this is the one that gives williams a pass from me.
he always seemed to have this sad lil smirk whenever he did these serious bits that always got to me
This movie really means a lot to me (read my other comment if you like..) I turned out watching it again when I was like 17 or 18 because I was into Jarmusch and kind of wanted to see Tom Waits in things. I still didn't understand the impact it'd have on my life. It wasn't as fun as Gilliam movies like Time Bandits and Holy Grail, and wasn't as.. I dunno.. "Gilliam" as Fear and Loathing, Brazil, 12 Monkeys.. And here's Williams like this sort of Ignatius J Reilly meets Don Quixote. It wasn't until an event shook my life to its very foundations that I understood it, just like it took Bridges' character to understand for most of the film. I feel comfortable writing about it with you guys even though it's very personal.
Perry is the character you can get behind in this movie, even if it's really about Jack's transformation into a decent human being. (I can watch from that scene to the end of the movie over and over.) There are a lot of actors who could have played Jack -- though Jeff Bridges unquestionably nailed it -- but I cannot imagine anyone else in Perry's role.