Old News: The Greatness of Goren

10 January 2006

I am so sick of seeing those commercials on TNT that say Kyra Sedgwick plays the "most extraordinary character" on TV today. Baloney! I've seen The Closer (once) and she's OK, but nothing to go berserk over. Sheesh, if you tuned in to TNT last summer, you'd think The Closer was the Second Coming or something, given how hard TNT pushed it.

You want a character? I'll give you one. Check out Vincent D'Onofrio on Law & Order: Criminal Intent. He's my fave actor on TV right now. He plays Det. Robert Goren, and he's this adult "wunderkind" who solves major cases. The guy knows a little bit about practically everything, but what's interesting is how D'Onofrio plays him so ... eccentrically. I'm probably not doing justice to the character with that word, but if you've seen him, you know what I mean. He sometimes appears to be "bumbling" or "weird," like he's roaming [in] a world of his own; his conversation is awkward, stunted, "halting"; his mannerisms and carriage are often unpredictable when he's investigating something or finally cracking the case in the end.

What's interesting about all this, though, is that it's carefully and cleverly calculated and measured, all designed to confuse witnesses and make them give up what they know ("Boo! Made you look!").

What do you think this character does when he goes home? Study? Read? Browse the Internet? Sleep? Maybe he never goes home? We'll never know. Unfortunately, the way the Law & Order shows are constructed, you never get to see the private lives of the detectives. It's all about "the investigation."

If anybody out there knows Vincent D'Onofrio, works with him, knows somebody who knows him, whatever ... give him major props from me. And if you haven't seen his show, check it out.