out drinks and letting George vent to him.
Why he’s so good: Dennehy is an extraordinarily generous actor when he’s sharing screen time with someone. He never tries to dominate a scene, which he could easily do thanks to his stature, instead preferring to sit back and play off what the other actor is doing rather than driving a shared scene himself. The sympathetic bartender, Donald (“‘Don’ to my friends and paying customers”) is a perfect role for him in this way. Dennehy’s natural compassion gives the minor role depth. You never once get the sense he’s only humoring George or just playing up faux sympathy in order to coerce George into buying more drinks. His demeanor is so easy and genuine. Dennehy’s laid-back portrayal of the gentle giant is one that quickly sketches a character who enjoys being a sounding board for his guests as much as he likes pouring them cocktails.
