Armie Hammer's polished confidence is most useful when a film gives us reason to question it. We recommend the precise double performance in The Social Network; his more conventional leading roles have been less consistently rewarding.
Fi1m perspective
In The Social Network (2010), Armie Hammer looks certain that he belongs. As Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, he brings a polished assurance to David Fincher's bitterly funny drama about people who need to win. We laughed at the twins because Hammer makes their confidence so recognisable and so hard to warm to. The casting makes immediate sense, but the performance has the precision to hold our attention after we have registered how comfortably he fits those parts.
The double role involved a body double and effects, and Hammer learnt to row for it. The finished performance is convincing enough that the mechanics need not occupy us; we can get on with watching two characters. In a film driven by Aaron Sorkin's sharp, occasionally showy dialogue, that lack of fuss is useful. Fincher's film keeps that assurance in perspective because the desire to win is everywhere, and Hammer is allowed to be funny without having to become endearing.
Hammer's breakthrough there led towards the leading roles in The Lone Ranger (2013) and The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), where he was paired with Henry Cavill. The attraction for casting directors is easy to see: he has the height and polished, preppy appearance to look established before he has said much. Yet the early performances could be stiff, with too little to discover beyond that handsome surface. We would not use those vehicles as the strongest case for him.
Call Me by Your Name (2017) offers a more useful development, with Luca Guadagnino directing him as Oliver opposite Timothée Chalamet. The confidence remains, but Hammer allows vulnerability to show through it, giving his rapport with a co-star more importance than his physical presence. That is a promising use of qualities the earlier leading roles did not always put to work. It need not mean that every part should soften him. Start with The Social Network; there is no need to like the twins to enjoy his work.
Biography
Armie Hammer is an American actor. He began his career with guest appearances on television series before taking the title role in the 2008 film Billy: The Early Years. He gained wider recognition for portraying the Winklevoss twins in David Fincher's The Social Network (2010).
Hammer has appeared in films including J. Edgar (2011), Mirror Mirror (2012), The Lone Ranger (2013), The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015), Nocturnal Animals (2016) and Cars 3 (2017). He received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Oliver in Call Me by Your Name (2017). He is the great-grandson of industrialist Armand Hammer.
