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Every decade gets the Ralph Bellamy it deserves.
In the 90s, snarky Greg Kinnear habitually lost the girl to Hanksian nice guys.
In the aughts, clean-cutJames Marsdenfound himself overshadowed by sensitive brooders like Ryan Gosling and Wolverine.
(No surprise that theres often a racial element to the kink.)
How do these anxieties play out in Clarkes filmography?
Henry McAllan, Clarkes character inMudbound, is slightly more subtle in his terribleness.
There, their lives become entwined with those of the local black sharecroppers, the Jacksons.
After one fight, he stops having sex with her.
Mudboundwas a critically acclaimed film beloved for its grand scope and nuanced character work.
JanuarysSerenitywas … basically the opposite of that.
But they do have one thing in common, and by now you could probably guess what it is.
Almost as if … well, I wont spoil it for you.
(Though given that hes Ted Kennedy in 1969, a car accident once again plays a pivotal role.
)First Man, too, resists the trend.
Watch enough Jason Clarke movies, and the postwar romanceThe Aftermathfeels so familiar that its almost creepy.
(A handy get-out-of-judgment-free card for the subsequent infidelity.)
But whileThe Aftermathis not the most original movie, it does flip the script in one respect.
(It starts with Nazis shooting up his car, of course.)
By the end, the movies come around to his view on how to treat the defeated Germans.
So thats seven films, five of which include Jason Clarkes wife having sex with another man.
It takes guts to play a character like that, over and over and over again.
