Jake's love of film - 'That's the performance I look up to'

Yesterday, when discussing Jake Gyllenhaal's influence on the creation and marketing of his friend David Modigliani's film Crawford, we read that Jake identified with the people of this small town - the film clearly reached out to Jake and did what good films are supposed to do and hooked him. Many of us, if asked to name our favourite films, would include at least one film by Jake, probably right at the top of the list, if not filling the entire list or at least a good chunk of it. For me, Zodiac, Brokeback Mountain and Donnie Darko are forever fighting amongst themselves for top spot, with Zodiac perhaps having the edge, at least some of the time.


This made me think about what films Jake has said that he has enjoyed or watched. As a movie actor, one would imagine that Jake is a lover of good movies and a night out at the cinema or in front of a DVD, so here is a look at just some of the films that Jake has mentioned.


At the end of 2007, in Jonathan Ross' review of a year of cinema, Jake and Heath Ledger were amongst the actors who had featured in the show during the year and whose opinions were sought on their favourite movie of 2007. Both Jake and Heath pulled out one film - Once. This film tells the story of an Irish street musician who meets a Czech girl and they immediately bond over their shared love of music. Jake: 'I saw that movie Once. I loved that movie... I just thought it was a brilliant piece of moviemaking', while Heath said of Once: 'It was really sweet.'


When Jake was promoting Zodiac back in February and March of last year - blimey, over a year ago - he appeared on MTV's TRL show. A fan asked Jake which performance by any actor he would like to have given himself. Jake chose Ryan Gosling's Oscar-nominated performance in Half Nelson. This film tells the story of history teacher Dan and his relationship with Drey, 'a 13-year-old student of his who catches him in the bathroom smoking crack after school one day. Drey understands Dan's frustrations with life; she is the child of an overworked single mother whom she barely sees, and spending so much time on her own has made her self-reliant, but also hard on the edges.'


Jake has yet to do a role such as this - one that would challenge the sympathy of his audience, far beyond the almost stone-faced ambivalence of Douglas Freeman and Rendition. It sounds like Jake has it in him and is ready for that challenge.

Another performance that Jake singled out was that of Matt Damon in The Good Shepherd. During promotion of Rendition, Jake frequently mentioned this CIA drama, directed by Robert de Niro, which culminated in the drama of the Bay of Pigs episode.



At the Rendition press conference in LA, Jake even joked that he did his best to copy the best bits from Matt's performance: 'The Good Shepherd actually, which is think - just a little shout out to Matt Damon - that's a pretty incredible performance. More about less he does, the more he does. That's the kind of performance I look up to. So I just tried to copy it.'


Whe it comes to being moved by a film, the two films that Jake has mentioned are his mother's Running on Empty and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which starred Kirsten Dunst and Kate Winslet. Vogue: 'Jake Gyllenhaal, the shambling, sad-eyed indie hipster turned Hollywood leading man, defines his generation through these distinguishing tics: "People who were moved when Kurt Cobain died, slap bracelets, Jenga, CHiPs in syndication." Then there are the movies: The Matrix, Being John Malkovich, Memento, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind—"which is about being able to love and how actually hard it is to really do that. It may be easy for other people, but it's hard for me; I cried like a fucking baby'... 'His mother, the screenwriter Naomi Foner, wrote Running On Empty ("That movie still moves me," her son says. "It always makes me cry").'


On a lighter note, Jake made it clear during the promotion of The Day After Tomorrow that he enjoys a summer blockbuster. 'I liked Twister', he said at the Ice Factory. Jake told IndieLondon that he loved Independence Day: 'I love big movies and I always have. I love watching them. I’ve never been a cineaste, preferring just small, independent films. I love big entertainment movies.' Contact Music: 'Gyllenhaal, 23, is a huge fan of the INDEPENDENCE DAY actor and thinks the wise-cracking action star is a "genius", after being pushed to the limit making The Day After Tomorrow. He says, "Will Smith is my hero. He's a genius, he really is, and you also realise that MEL GIBSON or HARRISON FORD are incredible at this type of thing. It takes a lot of concentration."'


And one of the perks of being a star is that you get the chance to attend the occasional Harry Potter premiere...


This breadth of appreciation and the range of possibilities for Jake's future career, not limited by genre or preconceptions, means we are in for an amazing time, as is Jake.

Includes pictures from IHJ.