It’s not that Chris Rock hasn’t been in good movies — Dogma and New Jack City are good movies, and I have a soft spot for any time he appears in an Adam Sandler comedy — but I would argue that he doesn’t have a defining role. One that everyone can agree is his best performance. Ask your children, and they’ll say it’s the voice of Marty in Madagascar; ask someone who grew up in the 1990s, and they’ll bring up CB4; ask Jerry Seinfeld, and he’ll rave about Bee Movie. Rock is known as a stand-up comedian, first and foremost, who acts on the side. But he thinks he’s finally found his role.
Rock appears in season four of Fargo as crime boss Loy Cannon, which he told Entertainment Weekly is “the best part I’ve ever done and, honestly, probably the best part I’ll ever have. That’s how it works. Morgan Freeman is in The Shawshank Redemption. He’s amazing. He’s made a kazillion dollars since then. He never got a part that good again.” How dare you, Chris Rock: Freeman was in Olympus Has Fallen. Shawshank has Oscar nominations, but does it have Olympus falling? Didn’t think so.
Anyway, here’s how Rock describes Loy Cannon:
He’s a businessman, he’s a deacon at his church, he’s a loving father and husband, he owns a bank, and he’s also a criminal — he fixes fights and runs numbers and prostitution. He’s always on edge. It’s Tony Soprano-esque.
Rock is joined in season four by Jessie Buckley as Oraetta Mayflower, Jack Huston as Odis Weff, Jason Schwartzman as Josto Fadda, Ben Whishaw as Rabbi Milligan, and Timothy Olyphant as Dick “Deafy” Wickware, all of whom sound like they’re playing Star Wars characters. Fargo returns on April 19.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)
