Antonio Banderas can charm us without making his characters trustworthy. We value him most when that assurance begins to look misplaced, as in Babygirl, where he gives a mistaken husband dignity without asking for our pity.
Fi1m perspective
In Babygirl (2024), Antonio Banderas plays Jacob as a husband quietly certain that he is a good lover. We felt protective of him, because Banderas makes that misplaced confidence recognisable without making the man ridiculous. Halina Reijn's film centres on Nicole Kidman's Romy, but he gives her husband enough dignity to prevent him becoming merely an inconvenience. This is the Banderas we value most: attentive to a man's weaknesses, with no need to advertise how carefully he has found them.
His work with Pedro Almodóvar began with Labyrinth of Passion (1982), before the early Hollywood stretch of Philadelphia (1993) and Interview with the Vampire (1994). The Mask of Zorro (1998) made physical confidence central to his leading-man appeal, while Puss in Boots put the voice to work in the Shrek films from 2004. Hollywood also had a habit of restricting him to lovers and villains. The return to Almodóvar for The Skin I Live In (2011) and Pain and Glory (2019) matters, particularly the latter's spare, emotionally direct performance.
Steven Soderbergh has found uses for both the charm and the reasons to distrust it. In Haywire (2011), Banderas's bearded Rodrigo needs little time to establish that nothing he says should be believed. The Laundromat (2019) gives his Ramón Fonseca far more space, and his silky amusement is more assured than Gary Oldman's broad playing. Soderbergh's flat, bright photography and Ellen Mirojnick's clothes for men accustomed to getting their way suit him, but the film spends too long enjoying its hosts. Being the more enjoyable host does not solve that problem.
The smaller commercial parts can make us impatient on his behalf. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023) gives his Renaldo a boat and little chance to matter; in Paddington in Peru (2024), Hunter Cabot at least has a moustache and an accent for him to attack. Banderas commits to the gold-minded captain, but Olivia Colman's Reverend Mother supplies more of the comedy. Choose Babygirl for the quieter actor, provided a careful erotic thriller is what the evening calls for.
Biography
Antonio Banderas is a Spanish actor. Born in Málaga, he made his film debut in Pedro Almodóvar's Labyrinth of Passion (1982) and collaborated with the director on several further films, including Matador (1986), Law of Desire (1987), Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown (1988), Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down! (1989) and The Skin I Live In (2011).
Banderas appeared in Hollywood films such as Philadelphia (1993), Interview with the Vampire (1994), Desperado (1995) and The Mask of Zorro (1998). He voiced Puss in Boots in the Shrek franchise and its spin-offs, and played Santiago Moncada in Uncharted (2022). In 2003 he made his US stage debut in the musical Nine, receiving a Tony Award nomination. His later credits include The Laundromat (2019), Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), Paddington in Peru (2024) and Babygirl (2024).
