Cultureshark Remembers Sydney Pollack

By now, you've had ample time to read about the directing career of the late Sydney Pollack, but for me this guy was all about the acting in recent years. He did helm some interesting films and helped shepherd more as a producer, of course, and I will say that it's a shame much of his early work in TV is trapped in the vaults somewhere. I mean, I'd love to see some "Ben Casey" or "Chrysler Theatre," period, let alone the ones he directed.

Also, I want to give a heads-up that his "Essentials" intros for TCM are available on the network's website. I thought Pollack gave the right combination of enthusiasm and erudition while presenting those oft-seen classics, and it's nice to see TCM making the clips available for us.

But let me get back to the acting career of Sydney Pollack, which really seemed to take off in recent years. My friend Mike and I laughed heartily at a review that singled out his "typically oily" turn in one movie, and indeed, the man seemed to have a knack for playing scoundrels of a certain type--no-nonsense guys who had all the cards and weren't shy about letting you know that they did. In fact, right after the death was announced, I checked out the filmography page at IMDB and saw that several posts down on the message board was this subject heading: "How come he always plays a bastard?"

I became a devoted enthusiast of Sydney Pollack on the big screen, giving some mild cheers and pumping my fist at a movie theater when he appeared in the trailer for an upcoming movie. Ever since I enjoyed him in "Changing Lanes," I talked him up and developed a theory that no modern movie could not be improved by an appearance from Sydney Pollack. Mike and I have exchanged many yuks over this sort of thing, enjoying our ironic appreciation of this director with the apparently fruitful actor-for-hire sideline.

Only it wasn't ironic! Pollack really was fun to watch, so much so that he almost tempted me to watch "Will & Grace" to see him. Just look at last year's "Michael Clayton" and remember that in a smart thriller with some real powerhouses in the cast, he arguably stole the movie.

Hollywood is a poorer place without Sydney Pollack's reliable oily bastard character. He will be missed.