Of course you’ve seen this guy. He played the boss, a lot. Tootsie, 9 to 5, you name it, Dabney was the go-to guy when you needed a self-serving jackass type who is up to no good. You know…a sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot type.
Well, he did get some other roles. He once auditioned for the role of The Professor in “Gilligan’s Island”, for example. This Austin, Texas native attended the Virginia Military Institute and was drafted into the army, serving in Europe in the mid ’50’s. Somewhere in there, he also managed to study law. That must be where he found out he was funny.
I’ve played good guys and nice guys, but the truth is I’d rather be nasty than nice. The bad guys are always better written and more fun to play.”
Dabney’s Range
A character actor with over 60 films to his credit, Mr. Coleman has range with range to spare. So much range Moby decided to include a picture of it right there, to the right. What range! After starring in a boatload of films, Dabney turned to TV for the last decade or so, and the resume is just off the charts.
It’s hard to choose just two films sometimes, but that’s the whole point here, right? So queue up these two, comedies of course, and enjoy!
Short Time (1990)
A hilarious take on the buddy cop genre, Short Time is a must see for fans of Dabney, or for people who confuse him with Gene Hackman. Yes, you know you do. Dabney plays the role of Burt Simpson, a cop who is only 8 days away from retirement. Being a ‘short-timer’, Burt starts to take it a bit too easy, earning the ire of his partner and his captain, played perfectly by Barry Corbin.
About this time, Burt discovers he has a rare illness that’s going to kill him in mere days, and his insurance policy will only pay if he is killed in the line-of-duty. Wanting to leave something behind for his estranged wife (Teri Garr) and his son, he becomes a reckless ‘super-cop’ hellbent on dying at the hands of a bad guy, any bad guy, just as quick as he can. Lucky for him there is a bad guy named Stark (Xander Berkeley) who just came into possession of some heavy firepower. Stark is played a bit silly, but I guess they were aiming for ‘unstable’. Yeah, that must be it. Still, a cop movie’s gotta have a villain, right?
Detective Burt Simpson thinks he’s got two weeks to live. But if he can get killed in the line of duty, his family will be set for life.”
The movie sets up the premise rather quickly, and there is a bit of melodrama in doing so. But Burt is-a-gonna die! So it’s all good and not so bad. Coleman does a great job, selling the character with a straight face and helping to establish the story arc early on. Too bad the same can’t be said of his partner Ernie, played by Matt Frewer. I suppose they were going for some kind of contrast, but Ernie just comes off as a bit of a slob. But I guess if your doing a cop comedy, there’s gotta be a buddy, eh?
At least Ernie’s not a dog…they did a lot of dog cop comedies back in the 80’s and 90’s, didn’t they? I guess people buy a lot of tickets to see movies with dogs in them, like fish movies. Hmm.
But no worries, no dog here…just your standard fare for a buddy-cop flick. All the bases are covered; there’s the angry captain, the car chase, the villain with superior firepower, the daredevil cop, the hostage negotiation, the shootout in a stairwell….all there. But no dog. Hmm.
Short Time is a definite must-see for Dabney Coleman fans.
The Man With One Red Shoe (1985)
Tom Hanks stars opposite Dabney in this one. The plot centers around two competing intelligence operatives who will do anything to outdo the other. With congressional hearings approaching, the head of the CIA, Ross (Charles Durning), decides to buy some time and waste his rivals resources by leading them on a wild goose chase. He instructs his agents, while being overheard, to expect a secret witness who will give damning testimony to congress and must be stopped at any cost.
The Deputy Director of the CIA, Cooper (Dabney Coleman) instructs his agents to find this mystery witness and find out what these damning secrets are, by any means necessary. This is terrible news for Richard (Hanks), who is picked at random to be the scapegoat…all because he gets off a plane wearing one red shoe. Let’s just say he starts to have a bad week.
Brown: Wouldn’t it bother you to send an innocent man to his grave?
Ross: Are you serious? We’re talking about my career.
As the agents move in, Richard starts to notice signs that things are not quite right, but he has no idea why. Why is everyone at his dentist’s office asleep? Why does he have flush the toilet to turn on the shower? The Man With One Red Shoe is one of those movies about a normal guy who is stuck in the middle of circumstances he cannot control, with everything going from bad to worse. The movie has several memorable scenes, but I don’t want to spoil all the fun for you.
Lori Singer plays the part of Maddy, one of Cooper’s agents and her role is basically being the bait for Richard. Though one of the lesser roles in the film, she really does a great job and kind of ties the whole thing together.
Carrie Fisher, James Belushi, and Edward Herrmann also lend their talents to this comedy caper. A great cast and a good script. I won’t even mention it’s a remake of a French film.
Well, that’s another nights worth of comedies for you to check out. Hope you enjoy ’em!
I love Dabney Coleman. My favorite movie jackass! He’s quite versatile to be honest. He’s still acting at 89 years old. God bless him