Kyle MacLachlan

I recently finished watching “Twin Peaks”, and then re-watched “The Doors”.   I have “Dune” and “Blue Velvet” on DVD.  I thought I’d seen the last of Kyle MacLachlan until I started watching “Portlandia” and discovered that he plays the Mayor, just as clueless as everyone else.   Fortunately.

He must have the same idea as Shatner, who told his agent, “put me in as many shows and movies as you can.  I’ll do anything if they pay me.”  Here are what I consider his most memorable roles; for the complete list, consult IMDB.

Dune (Paul Atreides).  For some reason this film gets lots of flak, but I like it.  David Lynch really makes it strange and compelling with his “Twin Peaks” touch.  Another group took a shot at doing “Dune” as a sci-fi miniseries much later and I couldn’t endure more than 5 seconds of it.   To me, this is the definitive version, never mind what Frank Herbert says.   In addition to KM’s first role, this also has Jurgen Prochnow, Patrick Stewart, Sean Young, Max von Sydow, and STING (!!!) as Feyd-Rautha Harkonnen.

 

Blue Velvet (Jeffrey Beaumont).  Another weird film by David Lynch.  Laura Dern, Isabella Rossellini, and the incomparable Dennis Hopper as the psycho bad-ass.  This was the first film I ever saw him in, so I had to adjust to seeing him in “Easy Rider”.  The odd thing about this film is that I couldn’t figure out if it took place in the 50s or in a small town so backwards and stunted that it was in the present but looked like it was in the 50s.  Anyhow.  Messed up, but worth seeing once.  I think I first saw this as a midnight movie at the Hoff Theater at University of Maryland, College Park.

Twin Peaks (Agent Dale Cooper).  If he does nothing else, he’ll be known for this role.  And it’s back for another season (#3) on Showtime.  I could do without his incessant coffee compliments, but hopefully we’ll see what really happened to Cooper.

The Doors (Ray Manzarek).  This time it’s Oliver Stone instead of David Lynch – imagine what the latter would have done with this subject.  With Val Kilmer being over the top as Morrison, everyone else is in his shadow (i.e. Frank Whaley as Robby Krieger, Kevin Dillon as John Dennsmore, and Meg Ryan as Pamela Courson).  I’d say he did a decent job without being superlative or particularly memorable:  Manzarek as the anchor of stability and wisdom to Morrison’s chaos and pathos, better able to do so than Krieger or Dennsmore.  The Doors could not work without Manzarek, regardless of how much they relied upon Morrison for the substance of their music – Apollo to Morrison’s Dionysus, Spock to Morrison’s Kirk.  I still haven’t seen any evidence that Morrison was anything but a conceited, self-centered jerk – however, with the notable exception that he resisted offers to establish a solo band and remained faithful to his comrades.  Arguably that balances out his excesses. (Discuss.)

Sex & the City AND Desperate Housewives.   Remarkably, he was in BOTH of these.  In “Sex” he was Charlotte’s (Kim Davis) quasi-impotent husband.  I say “quasi” because it seems they lifted David Cassidy’s preferences to use here.  When Cassidy was asked why he never dated Susan Dey (who played Laurie Partridge), he responded that “she was too innocent: she lacked that slutty quality I was looking for in girls at the time.”  In “DH”, he was Bree’s second husband, Orson Hodge, which was a whole different mess.

Portlandia. Mayor of Portland.  Just as clueless and dippy as any of Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein’s characters.  Here his context is to constantly be in competition with Seattle.  Imagine Agent Cooper retired and became mayor of Portland.

To be honest, I don’t see an amazing range in his acting or roles, but it’s clear he can switch between straight roles with no quirks or eccentricity, and those which require some touch of those elements.  Whatever role he’s in, you’re drawn into his character without losing sight of the story itself, which is how an actor should be.  I look forward to Season 3 of Twin Peaks, however I might be able to see it.