Tom Waits Week: Tom Onscreen

We’ve talked a lot about Tom Waits’ music this week, but we haven’t gotten into Tom’s acting career. He’s done some movie acting on the side, and as you might expect, he’s gotten some pretty interesting roles. In fact, he plays the devil in Terry Gilliam’s upcoming The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, and he’s rumored to be cast in The Hobbit, which would be absolutely insane. He’s appearing as an engineer in 2010’s The Book of Eli, which stars Denzel Washington in a post-apocalyptic world. I’m excited about this one, because I like the idea that Tom Waits manages to survive the end of the world. But until then, here are a few of Wait’s top film roles.

This list isn’t complete, by any means. Tom has a lot of walkthroughs and cameos as everything from an undercover cop (in The Two Jakes), a hobo (The Fisher King), or a petrified man (The Stone Boy), and then Francis Ford Coppola cast him in nearly every movie he made in the 80’s (The Outsiders, Rumble Fish, The Cotton Club). There’s also a bunch of movies that are near impossible to find now (He’s third-billed in something called Candy Mountain). These are some of his most notable roles.

Down by Law (1986) – Indie director Jim Jarmusch gave Waits a prominent role in his low budged black-and-white movie about convicts on the run. Waits plays Zack, a falsely accused DJ, who escapes with Bob (Roberto Benigni) and Jack (John Lurie). Yes, two of the leads have rhyming names. If that irritates you, it’s only going to get worse. Frankly, I find this movie pretty hard to get through, but Tom is in just about ever scene, and he’s really entertaining to watch. He’s not a great actor here, but he’s interesting.

Coffee and Cigarettes (2003) – Jarmusch spent years making shorts in which two famous people talk to each other at a table. This film collects them, and it’s a real mixed bag. Some of the segments are unbearable and some are legitimately entertaining. Waits stars in a short, shot in 1993, with Iggy Pop. It turns out, Iggy can’t even do that convincingly. His obvious discomfort makes the piece almost unwatchable, but Tom is casual and funny. (I prefer the segment with Bill Murray and RZA, if only because RZA keeps calling him “Bill Murray” when speaking directly to him.)

Mystery Men (1999) – Hard to believe somebody made a superhero parody movie back when nobody was making superheroes to parody. Based on Bob Burden’s Flaming Carrot series, this Mystery Men are a bunch of low-budget wannabe superheroes. Ben Stiller stars as Mr. Furious whose power is to get angry. Also starring are William H. Macy as The Shoveler, who shovels really well, and Hank Azaria as the faux-British cutlery flinger, the Blue Raja. Tom Waits is part of an eclectic ensemble cast along with Janeane Garofalo, Paul Reubens, Greg Kinnear, Eddie Izzard, and Geoffrey Rush. Waits plays Dr. Heller, one of the few characters directly taken from the comics. He’s a scientist who lives in a junkyard and hangs out in nursing homes to meet women. Heller invents the weapons the Mystery Men use, including Canned Tornadoes and Blame Throwers. It’s a small role, but he fits in perfectly to the overall weirdness.

Short Cuts (1993) – Your enjoyment of this movie hinges on how you feel about director Robert Altman. I’m not a fan of his late-period storytelling, so I couldn’t bring myself to watch this three-hour behemoth again. Waits plays Earl Piggott, an abusive drunk, the husband of Lily Tomlin’s character. His few scenes are pretty brutal in their cruelty. The cast won a Golden Globe for Ensemble Performance, so thanks to Short Cuts, Tom Waits is an award-winning actor.

Dracula (1992) – Remember this movie? Imagine watching it today and having all of the 90’s come rushing back at you, as Francis Ford Coppola puts both Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder in a period piece. I remember really liking this movie when it came out, but I was in high school and thus, incredibly stupid. It’s bloated and pretentious, and if it weren’t for Gary Oldman’s performance, it would be impossible to watch. However, Tom Waits provides the one legitimately fun part of the entire movie. He has several scenes as Dracula’s servant, Renfield. Renfield’s in an asylum throughout the movie, eating bugs and screaming about his master. It’s pretty awesome. Most of the time, Tom plays characters who are variations on himself, and his acting style is pretty low-key. But here, he’s just completely over-the-top raving mad. Especially notable is the scene where Dracula enters his cell as mist and just beats the hell out of his faithful servant.

Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006) – This is sort of the Holy Grail of Tom Waits roles. In this movie, people who commit suicide end up in a limbo which greatly resembles the real world, only washed-out. Everybody bears the scars of their suicide method, but other than that, they go about their lives without change or resolution. When the trio of lead characters go off to see if there’s anything more to their new world, they meet Kneller (Waits’ character), who runs a campground where casual miracles happen. Waits plays Kneller as personable, yet slightly deranged. There’s a pretty great twist with his character that I’m not going to spoil, but he’s key to the movie. I like this movie, and it has what I think is the greatest few seconds ever committed to film.

See, Will Arnett (Arrested Development) plays Kneller’s rival, The Messiah. That’s right. The best part is that he plays The Messiah as a variation on his AD character, GOB. You know, an arrogant and only moderately talented magician. And here’s what I love. Kneller is searching for his lost dog, who turns out to be in the custody of The Messiah. So there is a very short scene, only a couple of seconds, where Tom Waits and Will Arnett are both trying to win over a friendly dog. This scene makes me laugh so hard, and it’s just a brief little throwaway.

By the way, the other great thing about Wristcutters is that it was released internationally under the title Pizzeria Kamikaze.

Tom also has top billing in something called Bearskin: An Urban Fairytale, but there is very little information available, and I’m half-convinced that I’m hallucinating the IMDB entry. But until I track that down, I’ve still got Tom Waits and Will Arnett fighting over a dog, and that’s all a man can really ask for.