In Defense of Vince Vaughn Being Chosen for "True Detective" Season 2

Vince Vaughn

For many, this week is a triumphant moment because after over half a year of waiting for details on season two of True Detective, they are delivered. It is exciting to know where things are going as HBO's biggest gamble starts to show itself. Will the Emmy-nominated anthology series stand any chance of bouncing back after shooting Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey into the most unlikely favorite duo of 2014? Well, it depends on who you ask. Among the names listed was Vince Vaughn, who is set to play the villain of the story. For many, this is a cry of dread. However, let me suggest something. This is what True Detective should be doing. It should be surprising its viewers/

Let us remember what made season 1 so memorable: Matthew McConaughey. To the general public, he was an actor who as recent as three years ago was considered a shirtless hack. He was known more for his lackadaisical accent and smiling. He was the beach blonde for the better part of his career. Then along came 2012 and things changed. His "interesting" roles started pouring in with the not-so-successful (The Paperboy, Killer Joe) and the acclaimed (Magic Mike). Still it is debatable that nobody liked him as a respectable actor until Dallas Buyers Club showed that he had range. Along with some loopy acceptance speeches during the awards season, True Detective succeeded because it was the final crown jewel in making him go from joke to serious contender. He was an actor who could compel, even when just altering his familiar stoner archetype.

The reality is that Vaughn has not had THAT trajectory. In fact, according to Rotten Tomatoes, he is just shy of a decade of poorly reviewed movies such as Couples Retreat, The Watch, The Internship, Fred Claus, The Dilemma, Delivery Man, and Four Christmases. Try and remember any of those. At best, they were average. After success in Wedding Crashers, it is sad to see a rather dry and funny guy get stuck in films that had uninspired titles. In fact, Vaughn almost seems to exist in his films only to look sympathetic. His career could use reinvention in ways that McConaughey greatly acquired in the past few years. It seems like the right move to take on something totally bizarre.

The question applied is why should we care about Vince Vaughn on a serious detective show? It's simple: he is a solid dramatic force. It just hasn't been seen in awhile. He has spend most of his fame to do comedies with his friends. Let me take you back to a time before Old School and Dodgeball. Back to a time when Vaughn was just another actor in the pool of actors. Before he distinguished himself as this dry, caustic sense of humor (which I also believe will be an unappreciated resource given Nic Pizzolatto's penchant for philosophical, dour wit). He played villains and sought to go in a different direction. Let's just take a look at...

Left to right: Vaughn and Joaquin Phoenix

Clay Pigeons.

Nowadays, this indie thriller has been forgotten by most as anything but an early sign of Joaquin Phoenix's greatness. It was a creepy story with Phoenix as Clay, who enters a cartoonish nightmare with suicides, corpses and Vaughn as Lester: a cowboy with an accent and the sternest conviction that there is. He never lets up that this is a strange universe. In fact, there are points where Vaughn outshines Phoenix. He is so dedicated to the weird that it is easy to see how his mannerisms slowly turned into the drunken, fast talking buddy that he plays now. Even then, it's a performance that suggested that Vaughn could have been a dramatic actor. He could have gone and impressed everyone with an array of strangely beautiful films. Nobody's blaming that he went to comedies (no less with director David Dobkin, whose work with Vaughn includes: Clay Pigeons, Wedding Crashers and Fred Claus). He had success as Will Ferrell's side man.

But back to Clay Pigeons. Dobkin has gone on record in claiming that the film is about appearances being different than what we assume. Lester is a serial killer with a heart for helping his "fishing buddy" Clay. If this means killing people who bother Clay, then so be it. There's a lot of memorable moments in Vaughn's performance, specifically because he's forced to be both creepy and likable. Somehow, he ends up somewhere in the middle and had the film been more popular, this would be the Vaughn we would be used to. The creepy one who sneaked his way into your heart just by talking in a southern accent in a low register.

The only reason to doubt Vaughn is because this film will be 17 years old by the time his role on True Detective premieres on HBO. What has he done of value since? There's been a few that have Vaughn as the serial killer role. He was in the Psycho remake, which was what it was. He starred in films like The Cell, Return to Paradise (also with Phoenix), and most recently in 2001's Domestic Disturbance. Yes, there's a big gap between drama Vaughn and comedy Vaughn. Even then, there's some merit to what he did bring to creepy dramas. All of it encapsulates in Clay Pigeons, which remains one of his stronger 90's films. 
Of course, as the villain, he doesn't have to be specifically one way. He can be goofy if the material calls for it. While True Detective awarded itself on stern serious nature, they also seem set on surprising audiences and trying new things. Justin Lin is only directing two episodes as opposed to Cary Fukunaga directing eight. There's less of a prestige quality to season 2 already in play. With three leads that includes Colin Farrell, there's some hope that the writers know what they're doing. For all that we know, Vaughn isn't even going to be on screen that much. If he is, we could be looking at his surprising turn of form to something more creepy and dramatic. Who wouldn't want Clay Pigeons Vaughn to come out of nowhere and resurrect a dour career of somebody who can be funny, but with the right material?
It all just depends on who else is going to be in the production.