News for today's 2018

Actor James Garner Died

1:58 PM Anonymous 0

<a href="http://www.fortodays.com/2014/07/actor-james-garner-died.html">Actor James Garner</a>, best known for the role of prime-time television as a frontier gambler hilarious on "Maverick" and as an ex-convict turned private detective on "The Rockford Files," has died at the age of 86, celebrity news website TMZ reported on Sunday.<br />
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Garner to build a career of six decades played a character who is rough but attractive, good-hearted, anti-hero. He had received the highest award from the Screen Actors Guild in 2004.<br />
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He was found dead on Saturday night by ambulance officers were sent to his home in Los Angeles.ral<br />
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<b>James Garner</b> (born <b>James Scott Bumgarner</b>; April 7, 1928 – July 19, 2014) was an American film and television actor. He starred in several <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">television series</span></span> over more than five decades, which included such popular roles as <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Bret Maverick</span></span> in the 1950s <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">western</span></span>-<span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">comedy</span></span> series <i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Maverick</span></span></i> and <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Jim Rockford</span></span> in the 1970s <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">detective</span></span> <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">drama</span></span> <i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The Rockford Files</span></span></i>.</div>
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Garner starred in more than 50 films including <i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The Great Escape</span></span></i> (1963), <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Paddy Chayefsky's</span></span> <i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The Americanization of Emily</span></span></i> (1964),<i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Grand Prix</span></span></i> (1966), <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Blake Edwards'</span></span> <i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Victor Victoria</span></span></i> (1982), <i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Murphy's Romance</span></span></i> (1985) for which he received an <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Academy Award</span></span>nomination, and <i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The Notebook</span></span></i> (2004).</div>
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Garner, the youngest of three children, was born in <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Norman, Oklahoma</span></span>, the son of Mildred Scott (née Meek) and Weldon Warren Bumgarner, a carpet layer.His two older brothers were actor <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Jack Garner</span></span> (1926–2011) and Charles Bumgarner, a school administrator who died in 1984. His family was Methodist. His mother, who was of part <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Cherokee</span></span> descent, died when he was five years old. After their mother's death, Garner and his brothers were sent to live with relatives. Garner was reunited with his family in 1934, when Weldon remarried.</div>
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Garner grew to hate his stepmother, Wilma, who beat all three boys, especially young James. When he was fourteen, Garner finally had enough of his "wicked stepmother" and after a particularly heated battle, she left for good. James' brother Jack commented, "She was a damn no-good woman" Garner stated that his stepmother punished him by forcing him to wear a dress in public and that he finally engaged in a physical fight with her, knocking her down and choking her to keep her from killing him in retaliation. This incident ended the marriage.</div>
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Shortly after the breakup of the marriage, Weldon Bumgarner moved to <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Los Angeles</span></span>, while Garner and his brothers remained in Norman. After working at several jobs he disliked, at sixteen years of age, Garner joined the <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">United States Merchant Marine</span></span> near the end of <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">World War II</span></span>. He fared well in the work and with shipmates, but suffered from chronic<span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">seasickness</span></span>. At seventeen, he joined his father in Los Angeles and enrolled at <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Hollywood High School</span></span>, where he was voted the most popular student. A high school gym teacher recommended him for a job <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">modeling</span></span> <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Jantzen</span></span> bathing suits. It paid well, <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">$</span></span>25 an hour, but in his first interview for the Archives of American Television, he said he hated modeling and soon quit and returned to Norman. There, he played football and basketball, as well as competing on the track and golf teams, for <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Norman High School</span></span>.He never graduated from high school, explaining in a 1976 <i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Good Housekeeping</span></span></i> magazine interview: "I was a terrible student and I never actually graduated from high school, but I got my diploma in the Army.</div>
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Later, he joined the <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">National Guard</span></span> serving seven months in the United States. He then went to Korea for 14 months in the <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Regular Army</span></span>, serving in the <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">5th Regimental Combat Team</span></span> in the <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Korean War</span></span>. He was wounded twice, first in the face and hand from <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">shrapnel</span></span> fire from a <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">mortar</span></span> round, and second on April 23, 1951 in the buttocks from <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">friendly fire</span></span>from U.S. fighter jets as he dove headfirst into a foxhole. Garner was awarded the <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Purple Heart</span></span> in Korea for the first injury. For the second wound, he received a second Purple Heart (eligibility requirement: "As the result of friendly fire while actively engaging the enemy"), although Garner received the medal in 1983, 32 years after his injury.Garner was a self-described "scrounger" for his company in Korea, a role he later played in <i>The Great Escape</i><sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; white-space: nowrap;">[</span></span>16]</sup> and <i>The Americanization of Emily</i>.</div>
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In 1954 a friend, Paul Gregory, whom Garner had met while attending Hollywood High School, persuaded Garner to take a non-speaking role in the <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Broadway</span></span> production of <i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The Caine Mutiny Court Martial</span></span></i>,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-17" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate;"><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; white-space: nowrap;">[</span></span>17]</sup> where he was able to study actor <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Henry Fonda</span></span> night after night. Garner subsequently moved to <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">television commercials</span></span> and eventually to television roles. His first movie appearances were in <i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The Girl He Left Behind</span></span></i> and <i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Toward the Unknown</span></span></i> in 1956.</div>
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<span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">He changed his last name from Bumgarner to Garner after the studio had credited him as "James Garner" without permission. He then legally changed it upon the birth of his first child, when he decided she had too many names.</span></span><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 11.666666030883789px; white-space: nowrap;"> </span></span><span style="color: #252525;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px;">His brother Jack also had an acting career and changed his surname to Garner, too. His non-actor brother, Charlie, kept the Bumgarner surname.</span></span></div>
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<span class="mw-headline" id="Acting_career">Acting career</span></h2>
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<span class="mw-headline" id="Maverick"><i>Maverick</i></span></h3>
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With <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Louise Fletcher</span></span> in 1958</div>
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Garner as <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Bret</span></span> and<span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Jack Kelly</span></span> as <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Bart Maverick</span></span></div>
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Garner was closely advised by financial adviser <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Irving Leonard</span></span>, who also advised <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Clint Eastwood</span></span> in the late 1950s and 1960s. After several feature film roles, including <i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Sayonara</span></span></i> with <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Marlon Brando</span></span>, Garner got his big break playing the role of professional gambler <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Bret Maverick</span></span> in the comedy Western series <i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Maverick</span></span></i> from 1957 to 1960. Garner was earlier considered for the lead role in another Warner Brothers Western series,<i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Cheyenne</span></span></i>, but that role went to <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Clint Walker</span></span> because the casting director couldn't reach Garner in time (according to Garner's autobiography), and Garner wound up playing an Army officer in the pilot instead.</div>
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Only Garner and series creator <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Roy Huggins</span></span> thought <i>Maverick</i> could compete with <i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The Ed Sullivan Show</span></span></i> and <i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The Steve Allen Show</span></span></i>. The show almost immediately made Garner a household name. Various actors had recurring roles as Maverick foils, including <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Efrem Zimbalist, Jr</span></span> as "Dandy Jim Buckley," <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Richard Long</span></span> as "Gentleman Jack Darby," <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Leo Gordon</span></span> as "Big Mike McComb," and <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Diane Brewster</span></span> as "Samantha Crawford" (Huggins' mother's maiden name) while the series veered effortlessly from comedy to adventure and back again. The relationship with Huggins, the creator and original producer of <i>Maverick</i>, would later pay dividends for Garner.</div>
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Garner was the lone star of <i>Maverick</i> for the first seven episodes but production demands forced the studio, <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Warner Brothers</span></span>, to create a Maverick brother, <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Bart</span></span>, played by <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Jack Kelly</span></span>. This allowed two production units to film different story lines and episodes simultaneously. The series also featured popular cross-over <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">episodes</span></span> featuring both Maverick brothers, including the famous "<span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Shady Deal at Sunny Acres</span></span>", upon which the first half of the 1973 movie <i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">The Sting</span></span></i> appears to be based, according to <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Roy Huggins</span></span>' <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Archive of American Television</span></span> interview. Garner and <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Clint Eastwood</span></span> staged an epic fistfight in an episode entitled "<span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Duel at Sundown</span></span>", in which Eastwood plays a vicious gunslinger. Critics were positive about Garner and Jack Kelly's chemistry, but Garner quit the series in the third season because of a dispute with Warner Brothers.</div>
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The studio attempted to replace Garner's character with a Maverick cousin who had lived in Britain long enough to pick up an English accent, played by <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Roger Moore</span></span>, but Moore quit the series after filming only <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">14 episodes</span></span> as <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Beau Maverick</span></span>. Warner Brothers also dressed <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Robert Colbert</span></span>, a Garner look-alike, in Bret Maverick's outfit and called the character Brent, but <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Brent Maverick</span></span> did not have a chance to catch on with viewers since Colbert made only two episodes toward the end of the season, leaving the rest of the series run to Kelly (alternating with reruns of <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">episodes with Garner</span></span>).</div>
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When <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Charlton Heston</span></span> turned down the lead role in <i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Darby's Rangers</span></span></i> before Garner's departure from <i>Maverick</i>, Garner was selected and performed well in the role. As a result of Garner's performance in <i>Darby's Rangers</i>, coupled with his <i>Maverick</i> popularity, <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Warner Brothers</span></span> subsequently gave him lead roles in other films, such as <i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Up Periscope</span></span></i> and <i><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Cash McCall</span></span></i>.</div>
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<span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="/" data-file-height="963" data-file-width="767" height="231" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/69/James_Garner_Jack_Kelly_Maverick_1959.JPG/239px-James_Garner_Jack_Kelly_Maverick_1959.JPG" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: none; display: block; margin: 0px auto; vertical-align: middle;" width="185" /></span></span></div>
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With <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Jack Kelly</span></span> in 1957</div>
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<span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-file-height="731" data-file-width="572" height="231" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/James_Garner_Maverick_1960.JPG/235px-James_Garner_Maverick_1960.JPG" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: none; display: block; margin: 0px auto; vertical-align: middle;" width="182" /></span></span></div>
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With <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Suzanne Storrs</span></span> in 1960</div>
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<span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-file-height="829" data-file-width="595" height="231" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/84/Connie_Stevens_James_Garner_Maverick.JPG/215px-Connie_Stevens_James_Garner_Maverick.JPG" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: none; display: block; margin: 0px auto; vertical-align: middle;" width="166" /></span></span></div>
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With <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Connie Stevens</span></span> in 1959</div>
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<span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-file-height="897" data-file-width="719" height="231" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/Diane_Brewster_James_Garner_Maverick_1957.JPG/240px-Diane_Brewster_James_Garner_Maverick_1957.JPG" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: none; display: block; margin: 0px auto; vertical-align: middle;" width="185" /></span></span></div>
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With <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Diane Brewster</span></span> in 1957</div>
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<span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-file-height="921" data-file-width="701" height="231" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/James_Garner_Diane_McBain_Maverick.JPG/228px-James_Garner_Diane_McBain_Maverick.JPG" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: none; display: block; margin: 0px auto; vertical-align: middle;" width="176" /></span></span></div>
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With <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Diane McBain</span></span> in 1959</div>
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<span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-file-height="910" data-file-width="708" height="231" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/James_Garner_Jean_Willes_Maverick_1960.JPG/233px-James_Garner_Jean_Willes_Maverick_1960.JPG" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: none; display: block; margin: 0px auto; vertical-align: middle;" width="180" /></span></span></div>
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With <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Jean Willes</span></span> in 1960</div>
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<span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-file-height="908" data-file-width="758" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/19/James_Garner_Connie_Stevens_Maverick_1959.JPG/250px-James_Garner_Connie_Stevens_Maverick_1959.JPG" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: none; display: block; margin: 0px auto; vertical-align: middle;" width="167" /></span></span></div>
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<div class="gallerytext" style="font-size: 13px; overflow: hidden; padding: 2px 4px; word-wrap: break-word;">
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With Connie Stevens in 1959</div>
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<span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="" data-file-height="856" data-file-width="688" height="200" src="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1b/James_Garner_as_Pappy_Maverick_1959.JPG/241px-James_Garner_as_Pappy_Maverick_1959.JPG" style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); border: none; display: block; margin: 0px auto; vertical-align: middle;" width="161" /></span></span></div>
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With <span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial;">Kaye Elhardt</span></span> in 1</div>
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Actor James Garner, best known for the role of prime-time television as a frontier gambler hilarious on "Maverick" and as an ex-convict turned private detective on "The Rockford Files," has died at the age of 86, celebrity news website TMZ reported o…

2 Guns: 2 droll 2 be taken seriously

6:00 PM Tukiyooo 0

<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><i>2 Guns</i> </b></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>(2013) • <a href="http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/universal/2guns/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">View trailer</a></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b> </b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b>3.5 stars. Rating: R, for violence, profanity and brief nudity</b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #5e5e5e; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><b>By <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/12885694730612878577" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">Derrick Bang</a> • </b></span>Originally published in <i><a href="http://www.davisenterprise.com/" style="color: #27a9c5; text-decoration: none;">The Davis Enterprise</a></i>, 8.2.13</b></span></span></span></span></span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>            <br /><div class="MsoNormalCxSpFirst"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This summer could be subtitled The Revenge of the Comic Book.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Or, perhaps, yet another reminder that imitation isn’t always the sincerest form of flattery.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkA3LFk2Io1tzKM3lLj7F03LQ21jXcQbMcCH5T6fmH8Ll0vO7AsoQFEBiEK-TZawQFyIri6AbTxXtiQkOQJ9mLsNNlcLRSpV6p43OIfSiUlm57fOnlcmXjbBaq3P7L_r6Nen6dHCSfR-c/s1600/2+Guns+blog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkA3LFk2Io1tzKM3lLj7F03LQ21jXcQbMcCH5T6fmH8Ll0vO7AsoQFEBiEK-TZawQFyIri6AbTxXtiQkOQJ9mLsNNlcLRSpV6p43OIfSiUlm57fOnlcmXjbBaq3P7L_r6Nen6dHCSfR-c/s400/2+Guns+blog.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">Bobby (Denzel Washington, left) and Stig (Mark Wahlberg) eye each other warily,<br />navigating serious trust issues, while they wonder what to do with the drug kingpin<br />they've trapped in the trunk of their vehicle. As it turns out, that guy's gonna be the<br />least of their worries...</span></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I don’t refer merely to obvious candidates such as <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2013/05/iron-man-3-ol-shell-head-triumphs-again.html">Iron Man 3</a></i>, <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-wolverine-claws-for-delight.html">Wolverine</a></i> or <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2013/06/man-of-steel-dull-as-iron.html">Man of Steel</a></i>. <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2013/07/red-2-twice-goofiness.html">RED 2</a></i> and <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2013/07/ripd-doa.html">R.I.P.D.</a></i> also are based on graphic novels, and the latter demonstrates the folly of believing that folks will queue up simply because something IS a big-screen adaptation of such a property.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Clever ideas are a great start, but they’re no substitute for a sharp screenplay that understands the need to <i>sustain</i> our involvement for the next few hours. Many of today’s one-shot graphic novels suffer from the same malady that infects numerous movies: a slick one-sentence concept that doesn’t know where to go from Page 3.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Happily, <i>2 Guns</i> — derived from Steven Grant’s five-issue miniseries of the same title — rises above that level of mediocrity. Blake Masters’ screenplay is quite witty, and stars Denzel Washington and Mark Wahlberg get plenty of mileage from their snarky frenemy dynamic. If the core plot doesn’t always stand up to scrutiny, that probably wasn’t high on director Baltasar Kormákur’s goals anyway; he obviously set out to make a pleasurable popcorn flick, with enjoyable results. He achieves a tone that evokes pleasant memories of 1987’s <i>Lethal Weapon</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">As was true with <i>RED 2</i>, we’re not that bothered by whatever propels our central characters, as long as they keep entertaining us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, credit where due, this film’s twisty first act definitely keeps us guessing. If my next few paragraphs seem unduly vague or misleading, blame a desire to preserve at least some of the early surprises.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We meet Bobby Trench (Washington) and Michael “Stig” Stigman (Wahlberg) as they case the Tres Cruces Savings & Loan from a diner across the street in a small Texas border town. Their goal seems decidedly larcenous, but they can’t <i>really</i> be bad guys, because they flirt so coyly with the waitress, and because they’re our stars, fercryinoutloud.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">One flashback later, it appears that Stig and Bobby are trying to set up Papi Greco (Edward James Olmos), a drug kingpin who does his dirty work in Mexico, while leading what seems an ordinary life as husband and father in an upscale Texas community. At least, it <i>seems</i> like this is what’s going down, but the edges quickly get fuzzy; far too many additional players pop up at the fringes of this undercover sting ... if indeed that’s the game in the first place.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><a name='more'></a><br />  <div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Frustrated by an unconsummated drug deal that would have concluded the case, Stig and Bobby invade the aforementioned Savings & Loan, where they believe Papi Greco has stashed $3 million in a safe deposit box. One quick escape later, our astonished buddies realize they've snatched somewhere north of $40 million: a crazy amount of money that rings all sorts of alarm bells.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">And, in the blink of an eye, our heroes are targeted by not just one, nor two, but <i>four</i> sets of adversaries: Papi Greco’s goons; DEA agents led by Jessup (Robert John Burke) and Deb (Paula Patton), the latter having “serious history” with Bobby; U.S. Navy investigators led by Quince (James Marsden); and a seriously nasty group of guys fronted by the psychopathic Earl (Bill Paxton).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">With so many gun-toting thugs on their tail — some of them wearing crisp Navy uniforms — Bobby and Stig begin to wonder if they can even trust each other. This rising paranoia adds plenty of amusing edge to their banter, which grows increasingly wary as each becomes more reluctant to turn his back during a firefight.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kormákur and Masters keep us guessing for quite some time; even when some alliances appear to be resolved, others remain uncertain. The result is a combustible brew that is fueled, throughout, by the well-timed quips traded by Washington and Wahlberg.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Washington remains a fascinating presence in every respect, down to the most innocuous moments; he moves like a panther and adds engaging body language to a simple walk across a room. His tough-guy blankness melts into mocking challenge or amused disbelief, as a scene demands; his guileless sincerity brings more credibility to this nonsense than you’d believe possible.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Point being: Unlike many actors, who would sleepwalk through such fluff, Washington <i>always</i> brings his A-game. And we admire him for it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Washington’s acutely focused Bobby contrasts nicely with Wahlberg’s amiable, language-mangling Stig. Wahlberg plays a guy who looks and acts dumber than he is: a misleading attitude that grants him an advantage more than once. Stig also is chatterbox, his relentless patter yet another means of distracting those around him. Trouble is, Bobby’s never sure if HE’S one of the people Stig intends to distract.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Paxton is memorably chilling as the über-nasty Earl, the sort of smiling, bland-faced killer that movies of this stripe love to serve up. Earl’s affectation involves forcing captured rivals to endure a few rounds of Russian roulette: a gimmick that comes with a speech that hearkens back to Clint Eastwood’s “I know what you’re thinking” monologue, in <i>Dirty Harry</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Marsden proves equally lethal, in a spit-and-polish manner, as Quince; Fred Ward makes the most of his brief appearance as a Navy admiral with a rather distressing means of “settling” some of the issues at hand. Olmos is quite persuasive as the sort of very bad fellow who knows that he never needs to raise his voice, because he’s the most powerful — and deadly — guy in the room.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Patton, so aggressively capable in 2011’s <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2011/12/mission-impossible-ghost-protocol.html">Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol</a></i>, does well with one of this story’s most complex roles. At first she seems little more than exploitative eye-candy, but Deb proves to have hidden depths.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The action dances from one side of the border to the other, and back again. Some of the plot sidebars are needlessly contrived, most notably a pointless detour while Bobby and Stig join a group of Papi Greco’s coyotes, as they herd some illegal immigrants into the United States. This seems a rather blatant — and gratuitous — political statement on Masters’ part.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kormákur burst on the scene with 2000’s <i>101 Reykjavík</i>, made in his native Iceland; more recently, he worked with Wahlberg on last year’s <i><a href="http://derrickbang.blogspot.com/2012/01/contraband-slick-smarmy-and-suspenseful.html">Contraband</a></i>, a slick but otherwise average crime thriller. Although Kormákur has a gift for well-staged mayhem, he occasionally succumbs to irritating “artistic” tendencies, such as the aforementioned flashbacks that interfere with the flow of this film's first act.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Editor Michael Tronick cuts deftly but not intrusively, and keeps the pace lively; cinematographer Oliver Wood adds some grit with occasionally grainy film stock, but wisely doesn’t overuse the effect. I’m also grateful for the fact that, copious gunfire notwithstanding, the results are neither gory nor particularly bloody ... unless, that is, we include the chickens.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">An unrelated factoid I can't resist sharing: This routine action thriller boasts a jaw-dropping 12 producers — or perhaps 24, depending on who’s counting — which begs the obvious question: What the heck did they all <i>do</i>?<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormalCxSpMiddle"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That notwithstanding, <i>2 Guns</i> is ideal summer entertainment: easy on the eyes and brain, with plenty of empty calories to keep us engaged for 109 minutes.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>

2013 action Bill Paxton Denzel Washington Edward James Olmos Fred Ward James Marsden Mark Wahlberg Paul Patton 2 Guns: 2 droll 2 be taken seriously

2 Guns (2013) • View trailer 3.5 stars. Rating: R, for violence, profanity and brief nudityBy Derrick Bang • Originally published in The Davis Enterprise, 8.2.13 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false …