The Screen Addict | The Freshman
I remember hearing about the acting legend Marlon Brando before actually seeing him in a film. Without ever having laid my eyes on a single frame of the films Brando starred in, the actor had already been built up to mythical status in my mind, just through what I had read and heard about him.
My first proper introduction to Brando wasn’t through one of the classics like The Godfather (1972) or On the Waterfront (1954), however. It was his bit part in Superman (1978).
Don’t get me wrong – Richard Donner’s genesis of the Superhero genre is undoubtedly a masterpiece, but perhaps not the best way to get acquainted with the oeuvre of Marlon Brando.
It did the trick, though. Brando’s barely 20 minutes of screen time in Superman – for which he reportedly received $3,7 million plus a sizable backend deal – immediately made me want to see everything the actor had ever done.
Much has been written about Brando’s signature roles, but one of my favorites is actually in a smaller film that shrewdly sends up his most iconic performance. In The Freshman (1990), NYC film-school student Clark Kellog (Matthew Broderick) strikes up a friendship with Carmine Sabatini (Brando), a local mobster who bears an uncanny resemblance to Don Vito Corleone.
Admittedly, a High-Concept pitch like this could have easily turned into a low-brow spoof, but writer-director Andrew Bergman instead delivered a smart film that is never disrespectful to its source material. Brando’s involvement obviously plays a big part in this – the legendary actor is clearly committed to having a bit of clever fun with his Godfather persona.
Bergman is one of those filmmakers who had a huge profile during The Eighties and early Nineties, but not so much in the decades that followed. Films like Fletch (1985), It Could Happen to You (1994) and Striptease (1996) were very much a sign of the times, and unfortunately do not fit the contemporary Hollywood-mould.
Revisiting The Freshman immediately made me think of The Score (2001), another “forgotten” Brando performance that deserves more love. In both films Brando’s character turns out to be a con artist (sorry for the spoiler) and there’s just a nice symmetry to it all. I guess I have a real soft spot for this actor – who is, to be fair, mostly known for his prestigious parts – in more lighthearted roles.
I’ve always thought of Broderick as a somewhat undervalued actor. He shot to incredible fame in The Eighties with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986), but most of his later work was decidedly more low-key. Undoubtedly by choice, and I don’t wish to take anything away from smaller, thoughtful films like Election (1999) and You Can Count on Me (2000), but I am still quietly hoping to see Broderick brazenly break the fourth wall again in a Bueller sequel. John Hughes is turning in his grave right now…
Broderick in The Freshman reminds me a lot of Michael J. Fox in The Secret of My Succe$s (1987), another film that meant so much to me growing up. Fox’ Brantley Foster and Broderick’s Kellog are both young, ambitious guys from the backcountry who try to make it on their own in the big city. The films really spoke to me as a teenager, and inspired me to venture out on my own when the time came.
By far my favorite thing about The Freshman is that it features one of the most satisfying twist-endings in film history. I obviously don’t want to give away too much, but let’s just say you’ll never look at gourmet dining in super-exclusive restaurants the same way again…
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Twitter (X): Robin Logjes | The Screen Addict