Tobin Bell makes menace sound patient and reasonable. We value the weary precision he brings to John Kramer, though Saw X also shows how much better he can be than the speeches he is asked to deliver.
Fi1m perspective
In Saw X (2023), Tobin Bell makes the ordinary business of shaving worth watching. His John Kramer has a weary, almost formal composure, and Bell lets us watch him go about his day without insisting that we notice the threat. That low, raspy voice can supply menace on its own, but the stillness gives us something more interesting to watch. He suggests a man who has made his plans and considers any interference unreasonable.
The earlier work was largely in support, including an FBI agent in Mississippi Burning (1988) and the Nordic Man in The Firm (1993). Saw (2004) made Kramer, also known as Jigsaw, his defining part after years of smaller roles in film and television. Sinister, methodical characters became familiar territory, with the risk that recognising the voice would be all a film asked of us. The Saw series has often used him through recordings and flashbacks.
Saw X makes Kramer the protagonist and gives Bell the time to build a fuller performance. Kevin Greutert directs and edits, allowing the opening to proceed patiently before the traps take over. We laughed at Bell and Shawnee Smith's bickering as Kramer and Amanda, because their fuss over practical arrangements sounds like a disagreement between colleagues. Smith gives him someone to negotiate with, and their shared seriousness makes the humour work. This is the strongest acting we have found in the series, although the film around it remains only a qualified recommendation.
Bell prepares his roles with extensive notebooks of questions and backstory, and that care is useful when the writing risks reducing a character to a lecture. Josh Stolberg and Pete Goldfinger's script for Saw X stretches the revenge too far, giving Bell more to say than the film needs. His patient delivery cannot make the repetition worthwhile, and the running time blunts some of the pleasure of having him at the centre. See Saw X for Bell if your stomach permits, and allow for some impatience with the speeches.
Biography
Tobin Bell is an American actor. Born in Queens, New York, and raised in Weymouth, Massachusetts, he is the son of British actress Eileen Bell. He graduated from Boston University and holds a master's degree in environmental science from Montclair State University. He trained at the Neighborhood Playhouse with Sanford Meisner and at the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg and Ellen Burstyn, and is a lifetime member of the Actors Studio.
Bell has worked in film, television and theatre for five decades, with early supporting roles including Mississippi Burning (1988), Goodfellas (1990) and The Firm (1993). He is best known for portraying John Kramer, also known as Jigsaw, in the Saw film series, beginning with Saw (2004) and continuing through Saw X (2023). He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
