Farrell plays the federal investigator in Minority Report, an antagonist role written as a sceptic whose scepticism turns out to be correct. He plays it with a needling confidence that makes the character irritating rather than menacing, which is a harder and more useful choice for the film.
He is Irish and came to prominence rapidly in American studio cinema before moving toward European art film and small budget work. That shift produced a run of performances in absurdist and confrontational material, and he has since combined those with heavily transformed roles in large genre productions.
Recurring subjects: self loathing disguised as bravado, men who talk continuously to avoid a subject, and comedy played entirely straight. He is unusually willing to be pathetic on screen, and his best work depends on the audience seeing through a character who cannot see through himself, which requires the performance to withhold any hint of the actor's own judgement.
His mid career reinvention is a frequently cited example of an actor rejecting studio typecasting successfully. He has drawn major awards recognition for absurdist comedy and drama, and his prosthetic heavy performance as a comic book crime boss led to a spin off series built around it.
For viewers who want an actor who has publicly rebuilt his own career. Suited to anyone interested in absurdist European cinema, and to those who know only the blockbusters at either end of his filmography.
