The Projector #85: The Pittsburgh Kid (Patreon)

by Keith Phipps

We lost the great Charles Grodin this week. Here’s the the headline of his obituary in the The New York Times: “Charles Grodin, Star of ‘Beethoven’ and ‘Heartbreak Kid,’ Dies at 86.” I think he would have liked that. A son of Pittsburgh, Grodin studied acting under Uta Hagen and Lee Strasberg and worked as both a writer and director on Broadway. He hosted a talk show and, in his later years, worked tirelessly for causes like the Innocence Project. But his deadpan comedy skills made him an excellent foil for just about anyone you put next to him, whether it was Jeannie Berlin, Robert De Niro, Miss Piggy, or a slobbery St. Bernard.

On screen, Grodin was the consummate foil. Whether playing a harried everyman, a neurotic mess, or a slimeball, he could bounce back anything bounced against him. He often played unlikeable or annoying characters, but he found ways to be charming without cracking a smile, and evoke sympathy (or at least disgusted pity) even as the straying honeymooner making one callous decision after another in The Heartbreak Kid. It’s really a shame that film is now so hard to track down, either on streaming or physical media. In addition to being one of Elaine May’s best films — maybe the best — it belongs on the Mt. Rushmore of Grodin performances next to Midnight Run. (I’ll let you fill in the other two, but do remember the image above and that he played a character who believably falls in love with a felt pig.)

It’s a cliché to say of the dead that we’ll never see their likes again but the cliché applies to Grodin. Some talents are singular, even when the the line between the person and the persona blurs. Beyond Grodin’s other accomplishments, he belongs in the talk show hall of fame for his hostile appearances on The Tonight Show and especially David Letterman’s two talk shows. Was it a bit? Absolutely, but you could watch those appearances and wonder where the shtick ended and genuine annoyance began, even when Grodin showed up with a lawyer to threaten action against Letterman for his insults. Letterman can’t stop laughing but Grodin never breaks. It was deadly serious, this silliness, and acting otherwise wouldn’t work.

There’s no good segue from that to our current episode, which covers Mortal Kombat with a layer of Big Trouble in Little China on top. Also, if you’re watching Mare of Easttown, and have seen at least through episode five, be sure to check out our bonus episode. We’ve got some more cool stuff in the works, including one about an internet-roiling controversy started by our own Scott Tobias.

• And, ahem, it’s the 20th anniversary of Shrek, meaning you can read Scott’s reassessment of its virtues for the Guardian, Tasha Robinson on the charms of the original book, or half of the band Frou Frou on what happens when your song ends up on a hit soundtrack.

• Barry Jenkins’s adaptation of Colson Whithead’s Underground Railroad is out now and it’s great. Here’s Keith Phipps on some key Jenkins shots and Angelica Jade Bastién praising Jenkins’s achievement.