Adam Goldberg makes nervous, argumentative men worth listening to, even when they would be difficult company. We value him most in ensembles, where his dry humour and intensity keep a supporting character from becoming anonymous.
Fi1m perspective
In Dazed and Confused (1993), Adam Goldberg’s Mike Newhouse brings a neurotic student’s unease to Richard Linklater’s last-day-of-school celebrations. Goldberg is good at making that sort of person worth our attention without insisting that we like him. His dry humour fits a comedy that finds cruelty beneath the fun, and his intensity helps keep the ensemble from becoming too cosy. We recommend the film warmly despite its occasional wandering; this is the sort of company in which his supporting work makes sense.
That breakthrough was followed by the career-making part of Private Mellish in Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan (1998). Mellish is tough and wise-cracking, another character whose sharpness matters within a group, though here the circumstances are considerably harsher. We were frightened and exhausted by Spielberg’s combat sequences, which make the soldiers’ terror difficult to shake. Goldberg contributes to the sense that these are separate people rather than soldiers supplied to fill out a squad. The familiar writing between battles remains a limitation, however persuasive the actors are.
Leading parts have been the exception, including a Jewish action hero in The Hebrew Hammer (2003) and a lead in 2 Days in Paris (2007). Supporting work continued with Duffy Jennings in David Fincher’s Zodiac (2007) and Mr. Numbers in Fargo (2014). We would not judge that career by how often his name comes first. The more useful question is whether a director gives his familiar cynicism something specific to answer, rather than simply asking him to be difficult company again.
The risk is predictability: nervousness and sarcasm cannot do all the work of establishing a character. Linklater’s teenagers and Spielberg’s soldiers give Goldberg people to contend with, and both directors find a useful place for his intensity. Neither film needs him to carry the evening, but he helps make their groups worth attending to beyond the principal players. Start with Dazed and Confused; Saving Private Ryan needs a stronger stomach.
Biography
Adam Goldberg is an American actor. Born on 25 October 1970 in Santa Monica, California, he attended Sarah Lawrence College and studied acting at the Lee Strasberg Institute in Los Angeles.
Goldberg's early film roles include Mike in Dazed and Confused (1993) and Private Stanley Mellish in Saving Private Ryan (1998). He has appeared in supporting parts in films such as A Beautiful Mind (2001), How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days (2003), Zodiac (2007) and Déjà Vu (2006), and in television series including Friends (as Eddie Menuek), Fargo (as Mr Numbers) and The Equalizer. He has also directed and written the independent films Scotch and Milk (1998) and I Love Your Work (2003).
Goldberg received Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for ensemble cast performances in Saving Private Ryan and A Beautiful Mind.
