I’m still thinking about the movie, as you can see. Who could blame me?
All the actors in “Last Chance Cafe” did a truly marvelous job. Kevin’s performance, however, particularly moved me–and not just because he’s cute. (Which, of course, he IS.) Kevin actually read the book, and he’s a talented and very professional actor, it goes without saying. But I believe he captured Chance so well because he’s like Chance. He’s a committed family man, with a beautiful wife and children. He’s down-to-earth, intelligent, funny, and soft-spoken. These are just things I gathered about him during a very brief meeting on the set, but we have a mutual friend, and she verifies it all.
Do you remember a few blogs back when I mentioned the spiffy-guy who gets his tux wet to rescue a dog stranded on a rainy median, not knowing which way to go? Well, that’s the kind of person Chance is, and all my other heroes, too. And I strongly suspect it’s the kind of guy Kevin is, too.
I guess it all boils down to this. My heroes–and my heroines, too–are not the kind to drive by, thinking somebody ought to do something. They slam on the brakes. They jump out of the car (more often a truck, because I’m a country girl from way back), the rain be damned, with their sleeves pushed up. And they do what needs to be done, whether it’s convenient or not.
I think Kevin is the same kind of man, and that’s why his performance stirred me so deeply.
Kevin’s not the kind to drive on by.