Ryan Reynolds is finally making a Deadpool movie, and considering I am a fan of both, I am pretty damn excited. Reynolds has said this has been an 11 year wait to get this made, and he's right. I remember the first time a Reynolds-led Deadpool was talked about. It was during press for Blade: Trinity when David Goyer first recommended hims for the role. After a brief, failed effort in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the project finally came together when some test footage leaked on the internet. And just like Deadpool, Reynolds is more than just the smug one-liner machine that lots of critics seem to think he is. These are the roles that prove that in my opinion.
In chronological order
Curtis - Mississippi Grind
In Mississippi Grind, Reynolds plays Curtis, a wandering gambling addict, who has no qualms about losing. He is just in it for the rush. That sense of adventure is what attracts the perpetually down on his luck fellow addict Gerry (played by Ben Mendelsohn). All that recklessness makes for a charming rogue, but it is all just a force field to protect his almost obsessive compulsive need to not commit to anything or anyone.
Buried is Ryan Reynolds one man show. He plays an American contractor working in the Middle East. He is kidnapped, buried in a coffin, and held for ransom. The point of view never leaves that coffin, and Reynolds is forced to construct an entire movie from just his character's personal emotions. It is his panic attacks that build tension, his sadness that reinforces stakes, and his smartass comments (few and far between but strategically placed) that remind us that a fully developed human personality went into the box in the first place.
Mike Connell - Aventureland
Mike Connell is very similar to Curtis in Mississippi Grind. He is a charming rogue hiding deep-seated sadness. He only lacks Curtis' wanderlust. He is a townie who works as a maintenance man for a small local theme park when he isn't playing guitar in one of the many shithole bars. He is a victim of burnt out ambition and is left with tricking teenagers and 20-somethings into thinking he is cool.
Gary, Gavin, and Gabriel - The Nines
Gary is a troubled actor under house arrest after his most recent blunder. Gavin is a struggling TV writer who is losing control of his pilot. Gabriel is an acclaimed video game designer who gets lost in the woods and separated from his family after his car breaks down. They are all played by Ryan Reynolds and represent the same person but in different realities. Despite their names starting with G and all having jobs in a creative field, they have little in common, which allows for Reynolds to create 3 distinct characters and showoff a lot of range.
Richard Messner - Smokin' Aces
Smokin' Aces is not exactly the kind of movie that you would expect a top 5 type of role, but Ryan Reynold's FBI special agent is the emotional center of the movie. It is about a legion of assassins descending on a Tahoe hotel housing a casino stage magician, who is turning state witness against the mob. Reynolds is one of the FBI agents at the center of the attack, and rather than standing strong like any of the one-man-army protagonists like Rambo, he allows himself to be vulnerable: physically hurt and emotionally drained, reminiscent of a more psychologically traumatized John McClane.
