Robin Tunney makes a capable, no-nonsense presence count, especially beside Simon Baker in The Mentalist. We recommend their company, with a reservation about writing that too often gives her another disagreement instead of something new to play.
Fi1m perspective
Simon Baker's Patrick Jane enjoys knowing more than everyone else in The Mentalist (2008), and Robin Tunney's Teresa Lisbon gives him someone to play against. Her no-nonsense manner is useful beside a man so pleased with his own cleverness. We were grateful for her steadiness when Jane's charm began to shade into smugness. Tunney is good company here, even when the writing seems chiefly interested in getting back to him.
That dependable television presence came after a less predictable run of film parts. Empire Records (1995) brought her attention as Debra in a teenage ensemble; The Craft (1996) cast her as Sarah Bailey, the lead in a supernatural horror. She took on the independent drama Niagara, Niagara (1997), then studio action-horror opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in End of Days (1999). Prison Break (2005), with Tunney as Veronica Donovan, marked a growing television profile before Lisbon became her longest-running role.
In The Mentalist, created by Bruno Heller, the limitation is how little the relationships are allowed to change. Tunney and Tim Kang, who plays Kimball Cho, give Baker other people to respond to, but recurring disagreements keep doing the work that fuller character development should do. The cases are familiar, and some deductions arrive too easily; the actors supply much of the reason to stay. It is an agreeable programme, and we recommend it with those reservations rather than pretending Tunney has been given all she needs.
Her smaller dramas are worth keeping in view: Open Window (2006) drew on her grounded manner, while Niagara, Niagara required a more intense physical performance. We would like to see that side of her work given as much room as the competent women of the crime programmes. Being persuasive as the sensible woman need not be a permanent assignment. Start with Lisbon for an agreeable evening, but expect to wish the series let her do more.
Biography
Robin Tunney is an American actress. She was born on 19 June 1972 in Chicago, Illinois.
Tunney made her film debut in Encino Man (1992). She rose to prominence with roles in Empire Records (1995) and The Craft (1996). Her performance in Niagara, Niagara (1997) earned her the Volpi Cup for Best Actress. Other film roles include End of Days (1999) and Vertical Limit (2000).
On television, she played Veronica Donovan in Prison Break (2005–2006) and Teresa Lisbon in The Mentalist (2008–2015). She later appeared in The Fix (2019).
