mgbfan

Okay ... so here's how strange my mind is. You'll have to bear with me for the payoff here.

I was sitting in front of the computer here a few minutes ago and for no reason whatsoever, my memory was churning out a scene from The Talented Mr. Ripley. Strange. I really like that movie, but haven't seen it in probably 2 years. I doubt I've thought of it in months.

Taking it back to last night. I had the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie on in the background. Got to thinking the Commodore in the film looked/sounded familiar. Puzzled over it for awhile until I my wife solved the equation (or so I thought): It's Lloyd Simco from FlashForward. The actor's name is Jack Davenport. So I thought that's what my mind was looking for. I was, apparently, incorrect.

Okay now ... tonight I caught a few minutes of Meet the Parents flipping channels. It was the volleyball scene with the plastic surgeon dude (I think father of the groom). And I got to thinking: What's he from? Tried to work it out and came up empty, then promptly forgot about it.

Fast forward a few hours. I'm sitting here and my mind is all at once, for no apparent reason, fixating on The Talented Mr. Ripley, one scene in particular.

I called up IMDB and looked, and sure enough, the actor from Meet the Parents (James Rebhorn) played Jude Law's dad. It appeared to me that my mind had on its own provided me with the answer, but for one odd detail. The scene I was remembering did not include Rebhorn.

So, I was looking at the IMDB page and I realized that Jack Davenport (whose name I did not know before yesterday) was also in the movie as Peter Smith-Kingsley. This is strange part - the scene my mind was running tonight was the final scene where Tom (Matt Damon) is talking to Peter (Davenport) right before the end of the movie.

It seems to me that all along, that's the connection my mind was looking for. I think my question about Rebhorn must have somehow reminded it that it never really got the answer it was looking for with regard to Davenport.

Very strange. At least it was for me.

tylergfoster

I don't know what I can say to add directly to this post, but for a long time, Rebhorn was my "that guy" from "every movie" (a status he officially achieved in my mind when I saw him in Regarding Henry. I believe the sight of him was so amazing to me, it's the reason I stopped watching the movie -- I had to go look it up -- and never finished). Meet the Parents actually got his name into the billing block, which was the point at which I actually learned what his name was.

JumpCutz

He was memorable in a small part in 'The Game', and yeah he's definitely 'that guy'.

bluetoast

For me he first was "the dad from Blank Check"

glassdragon

He's just one of those amazing actors that always sits in the background of your favorite movies, but never actually gets a starring role of his very own. Like William H Macy, he is rarely in anything as the big billed actor, but he is an awesome actor.

Like Paul Giamatti, he got a few, but he never really caught on in Hollywood as a first billed actor (Sideways is the only one I remember him being top billed) despite being a kick ass actor.

E. Honda

Nah, he's the Secretary of War or State or Whatever from ID4. Get it right.

JumpCutz

I get your point but...

William H. Macy and Paul Giamatti are pretty high profile actors, much more so than James Rebhorn.

glassdragon

I know, just examples. I couldn't think of anymore that were any more relevant. I am not as big a movie buff as anyone else on this board so i apologize if that came off wrong. I'm sure someone will come in and give a few examples...

Oh how about the guy from Yes Men who was the lecture person. He is one that I don't know the name of, but he is in tons of shit.

Although I probably fail again with that one. Sorry, I am full of fail tonight lol

JumpCutz

No need to apologize glassdragon. There are tons of character/supporting actors working that I couldn't name either.

GoldenJCJ

I recognize Rebhorn from a lot of movies but he'll always be "that guy from My Cousin Vinny" to me.

dvduser6

And to me he will always be that guy that Michael Douglas meets during his initial visit to the CRS offices in "The Game"...

Groucho

I looked up James Rebhorn in the IMDB. It presented me with a list of movies he HASN'T been in, as that took up less bandwidth.

Ginwen

Like Richard Jenkins, until he got his first lead role and got an Oscar nomination for it.

Ropes Pierre

So people know of whom i am speaking, i often refer to him as the Poor Man's James Cromwell (Babe, Six Feet Under, LA Confidential)

Meglos

To me, he'll always be that evil head dean in Scent of a Woman.

TGM

to me, he will always be Derek, from his two part episode arc in "Kate & Allie"

riotinmyskull

for some reason the first thing that popped in my mind was the dad in BLANK CHECK

Numanoid

That's exactly how I see him, too.

d2cheer

That is the guy I thought it was until you posted this!

mgbfan

Hahahaha. Yes, it's an impressive list.