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Loading ...The Vertical Hour reviews – “He is, of course, wonderful”
Bill Nighy in the Vertical Hour
After the official opening yesterday, the first reviews of The Vertical Hour are showing up. While the play itself gets mixed reviews, Bill Nighy gets raved in nearly all of them. (Click the links for the full reviews)
(This post will be updated when new reviews come in – last updated 3-Dec-2006 – newest ones listed on top)
Bill Nighy is at his twitchiest, and most seductive, slouching across the stage with feline grace, his ironic gaze flirting with us, commenting on every wry or clever remark he makes.
The Philadelphia Inquirer
Bill Nighy, making his Broadway debut as Hare’s worldly Englishman to Julianne Moore’s idealistic American, gave one of the most remarkable performances ever seen on a New York stage. A standing ovation is a normal ritual here, as if the audience likes to be seen, too. But when this consummate, cool actor took his bow on the opening night, he was greeted literally by a roar of appreciation and yes, love, that was unique in my Broadway experience.
The Guardian
Nighy effortlessly combines comedy, charisma and a rare depth of emotion, and if Hare’s play is fascinating but flawed, Nighy, fast becoming a British national treasure, looks like a shoo-in for the Tony award.
Daily Telegraph
Rock-star thin and with eyebrows possibly arched since birth, Nighy’s rangy physique and in particular his spindly legs are almost as expressive as his softly mocking eyes or droll delivery. His twitchy, loose-limbed body language is so controlled and precise that often he seems to be undermining Moore/Nadia with his feet alone.
variety.com
Opposite Moore’s constrained physicality, the men offer lots of fancy-dancy British technique. Revolving wrists, elaborate gesticulations, expressive stares into the distance. The lanky, elegant Nighy is especially charming at it.
NJ.com
It helps that he is played superbly by Bill Nighy, who is a master of tortured idealism. With his seamed features and lean, concave form, Nighy looks like a man who has suffered interestingly. He brings out all the different facets of the faintly twisted Oliver: the flawed father and impenitent seducer as well as the decent doctor and cool ironist.
The Guardian (UK)
Nighy portrays a randy rooster of an English doctor engaged in strenuous discussions with his son’s attractive girlfriend (Julianne Moore), an American journalist turned academic.
Both performers are making their Broadway debuts in this production but it’s Nighy who steals the show with a witty, Tony-caliber performance.
Yahoo.com
Still, not only is it one of the best plays Broadway has seen in years, but Sam Mendes has staged it with exquisite skill, allowing the main actors to play like a well-honed musical trio.
Nighy (the tentacled Davy Jones of the last “Pirates of the Caribbean”) steals everything on the stage that hasn’t actually been nailed down by the script.
He has made eccentricity a way of acting. His louche, disreputable manner, summed up in a charming vocal sneer and defensive smile, is delivered with a panache that disguises the sheer technique under it.
He is, of course, wonderful. Then again, anyone who’s seen him in film or onstage in London expects nothing less.
New York Post
Nighy, on the other hand, offers a master class.
Los Angeles Times
Mr. Nighy gets most of the juiciest lines, but proves equally dexterous with seemingly innocuous bits of dialogue. (The way he splits the word “fitness” into two equally contemptible syllables while discussing Philip’s job is priceless.)
The New York Sun
In contrast, Bill Nighy’s Oliver is thoroughly convincing and deliciously idiosyncratic. Walking with a slightly stooped gait and wearing an alternately amused and rueful expression, the stage veteran reveals his character’s incorrigible, coarsely seductive exterior, his probing mind and, eventually, his aching heart. It’s easy to see how this aging roué infuriates his son (charmingly played by Andrew Scott) and fascinates Nadia.
USA today
Calling Nighy an eccentric actor is like calling Christmas just another day in the year. Hoo-boy, is he strange — and kind of wonderful!
At times he’s like a gopher on a prairie; his head swivels on his neck as if to spot encroaching enemies. He’s constantly chewing his inner cheeks, adjusting his trousers at the hips with the palms, jamming his hands in his pockets and pulling them out just as fast, precariously shifting his balance. He continually suggests that his mind is as restless as his long and lanky body. Indeed, the constant jitterbugging is in service to a nervous character still in flight from the aftermath of a long-ago accident.
Theatre mania
As the sneaky Oliver, Bill Nighy has a dazzling conjurer’s bag of tricks: quizzical grimaces, hypnotically fluttery hands, delightfully disingenuous humility, Socratic traps of pseudo-naivete, and long, treacherous pauses.
Bloomberg.com
“Mr. Nighy chose to ignore this adjective in shaping one of the most vibrant portraits to be seen on a New York stage.”
“You could even say that with his irresistibly mannered performance, he mops the floor with Mr. Hare’s play. ”
More reviews:
The Independent
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