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LA WEEKLY
Drago Sumonja’s exquisite Character is a documentary with a premise and an execution that could not be simpler: Turn the camera on some of America’s most beloved character actors (Dabney Coleman, Peter Falk, Charles Grodin, Sydney Pollack, Mark Rydell, Harry Dean Stanton) and simply let them talk about their lives and careers. Filmed in living rooms and backstage dressing rooms, the conversations crackle with wit, humor and insight that transcend self-promotion on the part of the actors, or mere fawning by Sumonja, though his respect and affection permeates the film. Whether it’s Grodin in winning vinegary form taking aim at the naysayers (acting teachers, industry bigwigs) who will plague an actor’s career or the late Pollack movingly explaining why he acts before segueing into extolling the arts as a means of building character and empathy, the film slowly emerges as something that resonates beyond conversation about acting. Without devolving into the gummy self-help dross that plagues our culture, these men – in terms that are gritty, compassionate and poetic – dish out life lessons on the value of perseverance, hard work and knowledge of self in the face of assorted obstacles. Their own unconventional lives and careers are testimony to the fact that they absolutely know what they’re talking about. (Ernest Hardy)
