Cool Hand Bruce

It is impossible to slot Bruce Willis as a mere lsquoaction starrsquo He is so far away from the SchwarzeneggerStalloneSteven Segallike lsquopunch punch pow pummel pulverisersquo school of actingFrom the moment his character John McClane in lsquoDie Hardrsquo threw a dead body out of the Nakatomi Towers with that immortal lsquoYipee Ki Yay Mother Fu37 line he guaranteed that the action flick would never be the same againmdashthe franchise was set and the genre took a small detourndashit introduced the glib sense of humour to the repertoire of the action starI call it lsquoquip talkingrsquo turning words on a page into wise cracksYou canrsquot actually typecast Willis because in a moment he can change the style of a film armed with his irreverence impishness fallible invincibility not to mention inate charmThe principle is thismdashldquoThis is mehellip I will light my unfiltered cigarette squint my eyes my lips will move a tad left or a tad right to determine grin or grimace and the lines that follow will be delivered with an unmatched brand of sardonic coolrdquoWillis wonrsquot go down as one of the finest actors of his generation but like Harrison Ford he knows exactly how to make cash registers ringWhile the DeNiros and Day Lewisrsquos have lsquoMethodrsquo acted their way to histrionic greatness these two have John McClaned and Indiana Jonesed their path into classic cinemaWhile DeNiro and Day Lewis imbibe the material Willis adlibs itFor a man known to be difficult to work with Willis was in another league when he had an equally skilled craftsman or willing improviser working opposite himmdashDamon Wayans in The Last Boy Scout Samuel L Jackson opposite him in lsquoDie Hard with a Vengeancersquo the banter the buddy cop routine And his onscreen chemistry with kids was exemplarymdashHaley Joel Osment his costar from Sixth Sense responded with this tweet on hearing of his herorsquos conditionmdashldquoItrsquos been difficult to find the right words for someone Irsquove always looked uptomdashfirst on the big screen and then by some wild stroke of luck in person Irsquom so grateful for what I got to witness first hand He is a true legend who has enriched all our lives for 25 yearsrdquoNumerous copycat films have followed in the lsquoone man against the baddies in a crammed spacersquo but theyrsquove always been lsquoDie Hard on a shiptrainplaneskyscraperin a stadiumrsquo and never with an action hero who possessed so much cool and pizzazzWillis was always a tad vulnerable his financials in a mess his family affairs in an even bigger mess his wife across movies about to leave him and yet the realisation that he and only he could overpower the terrorists or solve the titanic mess the country was inFor an action star Willis had a stillness Irsquove rarely seen in actors he worked well within himself never strayed too far for what either he couldnrsquot or didnrsquot want to do yet had enough acting chops for M Night Shymalan to test his ldquosurreal supernaturalismrdquo on in multiple filmsBruce Willis has Aphasia a condition that robs you of the ability to communicate ironically this was a characteristic across most of his rolesmdashWillis was always the loner those around him unable to understand how he thought and worked always up against a system always doing his job with that hint of understated joie de vivreWhere Bruce Willis goes from here is an unsolved mystery Sixty seven is too young an age to call it quitsIn the words of Shymalan ldquoHe will always be that hero on the poster on my wall as a kidrdquoIn truth he will always be that poster on all our walls as kidsYippee Ki Yay Bruce Willis happy trailsRahul daCunha is an adman theatre directorplaywright photographer and traveller Reach him at rahuldacunhamiddaycom