CALL ME SNAKE

For actors from the previous generation like John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart, playing cowboys came easy. But the cowboy sensibility is far enough away from today’s society that many contemporary actors are not convincing in the familiar cowboy role. They lack the requisite taciturn gravitas; they seem to much like “Young Guns” trying to play cowboys but you can see them trying. And playing cowboys without ever becoming real cowboys. Robert Duvall, Tommie Lee Jones, and Kevin Costner are three who can pull it off the cowboy roles well. Heath Ledger had a noteworthy turn in Brokeback, and based on his performance in “Broken Trail,” Thomas Haden Church of Sideways fame is another standout.