The Sandlot

Last night as per the usual Sunday routine, I was watching the newest episode of Entourage. And last night as per usual, Piven, playing agent Ari Gold, dazzled and blew me away. The picture to the right here is from his most recent film, Smokin Aces.

If you're at all familiar with Piven's work you know him as the fiery, sarcastic, brash and over the top kind of character. But last night in Entourage, and for the past 3 weeks, I've noticed a change in his character. He has evolved. Much like his role in Smokin Aces, he is now beginning to show some sensitivity and vulnerability. Not enough to the point where he becomes a Hugh Grant or Ryan Gosling, but just enough to make your jaw drop slightly and give you that "wow" moment.

During last night's episode that moment occurred when he broke down in his office while looking at a picture of him and Vince. I also recently watched Smokin Aces and his performance came up in discussion with Ron yesterday; how he nailed to a tee the portrayal of a man totally strung out and off the deep end with guilt and despair. So it got me thinking how awesome he is and how great his career has been.

One of his first works saw him on Seinfeld, playing George in the Pilot Episode in 1993. His big film break came in the 1994 comedy "PCU", sort of an Animal House rip-off also starring David Spade. He had a small role in "Heat" and was also somewhere in "Grosse Point Blank", but I haven't really seen that entire movie so I don't recall his performance.

Then in 1998 came "Very Bad Things," a brilliant role which sees him run the entire spectrum of acting from drunken party boy, homicidal maniac and broken man. After that a smallish role in "Black Hawk Down" which really showed off his versatility.

Then came "Old School", which probably put him on the map for most people in 2003. In Old School we got to see just how big a dick he could be. And finally. as I've already eluded to, 2007's Smokin Aces and the ongoing HBO show Entourage.

The amount of quality films/TV shows Piven has been in is better than most and more than respectable. Seeing him in Entourage at Cake's house 2 years ago is the sole reason I took interest in the show in the first place. So this is my tribute/man crush post to one of Hollywood's finest.

Looking toward the future Piven has another movie coming out this year, The Kingdom, described as "A team of U.S. government agents is sent to investigate the bombing of an American facility in the Middle East." So I look forward to that and his continuing excellence in Entourage.