Geoffrey Rush is a conspicuous actor, with a physical wit that suits rogues and eccentrics. We like him most when he gives those people warmth, as in Shine; the theatrical flourishes can also become too much.
Fi1m perspective
In Shine (1996), Geoffrey Rush gives the adult David Helfgott enough humour to make spending time with him a pleasure. There is plenty to notice in the performance, but the eccentricities never account for the whole person. We were moved by Shine because Rush gives us someone to care about quite apart from the musical talent. We value that warmth most in his acting, especially when a part offers so many opportunities to overdo it.
Director Scott Hicks's casting helps: Alex Rafalowicz plays David as a child, Noah Taylor as an adolescent and Rush as an adult. Taylor's vulnerability makes the pressure on David credible, and the changes of actor do not interrupt our sense of who he is. Rush has more to catch the eye, which makes it easy to give him credit for sympathy that Taylor has already earned. The drama takes shortcuts, but this continuity works, and Rush's humour keeps the film interested in David beyond his next performance.
Rush remained primarily a theatre actor until the mid-1990s, with Shine bringing international recognition in 1996. The international films that followed often put his comic timing and physical expressiveness to work in supporting parts. His Philip Henslowe in Shakespeare in Love (1998) fits that pattern; the Marquis de Sade in Quills (2000) offers a more forceful use of his theatricality. His skill at vocal and physical mimicry is put to good use in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004).
The Pirates of the Caribbean films expose the risk of that approach. Rush first played Captain Hector Barbossa in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2003), a roguish part suited to his physical wit. The exaggeration can also become wearing, with too much effort spent making sure we notice the performance. Start with Shine, and resist the temptation to give Rush all the credit.
Biography
Geoffrey Rush is an Australian actor. He played David Helfgott as an adult in the 1996 film Shine.
Rush received an Academy Award for Best Actor for Shine. He has also appeared in the Pirates of the Caribbean series as Captain Hector Barbossa (2003–2017), The King's Speech (2010) as Lionel Logue, and provided the voice of Nigel in Finding Nemo (2003). He won a Tony Award for Exit the King (2009) and a Primetime Emmy Award for The Life and Death of Peter Sellers (2004). Rush is the founding president of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts and was named Australian of the Year in 2012.
