James Franco on "General Hospital," six lines in
James Franco, movie actor, Golden Globe winner, "Freaks and Geeks" class of 2000, began his guest arc on the extremely long-running "General Hospital" today. It is quite some time since I paid any attention at all to the goings-on in fictional Port Charles, N.Y. These days the landscape is dominated by Italian gangsters of the post-"Sopranos" variety, some of whom are apparently less villainous than others. There are also: a woman who runs or works for an art gallery and her perky assistant; some security specialists of no clear moral convictions; a cop; and a couple of women whose specific roles I could not divine, apart from the sex. There was no hospital in evidence, general or otherwise -- nor any doctors, for that matter, or likely holders of doctorates.
The soap opera is an exceedingly talky medium. Franco -- who, it seems, will be firmly established next week as a famous yet mysterious graffiti artist, named Franco -- had exactly six lines in his debut episode, spread over the hour: "Spare any change?"; "Quickest way to catch cold, Wylie -- always keep your head covered"; "It's open"; "Good"; "Later"; and "They're expecting me." The first was spoken to some mobsters just before a big shootout on the steps of a soundstage-built brownstone. (Afterward, Franco crushed the windpipe of a dying hood with his foot, then rearranged the body.) The second was to a mannequin, on which he placed a cap. And the rest were to a mysterious woman with an English accent who came over to his studio to give him a straight-razor shave and a long kiss. Mostly he lurked, "disguised" as a homeless person, his face half-hidden or turned away. When the camera finally allowed us a good look at him, he did shine like the superior screen presence he is.
It is hard to tell yet just where on the good-evil scale Franco is meant to fall -- actually, it is hard to tell that about any of these characters, a situation I would imagine that more familiarity would only partly relieve. But artists on TV shows are usually some sort of crazy, and all signs so far point to trouble.
-- Robert Lloyd