James Rebhorn was unusually good at making an official seem credible and unwelcome. We rate the poker-faced precision of his supporting work, while wishing films had called on him for something other than authority more often.
Fi1m perspective
James Rebhorn’s Mr Trask in Scent of a Woman (1992) is a headmaster whose punctilious manner makes it difficult to relax. We were irritated by him, because his poker-faced certainty makes the exercise of school authority feel so self-satisfied. Martin Brest lets the film run too long, but Rebhorn needs little explanation to establish what sort of man we are dealing with. Al Pacino’s abrasive Frank Slade and Chris O’Donnell’s patient Charlie remain the reason to stay; Rebhorn makes his smaller contribution count.
Roland Emmerich puts that official manner to use in Independence Day (1996), with Rebhorn as Albert Nimzicki, the defence secretary. Rebhorn suits a film which needs its people to be recognisable quickly, even as it takes its time building the menace. We recommend it for that patience and its cheerful cast, with due allowance for a foolish script. His bureaucratic gravity is useful here, though this sort of casting asks him for something we already know he can provide.
His wider recognition came with several film roles in 1992, including the expert witness George Wilbur in My Cousin Vinny (1992). The district attorney Norwalk in Carlito’s Way (1993) and shipping magnate Herbert Greenleaf in The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999) kept him close to professional and social authority. His later television work included recurring roles in Law & Order, White Collar and Homeland. The steady employment is understandable: his precise manner gives such characters credibility before we have decided whether to trust them. It is still fair to wish that so reliable an actor had been given more chances to surprise us.
Our reservation concerns the jobs he was given more than the care he took with them. His unsmiling manner could make a small part register without requiring a larger one, and that is a skill worth noticing. Start with Scent of a Woman for the headmaster, provided there is patience for Brest’s leisurely telling. Then try Independence Day if an alien invasion with more cheer than sense sounds like a reasonable evening.
Biography
James Rebhorn was an American character actor. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 1 September 1948 and died in South Orange, New Jersey, on 21 March 2014.
Rebhorn studied at Wittenberg University and received an MFA from Columbia University. He appeared in over 100 films, television series and plays from the mid-1970s onwards, often in supporting roles as lawyers, officials or authority figures.
His film credits include Mr. Trask in Scent of a Woman (1992), Norwalk in Carlito's Way (1993), Albert Nimzicki in Independence Day (1996), Dr. Larry Banks in Meet the Parents (2000) and Marvin in Real Steel (2011). On television he had recurring roles as Frank Mathison in Homeland and Reese Hughes in White Collar.
