Jason Bateman was born in Rye, NY, incidentally very close to wear I go to school at Purchase College. The family however moved to Salt Lake City when he was 4 years old. His father, Kent Bateman, is an active director/producer/actor (although moreso during the 80s and 90s) and founded a stage company in Hollywood. Bateman's first appearance was in an episode of Little House on the Prairie in 1981 at age 12, his first break before taking over various other television roles throughout the 80s. It was also during this time that he became the Directors Guild of America's youngest director, directing three episodes of Valerie, a show his father contributed to as well. During the 90s, he struggled with drug an alcohol problems, but his true recent success is probably best linked to his starring role on Arrested Development, a role that would define him as a comedian and eventually push his stardom in film to new levels during the 2000s.
Bateman has done so much work, it's really quite difficult for me to narrow down my favorite of his works. But I'm gonna do it anyway. Here they are! My three favorite performances by Jason Bateman! (And before you get all pissed, I haven't had the time to watch Arrested Development. But I'm sure he's amazing in it.)
1) Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)
This is my earliest memory of Bateman, even though I never realized it was him until early college years. Bateman plays a small role as a sports commentator at the dodgeball tournament in the final act of the film. His lines make absolutely no sense, or are hilariously obvious to everyone around him. It lets the audience laugh at the people around him, who are unsure of how to react to such strange lines and moments from Bateman. It's almost questionable that he's even there. What's he doing? Is he serving as a parody of sports commentators? Is he a random stoner joke? Why is he there? There's no reason. And yet he manages to make it work beautifully.
2) Disconnect (2013)
This was a bit of an unknown movie from last year, only making a bit more than 2 million at the box office and opening incredibly limited. Bateman plays the father of a boy who's cyber bullied by kids in his grade, and the horrible consequences of their actions become a terrifying reality. Obviously, this isn't a funny movie. This is an incredibly sad, tragic, and hurtful film. Bateman's character is skeptical of the situation, thinks something far worse is going on and almost succumbs to madness from his refusal to accept what's going on. It's a wonderful performance, one that I hope could get him some really great roles in the future.
3) Paul (2011)
Gotta love anything from Simon Pegg and Nick Frost! Throw Seth Rogen in there as a foul mouthed grey alien and tons of references to some of the most popular and best science fiction franchises and films, and you have yourself one hell of a funny picture. In this, Bateman plays a government agent tracking the team down to return Paul, the alien, to return him to Area 51. Bateman is equal parts funny and serious, intimidating and ridiculous. It's a great dynamic and a great mix, one that really shows off not only how well he can act but how he can let the people around him define his humor as well.
It only opens limited, but be sure to check out Bad Words, coming out this weekend!
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