"All the Young Dudes"

With the recent and unfortunate death of Heath Ledger, 28, many have been waxing on the strong back catalog of films he left behind. First, I did not realize Ledger was so widely respected as one of his generation's best actors and I sincerely hope this is not a revisionist position taken only because of his untimely end. A glance at his resumé does show some brave choices, though. Most notable, of course, was his performance in Brokeback Mountain, which stands head and shoulders above most of his other work. He also had well-received performances in Monster's Ball, The Patriot, and Candy. His final role as the Joker in Christopher Nolan's Batman sequel The Dark Night has been getting serious buzz as well.

It is certainly a shame to see a young talent burn out before he had a real chance to showcase his skill. One lesson we ought to learn is to appreciate upcoming artists as they build their greatness in front of us, not after they take a downturn or cease to act altogether. So this post is dedicated to the work of another young actor, who happens to be my favorite in his generation and actually shared the screen with Ledger in a 1999 teen comedy, 10 Things I Hate About You: the 26-year-old Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

IMDB hounds and sitcom fanatics might recognize that name as the actor who played Tommy, the scrawny, long-haired teen in NBC's Third Rock From the Sun in the late 90's. I promise you that while this big role relatively early in his career was, at best, mediocre, his recent movies have been absolutely brilliant.

The trifecta of awesome JGL (that's the fanboy acronym for his name) flicks is fairly easy to establish and, I dare say, nearly impossible to beat. They are, in order: Brick (2006), Mysterious Skin (2005) and The Lookout (2007).

Brick finds JGL in a bizzarro high school world of drug dealing and murder where all the characters speak like they're in a 50's noir. The merging of the two worlds is stunning and always entertaining, and I may be reviewing it here shortly. Mysterious Skin features JGL in his most difficult to watch role, as a young man who makes his way into his into gay prostitution. The Lookout, like Brick, trusts JGL to completely carry the movie, this time as a brain-damaged athlete who gets in over his head in a potential bank heist. All three are worth seeing multiple times, whether for their incredible writing or JGL's transcendent acting.

So, as we remember Ledger by rifling through his best roles, let's also revel in the talent of Gordon-Levitt as he reveals his growing greatness film by film.