Pima Indian Ira Hamilton Hayes (Tony Curtis) joins the Marines in WWII. He is an ill-fitting outsider and given the nickname Chief by his sergeant. He works to keep up and befriends Pvt. James B. Sorenson. They find themselves on Iwo Jima and a part of the iconic flag raising picture.
The trouble with this movie is that Curtis tries too hard. He's literally blinking his way out of a scene. He can't help but be Tony Curtis. The point of Hayes is that he's a little nobody who got swallowed up by the big lights. That's not Curtis and he doesn't fit the character. That's on top of the ethnicity and playing brown-face. I can certainly understand why he's trying so hard. It's written as a very performative character. It's got big time acting written all over it but it may be better to do less. The most compelling acting is either Jay or the mother. The most heartbreaking scene is the mother reading all the letters. That's a powerful scene and this is a powerful story. It seems that the movie is seeking power from big acting from Curtis when it should find it in the character himself.
The trouble with this movie is that Curtis tries too hard. He's literally blinking his way out of a scene. He can't help but be Tony Curtis. The point of Hayes is that he's a little nobody who got swallowed up by the big lights. That's not Curtis and he doesn't fit the character. That's on top of the ethnicity and playing brown-face. I can certainly understand why he's trying so hard. It's written as a very performative character. It's got big time acting written all over it but it may be better to do less. The most compelling acting is either Jay or the mother. The most heartbreaking scene is the mother reading all the letters. That's a powerful scene and this is a powerful story. It seems that the movie is seeking power from big acting from Curtis when it should find it in the character himself.