Danny DeVito makes selfish men enjoyable company without asking us to excuse them. We rate his comic timing and his ease with an inflated ego, though the films do not always give him enough to do.
Fi1m perspective
In Get Shorty (1995), Danny DeVito's Martin Weir treats every conversation as though someone has arranged it for his benefit. He plays the star's entitlement so easily that he need not strain for a laugh. We laughed at his assumption that everyone should be interested in him, because DeVito gives the vanity no hint of embarrassment. Barry Sonnenfeld sets that ease beside Gene Hackman's effortful bluster and Rene Russo's steadiness, keeping the competing egos distinct. This is the DeVito we recommend: a supporting actor with a precise comic job and colleagues allowed to be funny in different ways.
Taxi (1978–1983) made his name as Louie De Palma, and offers for similarly rough-edged characters followed. His raspy voice and New Jersey accent are useful comic tools, though familiarity can encourage a script to leave too much to the actor. His work has nevertheless moved between broad comedy and darker parts, including the Penguin in Tim Burton's Batman Returns (1992). In Matilda (1996), he played Harry Wormwood and also directed.
He began playing Frank Reynolds in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia in 2006, finding another long-running television role. The supporting film parts have not always been as well served as Martin Weir. Justin Simien's Haunted Mansion (2023) makes him the historian Bruce Davis, mostly there to be frightened. He does that well, but the script keeps stopping to explain itself, leaving a fine cast with uneven amounts to do. We wanted the historian to have more to do, rather than simply more occasions to be afraid.
We do not need every DeVito character to acquire a sympathetic explanation. His willingness to play abrasive men is part of the pleasure, and a good director can trust his timing without making them nicer. Start with Get Shorty, where the conversations justify the company.
Biography
Danny DeVito is an American actor, comedian and producer. He was born on 17 November 1944 in Asbury Park, New Jersey.
DeVito gained prominence for his role as Louie De Palma in the television series Taxi (1978–1983). He has appeared in films including One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975), Batman Returns (1992) and Jumanji: The Next Level (2019), and voiced characters in Hercules (1997) and other animated features. Since 2006 he has played Frank Reynolds in the sitcom It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
As a producer, DeVito co-founded Jersey Films with Michael Shamberg and Stacey Sher. The company produced Erin Brockovich (2000) and Out of Sight (1998), among other films.
