{"id":431272,"date":"2022-04-12T19:50:14","date_gmt":"2022-04-12T16:50:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/frailty-is-bill-paxtons-most-underrated-performance\/"},"modified":"2022-04-12T19:50:14","modified_gmt":"2022-04-12T16:50:14","slug":"frailty-is-bill-paxtons-most-underrated-performance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/frailty-is-bill-paxtons-most-underrated-performance\/","title":{"rendered":"#&#8217;Frailty&#8217; is Bill Paxton&#8217;s Most Underrated Performance"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a297df42db1e\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a297df42db1e\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/frailty-is-bill-paxtons-most-underrated-performance\/#%E2%80%9C%E2%80%98Frailty_is_Bill_Paxtons_Most_Underrated_Performance%E2%80%9D\" >&#8220;&#8216;Frailty&#8217; is Bill Paxton&#8217;s Most Underrated Performance&#8221;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9C%E2%80%98Frailty_is_Bill_Paxtons_Most_Underrated_Performance%E2%80%9D\"><\/span>&#8220;&#8216;Frailty&#8217; is Bill Paxton&#8217;s Most Underrated Performance&#8221;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<pre><code>     &lt;span class=\"mx-1\"&gt;Part devoted dad, part contract killer for God, everyone\u2019s favorite character actor found the perfect balance of heart and horror in the Southern Gothic cult classic.&amp;#13;\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<p><\/span>\n    <\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<pre><code>                &lt;figure class=\"sf-entry-featured-<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a> \"&gt;\n            &lt;img width=\"800\" height=\"446\" src=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/bill-paxton-frailty.jpeg\" class=\"articlethumb wp-post-image\" alt=\"Bill Paxton Frailty\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/bill-paxton-frailty.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/bill-paxton-frailty-768x428.jpeg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\"\/&gt;                                    &lt;p&gt;\n                    &lt;span class=\"sf-entry-flag sf-entry-flag-creditline\"&gt;Lionsgate&lt;\/span&gt;\n\n                        &lt;\/figure&gt;\n\n    &lt;!-- START BYLINE --&gt;\n    &lt;div class=\"row align-items-center justify-content-center my-4 text-center medium dark-gray\"&gt;\n        By\u00a0Jacob Trussell\u00a0\u00b7 Published on April 12th, 2022 \n        &lt;\/div&gt;\n    &lt;!-- END BYLINE --&gt;\n\n    &amp;#13;\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<p><em>Acting is an art form, and behind every iconic character is an artist expressing themselves. Welcome to\u00a0The Great Performances, a bi-weekly column exploring the art behind some of cinema\u2019s best roles. In this entry, we examine Bill Paxton\u2019s performance in Frailty.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator is-style-wide\"\/>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>When you hear the name <strong>Bill Paxton<\/strong>, three performances probably come to mind. First is the comic delivery of his character, Hudson, in James Cameron\u2019s <em>Aliens<\/em>, his line \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Game<\/a> over, man! Game over!\u201d becoming almost as iconic as the film itself. The second would be the blood-red grin of Severin, his wickedly jocular southern fried vampire in Kathryn Bigelow\u2019s <em>Near Dark<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>The third performance, however, really depends on you. Maybe you love his leading roles in <em>A Simple Plan<\/em>, <em>Tombstone<\/em>, or <em>Twister<\/em>. Perhaps you\u2019re a bigger stan for his bit parts, like his featured work in <em>Weird <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/sciencee\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"5\" title=\"Science\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Science<\/a><\/em> or <em>True Lies<\/em>. With exactly 100 films to his name, there\u2019s a wealth of performances that illustrate why Bill Paxton is one of Hollywood\u2019s most beloved character actors.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>But as much as I love the bombastic, goofy roles he played throughout the 1980s, for me, his work in the Southern Gothic horror film <em><strong>Frailty<\/strong><\/em> is the underrated Paxton performance that deserves renewed attention. It\u2019s his most quietly moving and unnerving performance, encapsulating the intentionality and care he took in crafting fully realized characters.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Bill Paxton plays the nameless patriarch of the Meiks family. In the middle of the night, he wakes up his two sons, Fenton and Adam, to tell them that he\u2019s received a prophecy from God: he must destroy demons who look and sound like ordinary people. With three tools he believes were given to him by God\u2013a metal pipe, work gloves, and an ax named Otis\u2013he enlists his sons to help him in his demon-slaying crusade. But as the Meiks are pulled further into a world of Biblical horror, Fenton begins to pull away, questioning whether his father has been visited by a heavenly presence or if the weight of being a widowed father in rural Texas has made his mind snap.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>The thin line that Paxton treads in his performance that I find so impressive is how he never loses sight of the emotional core of his character as the horror slowly unfurls. Paxton plays Papa Meiks with a fine mix of stately stoicism and lived-in paternal warmth. From frame one, we can feel the unconditional love he has for his sons, which becomes the central throughline for his character, even after he starts burying demons in the rose garden behind their house.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>That familial compassion is the first thing you\u2019ll notice about Paxton\u2019s character. After coming home from work in his first scene, Papa Meiks sits down with his sons at their dinner table, asking them questions about their school day. When his oldest, Fenton, admits he\u2019s struggling at math, rather than castigating his son for not working hard enough, Paxton\u2019s character finds a way to relate to him, \u201cWell, I was never any good at math either\u2026Tell you what, we\u2019ll sit down this weekend, and we\u2019ll see if we can\u2019t figure that junk out together, ok?\u201d Paxton\u2019s Papa Meiks is purposefully showing us the level of consideration he has for raising his son with moral integrity, showing Fenton the humility and transparency every great man needs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Even after he\u2019s possessed by what God has asked of him, Paxton never divorces his character from the person he was prior to his heavenly visions, which keeps him from becoming a clich\u00e9 of \u201cevil horror dads.\u201d This is accomplished, in part, by Paxton\u2019s thorough commitment to never breaking from the earnestness of his character\u2019s beliefs. In the hands of another actor, Papa Meiks may have been played with a growing blood lust as he becomes consumed by the power he feels as \u201cGod\u2019s Hand.\u201d But Paxton intentionally doesn\u2019t relish the fact that he must destroy demons that look like people. There\u2019s little excitement or eagerness in his voice as he tells Fenton and Adam what they must do. Just a mixture of confusion, fear, and an earnest belief that his actions as the hand of God are just.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>This is perfectly encapsulated in a small moment after Fenton tries to convince Adam that their father is a murderer. As Fenton sits next to his father in their dining room, Paxton <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ears emotionless, giving off vibes no child wants to see on their parent\u2019s faces. But as he turns to look at his son, that energy is instantly shattered in the profound sadness reflected in Paxton\u2019s eyes. Almost holding back tears, he says quietly, \u201cI want you to know I\u2019ve never killed anything in my whole life.\u201d As the scene progresses, the audience can tell Papa Meiks harbors a more sinister secret from Fenton. Still, in this moment, he\u2019s simply crushed by the idea that anyone\u2013especially his son\u2013would believe that he is a heinous murderer.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Even though the audience sees Papa Meiks\u2019 disturbing behavior through Fenton\u2019s eyes, our hearts still bleed for the character. He may have monstrous orders from on high, but Paxton refuses to play him as a monster. There\u2019s no self-awareness or actorly nod to the audience from Paxton that his character is secretly more evil than we could have anticipated. Instead, he plays Papa Meiks unwaveringly straight, allowing the story\u2019s horror to come out of his character\u2019s utter sincerity. It\u2019s as genuinely realistic as it is quietly creepy.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>As Christy Lemire wrote in her review for the <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ourmidland.com\/news\/article\/At-the-Movies-Frailty-7126369.php\">AP News<\/a>, \u201cPaxton is at his scariest when he tries not to be scary. When he looks into the eyes of his frightened children and matter-of-factly tells them, \u201cGod has willed this, and we must obey God,\u201d it\u2019s far more harrowing than any wild-eyed, homicidal raving because he truly believes he\u2019s doing the right thing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Not only is <em>Frailty<\/em> one of Bill Paxton\u2019s most underrated performances, but it\u2019s also his feature directorial debut. What you may not know about Paxton is that he wanted to direct before he became an actor. After being rejected from two of the top filmmaking programs in California, he produced shoe-string budget shorts with friends before finding work in the art department for B-movie impresario Roger Corman. He eventually directed music videos and a handful of short films, one of which aired on <em>Saturday Night Live<\/em> in 1980.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Even though <em>Frailty<\/em> wasn\u2019t a runaway commercial success, critics received his debut feature well, with Roger Ebert <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/frailty-2002\">calling it<\/a> \u201can extraordinary work[\u2026]On the basis of this film, Paxton is a gifted director.\u201d His direction received numerous nominations from various critics circles and film festivals, notably the Saturn Awards, the National Board of Review, and the Chicago Film Critics Association.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>He would direct one more film, <em>The Greatest Game Ever Played<\/em>, before his untimely death in 2017. We\u2019ll never know what Paxton would have created next, but <em>Frailty<\/em> leaves us with a wonderful sense of the talent and artistry he had within him that went well beyond the power of his acting performances.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<br \/>\n&#13;<\/p>\n<p>Bill Paxton is one of the most celebrated character actors the industry has ever seen. With his directorial and starring turn in <em>Frailty<\/em>, he showed us how many tricks he had up his sleeve to create a film performance that can warm our hearts and chill us to the bone.<\/p>\n<p>&#13;<\/p>\n<pre><code>    &lt;p&gt;Related Topics: The Great Performances\n    &lt;!-- AUTHOR BOX --&gt;\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<div class=\"gray-bg p-4 border small mb-5\">\n<div class=\"row align-items-center text-md-center\">\n<div class=\"col-md-2\">\n            <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Jacob-Headshot-2022.png\" class=\"circle img-fluid\" width=\"100px\" height=\"100px\"\/>\n        <\/div>\n<div class=\"col-md\">\n            Jacob Trussell is a writer based in New York City. His editorial work has been featured on the BBC, NPR, Rue Morgue Magazine, Film School Rejects, and One Perfect Shot. He&#8217;s also the author of &#8216;The Binge Watcher&#8217;s Guide to The Twilight Zone&#8217; (Riverdale Avenue Books). Available to host your next spooky public access show. Find him on Twitter here: <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JE_TRUSSELL\">@JE_TRUSSELL<\/a> (He\/Him)        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<pre><code>    &lt;!-- START RECOMMENDED READING 1 --&gt;\n                                &lt;section class=\"recommended py-5\"&gt;\n            &lt;h3&gt;Recommended Reading&lt;\/h3&gt;\n\n\n        &lt;\/section&gt;\n            &lt;!-- END RECOMMENDED READING --&gt;\n\n\n\n\n&lt;\/div&gt;&lt;script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"&gt;&lt;\/script&gt;\n<\/code><\/pre>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/social-media\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Social Media category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/frailty-bill-paxton-performance\/#utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=frailty-bill-paxton-performance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;&#8216;Frailty&#8217; is Bill Paxton&#8217;s Most Underrated Performance&#8221; &lt;span class=&#8221;mx-1&#8243;&gt;Part devoted dad, part contract killer for God, everyone\u2019s favorite character actor found the perfect balance of heart and horror in the Southern Gothic cult classic.&amp;#13; &lt;figure class=&#8221;sf-entry-featured-media &#8220;&gt; &lt;img width=&#8221;800&#8243; height=&#8221;446&#8243; src=&#8221;https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/bill-paxton-frailty.jpeg&#8221; class=&#8221;articlethumb wp-post-image&#8221; alt=&#8221;Bill Paxton Frailty&#8221; srcset=&#8221;https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/bill-paxton-frailty.jpeg 800w, https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/bill-paxton-frailty-768&#215;428.jpeg 768w&#8221; sizes=&#8221;(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px&#8221;\/&gt; &lt;p&gt;&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":431273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/filmschoolrejects.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/bill-paxton-frailty.jpeg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-431272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-mediaa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=431272"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/431272\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/431273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=431272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=431272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=431272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}