PETER BERG Appreciation Thread
After seeing The Rundown (2003) starring The Rock I became interested in who directed it. I enjoyed the movie a lot and have since watched on several occasions. When I found out that Peter Berg had directed it I decided to see what else he had made. To my surprise he had directed very little. Just a few episodes of two TV shows ("Chicago Hope" and "Wonderland") and another film called Very Bad Things (1998). I noticed he had Friday Night Lights in production and decided I would wait for the film to hit DVD before viewing it. When Lights hit the theatres it was recieved with a warm welcome. I bought Friday Night Lights on DVD and enjoyed every second of it. In fact it was one of the better films of 2004. It was also nice to see Berg appear in a small role in Michael Mann's Collateral (2004). He played Fannings (Mark Ruffalo) partner in the film. It was this collaboration with Mann that helped him become attached to direct the forth coming The Kingdom (2006) which has just attached Jamie Foxx to star. I rate Berg films like this (though there are only three):
1.Friday Night Lights (2004) A-
2.The Rundown (2003) B+
3.Very Bad Things (1996) B-
Berg directs The Rock on the set of The Rundown
Peter Berg was born in New York on March 11, 1964. He sooned moved to Chappaqua, New York where he grew up. He frequented plays with parents and seeing those were what inspired to become an actor. He studied Theater Arts and Theater History at Macalester College in St Paul, Minnesota where he also worked as a pizza delivery man.
When he finished school he moved to Los Angeles where he did almost anything to get by. He took odd jobs as a dock worker and even took some production assistant jobs in order to get a better idea of the industry and how it works.
His first "big break" came when a talent agent took notice of him during a play. He soon had a guest spots on such shows as "The Equalizer" and "21 Jump Street". From there he had several roles in some Hollywood films and had his first leading role in the 1989 Wes Craven thriller Shocker. 1994 saw Berg appear in two roles which helped his career: that of the hapless victim of femme fatale Linda Fiorintino in The Last Seduction and the leading role of paralyzed pro football player Dennis Byrd in "Rise & Walk: The Dennis Byrd Story". In 1995 however he secured a starring role in the hit show "Chicago Hope" playing Dr. Billy Kronk (he had appeared occasionally throughout the first season until becoming a lead in the second half).
Berg had always wanted to stretch his abilities and learn new things and like what almost any true actor does after being on a TV show for so long, he wrote and directed some episodes of "Chicago Hope". In 1998 he wrote and directed the black comedy Very Bad Things starring Christian Slater, Cameron Diaz and Jon Favreau. The film was recieved with mixed reviews and did very poorly at the box office. It would be several years until Berg directed another film again.
By 2000 Berg had starred in several films most notably: The Great White Hype (1996) and Cop Land (1997). In 2000 he had created a medical show called "Wonderland" for which he wrote and directed the pilot. The show was cancelled by ABC after two episodes.
After the cancellation of "Wonderland" and starring in the terrible Corky Romano (2001) alongside the unfunny Chris Kattan Berg took a break. He would rebound with a slam dunk.
2003 saw Berg direct the The Rock, Sean Wiliam Scott and Christopher Walken in the buddy comedy The Rundown. The film was recieved with excellent reviews but failed to make a big impact on the box office. The Rundown was praised for the chemistry between The Rock and William Scott, the slick direction and it's great, fresh comedy. The buddy comedy genre had been severly lacking for a few years and this film helped breathe some new life into it. The film also featured a very, very small cameo by Arnold Schwarzenegger which lead many to believe it was a "passing of the torch" from one action icon to the rising action icon.
Sean William Scott and The Rock in a scene from The Rundown
In 2004 the football flick Friday Night Lights was released to tremendous reviews. The filmed was praised on many levels for the direction, the characters and the script and story. Berg was praised for his decision to focus on the characters and stick with story and it's effects on the players rather then make a run-of-the-mill rah! rah! football movie. The film did alright at the box office but like his previous films it failed to pick up a big audience. Berg however did recieved a USC Scripter nomination for his screenplay but lost to Paul Haggis for Million Dollar Baby.
Tim McGraw (R) and Billy Bob Thronton (L) listen as Peter Berg (C) directs them on the set of Friday Night Lights
Berg has proven himself as a capable director/writer and worthy actor. His forth coming projects on the directing side include:
The Kingdom (2006) - A team of U.S. government agents are sent to investigate a major bombing in the Middle East. Produced by Michael Mann. Visit my Fetal Film Report page.
Splinter Cell (2006) - Sam Fisher, an elite Black-Ops agent of Third Echelon, a sub agency of the NSA, infiltrates a group of terrorists. Based on the smash hit Tom Clancy PC game.
The Mission (2007) - Bodyguards for an aging crime boss find their allegiance to one another tested when one of the men breaks ranks.
The Losers (2007) - After being betrayed and left for dead, members of a CIA black ops team root out those who targeted them for assassination.
Bran Mak Morn (2007) - A mythical king forges an alliance of supernatural troops to protect Britain from the Roman Empire. Berg intends to make this his follow-up to The Kingdom.
Mark Ruffalo (L), Peter Berg (C) and Bruce McGill (R) in a scene from Collateral
Berg has met with Tom Clancy and has discussed Splinter Cell with him and he has mentioned before how he loves the spy genre. To me Berg seems like a good fit for this movie and the actors he has tossed around for the lead role of Sam Fisher have been Thomas Jane and Eric Bana. As to whether or not he's seriously considering those two, well... we won't know for sure for a little while.
More info on Peter Berg:
Yahoo! Movies - Peter Berg
IMDb - Peter Berg
*Apologies for any and all spelling/grammar mistakes*
