James Caan, veteran 'Godfather' and 'Elf' actor, dies at 82

[Aristus]

13. His performance as Jonathan E in "Rollerball" is one for the ages.

"Rollerball" is an astonishing, criminally underrated film about a corporate-dominated dystopian future. The title refers to the extreme blood sport that the corporations use to keep the masses docile, subservient, and good corporate workers. The bloody, murderous game is intended to demonstrate the futility of individual effort (instead of corporate effort). The film hints strongly (and the short story it is adapted from says it more explicitly) that the game is used to eliminate men with physical strength and leadership potential before they become a threat to the power of the corporations that run the world.

If the film had been made in the Eighties, it would no doubt have starred Arnold Schwarzenegger or Bruce Willis, who would have played Jonathan as either a grunting, monosyllabic dolt, or a snide, breezy wisecracker. It would have ruined the film. Caan played Jonathan (when off the blood-soaked sports track) as quiet, thoughtful, empathetic, and yearning abstractly for a world not oppressed and regimented by soulless corporations.

I definitely recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it yet. The film was considered very controversial in its time (1975) for its bone-jarring violence. Although the film is quite violent in its depiction of the three games of Rollerball played during the narrative, the action seems almost tame compared to the levels of violence considered acceptable in movies nowadays.