Smart call

A trend I've noticed lately is that of the young eighties star giving into age and delivering a terrific middle-aged performance. Matt Dillon has given a number of terrific performances in his lifetime, but the one I have in mind is Factotum. John Cusack has been a generational star, but he brought out a quiet, interiorized desperation in Grace Is Gone. The latest is Dennis Quaid, who gives a wonderfully weary performance in Smart People, which opens in a few weeks. I re-watched The Right Stuff a week or two ago, and it's amazing to think that the baby-faced hot dog astronaut and this wrinkly, self-focused English professor were portrayed by the same person. Every year there's a performance delivered by a veteran early in the year that Oscar forgets. Joan Allen in The Upside of Anger. Richard Gere in The Hoax, etc. I would love to see this one stick around.