Rest in Peace, Brian Dennehy
Although it’s hardly the biggest news story amid a global pandemic, the death of actor Brian Dennehy was on my mind this morning.
Yes, it bothers me that another great character actor of the silver screen (not to mention his two Tony Award-winning performances on stage) has passed. And yes, it bothers me that another star from my youth has faded (and what that says about my own mortality) But the ultimate injustice—what bothers me most—is that a few outlets had the audacity to describe him simply as “Tommy Boy Actor Brian Dennehy.”
As you may know, I have an affinity for the 1982 Sylvester Stallone movie, First Blood, in which Dennehy plays (what has been described as) an “overzealous” small-town sheriff.
If you’re unfamiliar with the film, a quick synopsis is in order: A Vietnam veteran/Green Beret/former P.O.W./recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor (Stallone) is having a hard time readjusting to civilian life. He’s now a drifter who is hitchhiking through town, looking for a diner, when he runs into Will Teasle (played to perfection by Dennehy), a sheriff who tries to get rid of him by driving him to the next county. When Rambo refuses, he is arrested for vagrancy and roughed up by the sheriff’s underlings, causing him to relive past trauma. He escapes into the woods and a manhunt ensues.
Under pressure, Rambo kills Teasle’s friend and deputy, and Teasle becomes obsessed with capturing or killing Rambo—which only gets him into deeper trouble.
Dennehy’s character has a swagger and attitude that resembles Sensei John Kreese from 1984’s The Karate Kid, but he’s far from a cartoon villain. He gets paid by the citizens of his town to keep it boring and safe, so it’s understandable that he wouldn’t want a lot of disheveled John Rambo types traipsing through his community. There is no indication that he is aware of, or condones, the abuse of prisoners (although he might not be all that interested in finding out). And once Rambo kills Teasle’s deputy and old friend, it’s hard to blame him for escalating the situation against the advice of Col. Sam Trautman (played by the impeccable Richard Crenna), Rambo’s team leader in Vietnam. Trautman offers more rational, if less satisfying, advice (to simply let Rambo walk away and later be apprehended without incident).
Speaking of which, one of my favorite scenes is when Teasle meets Trautman. Both Dennehy and Crenna are now gone, but these were two underrated, heavy-weight character actors giving a clinic. You can watch a clip of it, here.
As you can see, I have spent an inordinate amount of time thinking about this movie.
This is partly because it’s a good movie, but mostly, because it is an underrated one. I am most fascinated by how many people assume that it must be a bad movie without even seeing it.
In a way, the film’s legacy faces the same challenge as Dennehy’s. First Blood lives in the shadow of its more famous and commercially successful sequels—which only obscures the artistic brilliance of the original.
Dismissing First Blood as a “Rambo movie” would be as ridiculous as dismissing Dennehy as merely Chris Farley’s dad in Tommy Boy (as funny as that movie might be).
For anyone who makes a living from a creative pursuit where they do not have complete control of the final product, it is important to realize that a gig you take to put food on the table could one day define your career. If you’re not careful, you lose control of your own narrative.
There’s nothing dishonorable about making a funny movie. But what happens when the thing you do to support your acting habit becomes so popular that it eclipses your more serious work?
Somehow, I don’t think Dennehy, a brawny actor’s actor, would care.
That’s why it falls on the rest of us to remember his artistic genius.
RIP, Brian Dennehy.
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