I wholeheartedly believe “Bottoms” (read our review here) is going to find a big audience, as it’s a remarkably surprising movie. I won’t get into spoilers here but rather, I will say that, even as someone who loves the NFL and Marshawn Lynch, I would have had my doubts about him as a serious actor beyond a bit part here or there. Now? I want to see him in every movie ever from here on out. A romantic comedy with Jennifer Lawrence? Sign me up. A big action movie with Jason Statham? Yes, please. The next dramatic epic from Steven Spielberg? Do it, you cowards.
Mind you, my vanity does not extend so far as to feel that it’s worthy of me spilling all of this ink to argue an already-wealthy professional athlete should be handed an acting career on a silver platter. But sometimes, someone just has that “it” factor and it becomes clear they are more than one thing. Marshawn Lynch has “it” and he is more than a great football player: he’s downright magnetic on screen.
The way the crowd in that jam-packed was absolutely hooting and hollering when Lynch showed up in “Bottoms” unexpectedly was my first signal that something was happening here. From there on out, he ran with the ball and earned his laughs the hard way, and boy did he earn plenty of them. Maybe it was easy for him, but it certainly looked effortless; that’s the key. This doesn’t look like an athlete trying to stretch himself. This looks like a guy being naturally hilarious and charming in a way one simply can’t train themselves to be. It’s raw, unfiltered charisma, and we need more of it.
