Raymond J. Barry makes authority convincing, but we value him most as a father who cannot keep hurt out of sight. The repeated casting as tough men can obscure how affecting his vulnerable characters are.
Fi1m perspective
As Earl Delacroix in Dead Man Walking (1995), Raymond J. Barry plays a bereaved father with a vulnerability that complicates his familiar toughness. We were moved by how exposed he seems in his grief. Tim Robbins’s drama occasionally arranges its debate too neatly, but Barry gives us someone whose pain deserves attention in its own right. It is the side of his acting we would put first, ahead of the captains and officials.
His breakthrough as Mr. Kovic in Born on the Fourth of July (1989) had already established his gift for conflicted fathers. The roles that followed repeatedly made use of authority, both paternal and official. That is sensible casting, up to a point: a supporting actor who makes a position of power credible saves a film considerable explaining. Lou Jacobs in Training Day (2001) belongs to that run of ensemble work. The limitation is that a convincing hard man can encourage a film to ask for nothing else.
Falling Down (1993) casts him as Captain Yardley, a representative example of those official roles. Joel Schumacher’s thriller is gripping and darkly funny, with Michael Douglas making its discomfort worthwhile. Our reservation concerns Ebbe Roe Smith’s script, which becomes less convincing when it tries to explain society. Barry’s credibility suits an ensemble in which the leading character attracts most of the attention. There is value in that steadiness, even when the casting holds little surprise.
He takes the lead as Walter Ohlinger in Interview with the Assassin (2002), while the recurring Arlo Givens in Justified (2010) gives him another complex paternal role. Barry groups both among his dangerous characters, distinguishing them from the vulnerable fathers he plays elsewhere. That distinction matters more to us than how large the part is. We would begin with Dead Man Walking for the hurt he lets show, then turn to Justified for the harder company.
Biography
Raymond J. Barry is an American actor known for work in film, television and theatre. He was born on 14 March 1939 in Hempstead, New York, and studied philosophy at Brown University before training at the Yale School of Drama.
Barry appeared in more than seventy-five stage productions, including Broadway and experimental theatre, before moving into screen roles in the late 1970s. His film credits include Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Falling Down (1993), Dead Man Walking (1995), Training Day (2001) and Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007). On television he has appeared in series such as The X-Files, Lost, Justified and 13 Reasons Why. He received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for his performance in Steel City.
