U-571 (2000)
I was a little apprehensive about putting him in the movie because I was doing a very realistic period piece and what I said to Jon was, before the picture, was I said "You have to be twice as good as anybody else because you have to be great for the part and you have to be twice that great to make me forget that you're Jon Bon Jovi."
He's so accessible that the audience watches it and they go, "I believe him. He's credible. I believe him. He's just like me."
He fits into the ensemble of the crew perfectly. He just gets these looks of anxiety and fear in his face that are very pure and very raw. It reminded me in some ways of Christopher Wakins performance in The Deer Hunter. I think that level it's that level of fierce and very intense acting."
I think he will eventually have an audience of people who are fans of him as an actor that may not even know his work as a musician.
I was impressed with the guy. He came in with none of what you would expect. There was no attitude at all. He wasn't a rock star; he was an actor. And he was an actor who delivered. I was ecstatic with his performance.
Yes, before I met him, I did wonder about the wisdom of casting a rock star in the role. But he came in respecting the craft. He came in humbled by the craft. That's a great attitude because it shows that he is taking acting seriously. He didn't show up with any of that rock-star baggage.
He's definitely professional. He came to work and he was ready to work and he seemed really focused to me. I think he always really cared about what he was doing.
All the glitz and all the stardom is just like a piece of sketch paper for him. He deosn't have time for it, I don't think. I think he knows what's important.
Every performance is top notch including Bon Jovi, who does very well in these small roles. Total guy movie with the girls coming in for Matthew,
Bill and Jon. I give it an A.
Most of the performers in 'U-571 have been cast subtly against type, an effect that's only enhanced by the severity of their military haircuts,
and we're held, in scene after scene, by the emotion in their faces: the husky authority of David Keith, the surprising tremulousness of Jon Bon
Jovi (completely unrecognizable without his rock-dandy mane), the prickliness of Harvey Keitel, and the tersely woeful heroism of Matthew
McConaughey.
... Keitel, Noseworthy, and the ever-more-respectable Jon Bon Jovi give solid turns...
The fine actors, well-known enough to draw audiences but not well-known enough to be distracting (it helps that they have anonymous crew cuts), are careful never to break the mood, so that the anxiety of the characters and of the audience become one.
The actors are manly and tough, with Harvey Keitel rock-solid as a loyal enlisted man, and Jon Bon Jovi unexpectedly good as a serious
lieutenant.
But before female movie fans roll their eyes, it needs to be pointed out that Jon Bon Jovi is on deck as one of several seamen worth checking out.
McConaughey and Bon Jovi, known for their looks as much as their thespian talents, do their best in a claustrophobic, chaotic true story of
some Yanks who want to crack Hitler's coded messages to other German subs.
The rest of the ensemble, including rocker Jon Bon Jovi and the perennially reliable Harvey Keitel and Bill Paxton, add solid support.
I was sad to see Jon Bon Jovi's character eliminated so early, I would pay the seven dollars just to watch him eat. Unfortunately, in this picture he doesn't get to really prove himself as an actor, but if you take a look at his other films, he is one to keep close tabs on.
His crew includes always reliable Harvey Keitel (who should get an Emmy nomination for "Fail-Safe," but probably won't) and a suprisingly good Jon Bon Jovi.
Okay, so the film doesn't exactly have the catchiest title in the world, but how could you go wrong with Harvey Keitel and
singer/actor Jon Bon Jovi in the same movie? ... And for all you Jovi fans who want to know how the man makes out in this film,
allow me to put your minds at ease, since he does deliver a pretty decent performance. Of course, things do get a little slippery
when wet, right? (Sorry, but I just had to!)... Little Known Facts about this film and its stars: ... Jack Noseworthy was also
featured in a Bon Jovi video called "Always". Ironically, he co-stars with Jovi in this movie. Jon Bon Jovi's birth name is John
Francis Bongiovi.
McConaughey's steely reserve makes Tyler dull and passive. Most of the other characters are so interchangeable that it's hard
to remember who's been killed and who hasn't. This means actors like Jon Bon Jovi, Paxton, Jack Noseworthy and David
Keith are wasted.
Bill Paxton, David Keith, Jake Weber, Jack Noseworthy and rocker Jon Bon Jovi fill out other roles admirably.
As for Mr. Jovi, he was better than I expected, though he didn't get much of a chance to act.
The characterizations are painted with broad, familiar strokes. Bill Paxton, not playing his usual good-ol'-boy goofus, is a no-nonsense commander who speaks ritualized cliches and almost makes them pass for harsh truths. Jon Bon Jovi, who displayed a wide range in the sadly neglected The Leading Man, has a throwaway role, as does David Keith, remembered from another uniformed role in An Officer and a Gentleman.
Paxton, Harvey Keitel and Jon Bon Jovi fare a little better, but none are given anything meaty to do. Instead, they’re lumped in with the rest of the nameless crew, acting brave, cocky and fearful, respectively.
Nor does he (Mostow) fuss much with his characters, rendering the likes of Bill Paxton and rocker Jon Bon Jovi into just additional jolts of testosterone in this man-in-a-can movie.
Look for an all-cleaned-up Jon Bon Jovi as a sailor whose decapitation was left, ironically, on the cutting room floor.
Paxton and Bon Jovi, two of the name stars in the film, have such tiny parts the only reason they got top billing is because
of their agents. Hell, if you blink, you'll miss Bon Jovi, which may be a good thing as far as some people are concerned,
but I can't see why he bothered to show up for work. He was supposed to be McConaughey's best buddy, but you'd
never know it because you don't learn anything about anybody. They don't even bother to stereotype them, which is usually
the bargain basement of character development.
One of the best things about Mostow's approach here is his casting, because even that's a little unexpected. Everyone seems against type, yet everyone fits.
Dad gummit, if you're gonna feature Jon Bon Jovi and Bill Paxton, USE Jon Bon Jovi and Bill Paxton!!
Yes, you heard right, this movie features Jon Bon Jovi. I didn't know that till afterwards, and was retrospectively very pleased with his performance. Perhaps military characters are right up his alley?
I figured with a great director and an impressive cast including Harvey Keitel, Bill Paxton, Matthew McConaughey, and, of course, Jon Bon Jovi, I expected a lot more than even the face value trailer had to offer.
McConaughey's fellow officers are played by a sterling supporting cast, including Harvey Kietel, singer Jon Bon Jovi, Erik
Palladino and Thomas Guiry, among others.
However, with that said, other than pure adrenaline and fear, there is not much else to U-571. Populated by
barely sketched out archetypal characters, such as Keitel's ever-loyal sidekick and Jovi's emotional skeptic, there really
aren't very many engaging characters in this film. Furthermore, most of the dialogue is purely functional 'technobabble', as
the characters run around and bark phrases at each other such as "Splashes!" or "Blow the ballast tanks!"
In his first time out in an action film, McConaughey hits the right notes of heroism, while Harvey Keitel as a veteran sea dog
and a hard-to-recognize Jon Bon Jovi offer effective support.
It's filled with action, suspense, and A-plus actors...even Jon Bon Jovi! He might give love a bad name, but he helps give
U-571 very good one.
I only found three queries with this film. Bill Paxton, David Keith and Jon Bon Jovi. I thought these guys desereved bigger roles. In the brief half-hour we see them, they were all outstanding, with Jon Bon Jovi (to my surprise) leading the way. But, soon they were gone, and I felt a big part of the film went to.
Other actors such as Harvey Keitel are brilliant but Jon Bon Jovi is the biggest surprise of the film. He does a brilliant job with this film and you're left wondering whether or not that was truly him.
The cast of Matthew, Bill, Harvey, and yes, even Jon Bon Jovi all deliver stellar performances.
Jon Bon Jovi is fourth-billed, but so anonymous as Tyler's buddy that it's difficult to believe this is the same fellow who had such screen presence in John Duigan's underrated 1996 flick The Leading Man.
Granted, the American swabbies are for the most part time-honored types, but the ensemble cast does its damnedest to bring them to life, and succeeds more often than not.
Here, girls we find a smartly coifed McConaugheyho six foot by six foot, and a cleaned up post pubescent Bon Jovi to boot. For this alone see this.
The rest of the ensemble cast (Jon Bon Jovi, Jake Weber, Erik Palladino, Matthew Settle, David Keith, T.C. Carson, Derek Cheetwood, Will Estes, Tom Guiry, Jack Noseworthy and Dave Power) work as well together as a crew would at sea.
The crew is as diverse as you might hope: crusty Commander Mike (Bill Paxton), who is fair but stern; colourful Chief Klough (Harvey Keitel), who acknowledges that, "I'm a sea dog who needs some salt soon;" Lieut. Pete Emmett (Jon Bon Jovi), the face of angry American innocence.
And, surprisingly enough, Jon Bon Jovi is actually halfway decent in his brief screen time.
Also of note are some familiar-though-skin-headed faces: Matthew McConaughey, Harvey Keitel, Bill Paxton, and Jon Bon Jovi all don their best sailing togs for this adventure -- and do a fine job I might add.
He's (Jon Bon Jovi) not an awful actor, but he had a relentlessly dull part. I remember his lines in the beginning - Olivier wouldn't be able to wring anything interesting out of all these yes-sirs and no-sirs.
If efficiency experts evaluated movies, the cast would receive high marks. |
Matthew McConaughey (in a horrendous haircut) leads a strong cast of familiar faces and up-and-comers who inhabit underwritten roles as
best they can. 
Also aboard are Harvey Keitel, in a rare subordinate role, as a scrappy old sea dog named Chief and Jon Bon Jovi, who
blends into the scenery as a lieutenant named Pete. None of these ensemble performances stands out, because we aren't
given enough backstory on what makes the men tick or what makes them crack. 
It's a good thing that the film focuses on action and strategy, because its characterization and paint-by-numbers structure
almost sink this latest onscreen example of grace under pressure. There's Lt. Pete Emmett, for instance, played by rock star
Jon Bon Jovi. Is Bon Jovi a good actor? It's difficult to tell here, as he's forced to play a character defined almost entirely by
his function as a crewmember. 
Scoring points in smaller roles are Brian Keith as the Marine leading the capture of the German U-Boat, and a surprisingly good Jon Bon Jovi as a fellow crew member (I've NEVER liked Jon Bon Jovi's music, but he is a good actor). But the whole cast are all in top form.