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But thats not all he sees.
We can see it too.
InThe Sixth Sense, Willis looks as haunted as Osments preteen medium.
Regret tugs at the edges of that million-dollar smile.
Loneliness follows him like a shadow.
He wore heartache well.
Is it easier, at this particular moment, to appreciate that forlorn side of his work?
The recentnews of the stars retirementis a final sad note in a career scattered with them.
That charisma was one of the most reliable draws of the 90s and 2000s blockbuster machine.
You could actually buy Willis as a normal person sometimes.
He grounded his star turns in approachability.
Plenty of directors found unconventional applications for Williss magnetism.
WithPulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino shaved it to a mythic macho singularity, an urban-samurai cool.
It was a diabolical subversion of the actors marquee appeal and the expectations it carried for audiences.
In 1995, who else but John McClane could you trust to save humanity?
Hes defeated from frame one, a Bruce Willis character colliding with the harsh reality of predetermined fate.
Still, theres more to the performance than just a productive undercutting ofDie Hardheroics.
Willis is often achingly exposed in the part.
What the filmmaker saw in his star was an avatar for spiritual dislocation.
Literally, of course, inThe Sixth Sense.
InUnbreakable, Willis goes downright depressive to convey Dunns alienation and discontent.
In bothThe Sixth SenseandUnbreakable, Willis plays men struggling through troubled marriages.
At the same time, though, that melancholia has always been there, simmering beneath Williss star performances.
Its heartening, still, that he found a few opportunities to let it bob to the surface.
