If you saw "Watchmen" recently you probably liked/feared the oh-so-complicated character of Rorschach. And if you did, you've probably been quoting what quickly emerged as the movie's most famous line, delivered by the mask-wearing antihero in a jailhouse lunchroom to a crowd of frightened inmates: "I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me!" (Cue wild applause from the crowd in our Grove theater.) We ourselves have been saying the line to no one in particular, random friends, and our dogs, who blink with boredom and go back to napping.
The line, and delivery, is true bad attitudeness at its finest. So we must tip our fedora to Jackie Earle Haley, the actor behind the fine performance, and a guy who was famously given a second shot in a town short on second shots. Now word is he's up for Freddy Krueger, which sounds about perfect. We know, from his intense turns in "Little Children" and "Watchmen," that the famous, knife-y handed bad guy from beyond can only be served well by this actor.
But, dear Hollywood, a suggestion: why not, post-"Nightmare on Elm Street" remake, put Jackie Earle Haley in a romantic lead? We think that would be a bold and fantastic choice. Consider Alan Rickman, who played both a truly sublime villain in "Die Hard" and a ghost in love in "Truly Madly Deeply" -- it can work. It can work to take a guy known for playing the heavy and make him heavy with emotion.
Plus, didn't Jackie Earle Haley romance Tatum O'Neal in "The Bad News Bears" way back when? We're just saying.
