Commit this mug to memory. Within a couple of years, it’ll be everywhere.

For those of you who don’t know who this is, this is Anton Yelchin, a fresh, up and coming actor who so far as been featured in movies like House of D, Alpha Dog, and Charlie Bartlett, which opens this week.

There are very few actors I get excited over, and few of THOSE over actual acting prowess. There are very, very few people who you’ll hear me say, “So-and-so’s movie is coming out soon, I can’t wait to see it.” I’m am now officially adding Anton Yelchin to that list.

I didn’t get to see House of D, even though I really wanted to (it being David Duchovny’s directorial debut, someone I’m a fan of), but I was more than eager to watch Alpha Dog, and wasn’t disappointed (okay, I was, but at the lukewarm reception and did poorly in the box office, not the movie itself). Alpha Dog is based on the true story of a young teenager who’s “accidentally” kidnapped and ends up murdered by a group of wannabe thugs. Anton’s (playing the ill-fated teenager) performance was great throughout, so much so that when he meets his fate, my eyes gets wet and I feel nothing but disgust for those idiots perpetrating the crime. The first time I saw it, it was so overpowering that I just felt numb at the end, I didn’t want anything to have to do with anything.

Thankfully, Anton’s new movie, Charlie Bartlett, isn’t nearly as depressing. In it, he plays the title character, who becomes the most popular kid in school by becoming a pseudo-psychiatrist, helping kids out with their emotional problems (and pescribing medication if necessary). While the plot of the movie is looser and less dramatic than that of Alpha Dog, Anton still delivers an incredibly detailed performance, which really shows his range, sometimes within one scene alone. To hold his own against a veteran and highly-praised actor like Robert Downey Jr. doesn’t hurt, either.

He also did an episode of Law & Order a while back, which I give him props for for tackling such a demanding character at such a young age; he played a teenager who becomes obsessed with stalking and killing hookers. He was only 15-16 at the time he shot the episode.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m not too crazy about a few of Anton’s next ventures (mainly playing a young Chekov in the upcoming Star Trek restart movie), but I’m predicting that in just a few years, we’ll not only be seeing more of Anton, but he’ll start making some serious moves, including picking up a couple major awards here and there.

Posted on February 18th, 2008 by Enrique
Filed under: Opinion