In a marketing venture for the upcoming movie “Max Payne”, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation set up a conference call in which I, and other college writers, were able to ask questions to the stars of the film: Mark Wahlberg, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges, and Mila Kunis. All three actors seemed relatively enthusiastic to participate and provided those involved with a great deal of information regarding the film.
“Max Payne” is a neo-noir film based on the PlayStation 2 video game of the same name. While most of the game’s action is based around the trials and tribulations of a renegade cop during a crippling blizzard in New York City, the film seems to depart from the game’s somewhat sullen overtones, in favor of a more action-packed affair.
Mr. Wahlberg, who first rose to fame in the 80’s as an underwear model and “rapper,” claims to have read the script with no knowledge of its video game origins. He was so enthralled by its intensity that he immediately jumped on the project as the film’s title character. Wahlberg stated that on merely aesthetic terms, he seemed to be an odd choice for the part of a middle-aged, chain-smoking detective. However, he has, in the past, been able to fully embrace more challenging and diverse roles. He mentioned that he is always cast as either a hero or anti-hero, but many probably remember his fantastic performance as a firefighter going through an existential crisis, in the film “I Heart Huckabees.” When it comes to tackling tough roles, Mr. Wahlberg is no lightweight.
As to Mr. Wahlberg’s recent public “lash out” against “Saturday Night Live,” the actor stated that he never participated in the show, despite multiple invitations to host from creator Lorne Michaels, because he had no intention of engaging in “buffoonery for free.”
Mr. Bridges took the conference call as an opportunity to promote his new album. However, because he has not made anything artistically viable in roughly 10 years, I’m not going to do him the favor. The man formerly known as Ludacris expressed more genuine interest in the film’s source material than his costars. He pointed out the irony in his playing an internal affairs officer in a film being released at roughly the same time as Guy Ritchie’s new movie, “RocknRolla,” in which Mr. Bridges plays a man on the other side of the law.
Ms. Kunis had to respond to a volley of questions regarding her transition from comedy to action; she plays opposite Mr. Wahlberg as a sort of anti-hero love interest. She commented on the highly energetic atmosphere on the set of the film and even answered a few questions about the new Ludacris album. All three actors seemed genuinely thrilled about the movie’s release. A blockbuster action film being released this late in the year, however, is not a good sign, and may even indicate that the movie is seriously flawed. Nevertheless, Mr. Wahlberg wants you to see the movie, so you probably should, because he has a terrifying voice.
