Robert Davi makes intimidation seem like an ordinary part of a working day. We value the humour he can bring to those tough-guy parts, though a convincing heavy cannot do much with an underwritten character.
Fi1m perspective
Jake Fratelli sings opera in The Goonies (1985), which is more individuality than many screen criminals are allowed. We laughed because Davi gives a tough-guy part a musical accomplishment it has no obvious need for. He is a classically trained baritone, and that helps: the joke has an actual skill behind it. Richard Donner's treasure hunt is noisy enough already, but this is noise that tells us something about a character. It gives us a reason to remember Jake beyond his capacity to threaten.
After Jake came FBI Special Agent Johnson in Die Hard (1988) and the Bond villain Franz Sanchez in Licence to Kill (1989). Television later put him on the side of law enforcement again as Bailey Malone in Profiler (1996–2000). These are useful distinctions within a narrow casting habit. Davi is convincing as a man with authority, and a badge is not essential to the effect. The limitation is how readily that authority can become the whole part.
As Al Torres in Showgirls (1995), he is part of a committed cast let down by thin characters. Paul Verhoeven's appetite for vulgarity gives the backstage drama something to look at, but the repetitive sexual display makes its 131 minutes wearying. The casting cannot fix a script that offers so little reason to care about the people in it. The contrast with Jake is useful: we remember the singing because it belongs to a particular person, while the spectacle in Showgirls keeps taking our attention away from people the writing has scarcely begun to develop. We would not single Davi out for the failure, but there is too little here to recommend the film for him.
Donner makes better use of the familiar casting by allowing a peculiar detail to remain peculiar. The pleasure of Jake is that the singing need not make him softer or explain him away. We would welcome more parts that give Davi that freedom, rather than treating his ability to intimidate as the entire job. Start with The Goonies, if a little uneven pacing and a good deal of shouting are tolerable.
Biography
Robert Davi is an American actor, singer and filmmaker. He was born on 26 June 1951 in Astoria, Queens, New York City, and graduated from Hofstra University with a B.A. in acting.
Davi is known for his role as Jake Fratelli in The Goonies (1985), FBI Special Agent Johnson in Die Hard (1988), the villain Franz Sanchez in Licence to Kill (1989), and Al Torres in Showgirls (1995). He has also appeared in Predator 2 (1990) and The Expendables 3 (2014), and on television in Profiler and Criminal Minds.
Classically trained as a singer, Davi has performed opera and later released albums of Frank Sinatra standards.
