Elijah Wood

Performer for Our Time

Ash Wednesday
(2002)

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Ash Wednesday (2002)
Elijah Wood as "Sean Sullivan"

Edward C. Patterson, site owner
Annie Graham, copy editor

Sean Sullivan is one of the more complex roles characterized by Elijah Wood. Seminal to the story of Ash Wednesday, one could say the film was about Sean. The plot pivots around his choices—the choice to prevent his brother’s death—the choice to return to the neighborhood despite the pledge to never return. But this very dark drama is spun about inherited punishment, payment for sins generations old. The fact that we care for the repentant Francis makes Sean more peripheral to the theme. That Elijah Wood pulls the character to both sides of the issue, leaves us ultimately undecided as to his future happiness—an unresolved portrayal.

We first encounter Sean Sullivan tending bar and eavesdropping on his brother’s would-be murderers. Elijah Wood gives us an intense Sean, straining to hear, pained at the solution. The director gives us an out-of-focus shot, which speaks to the turmoil of the character. Then, the one consistent trademark of Sean Sullivan kicks in. Impulse. The impulse to take the gun and kill the assassins is part of a long trail of spontaneous acts—not well considered, but certainly executed.

Now that we have seen the premise for the film, we only hear about Sean and how he has mysteriously appeared in the neighborhood 3 years after his death. Of course, it’s hard for us to suspend disbelief, because as Elijah Wood is top billed, he would need to emerge again. However, the long exposition of Francis poking about for the truth (already knowing the truth himself) allows the canvas, which will be the two brothers, to unfurl. While Francis uses foul language, thinks logically in a gangster sort of way, and harps on issues incessantly, when we meet Sean, we see the contrast. Elijah Wood plays Sean younger than his 21 years. He presents us with a kid, who watches cartoons, who’s married (probably on the impulse of love), has a child (although he’s ignorant of the fact), has returned to the neighborhood and caused a fracas, is not above lying to his brother and feels he’s being punished for his brother’s sins.

Elijah’s scenes (almost all) are played against Ed Burns. This is unusual for an Elijah Wood film, where he is cast almost entirely in dialog. His arguments with his brother are thoroughly convincing; and he relies less on facial expressions and more on vocal inflections to craft the character. He is definitely a Sullivan. When he gets riled, he goes off like a bomb.

"If she thinks I’m dead, she could have gone with somebody else. Has she been with anybody else? . . . Did you fuck her? You fucked her didn’t you?"

Although there is anger in Sean’s voice, there’s sweetness also. Elijah brings out the "kid" in the character, an element he has been criticized for in this film; however, as we learn that Sean has been sheltered from the family business, it would only be natural that he holds to his childhood aspirations.

Elijah Wood’s scenes in the apartment are well played. However, the scenes in the car on the way to Brooklyn are amazing. He takes the role of an interviewer, asking his brother questions in dizzying succession, so much so that you can feel Ed Burns’ annoyance. While Sean is portrayed with impulsive vision and sense of purpose (lost), Francis is a rock solid realist trying to salvage the remnants of his life. The only real salvation he has ever had was his brother saving his life and his brother’s wife, who he usurped adulterously and captured emotionally. That Sean sees this, but is too engrossed in his own agenda to be really a "Sullivan" and engage in a little fratricide, is surprising. The clincher is when Sean asks his brother—"You and Dad killed people together?"

There is also the issue of favoritism. "Mom favored you," Sean says. But the truth is that both Ma and Da Sullivan recognized that Sean had imagination and a chance (a college educations, mayhap), while Francis was destined to follow in the family footsteps of killing and crime. But after all this soul searching, fraternal palaver, Elijah Wood reminds us that Sean is volatile.

"Fuck you," he shouts. "I saved your life. You and you’re fucking gambling debts. They were going to kill you. You’re my fucking brother."

This bit launches into the pantomime of flashback, where we once again see Sean prevent his brother’s hit by acing (or icing) the three hit men. It’s the one part of the film where Elijah Wood lets rip his famous facial play. As he blasts the men, we see the rage of the father; a pissed-off brow knitting that we saw in The War and we’ll see again, to be sure, in Green Street Hooligans. The scene is capped off with Elijah running through the night; and then, in the confessional.

"Bless me father for I have sinned."

Elijah Wood’s last scenes continue the consistency of performance—the quirky scene with his uncle who wants to know what Sean planted on the farms in Texas. "Jesus was a farmer or a baker." We do get a genuine sense of relief (false that it is) when Elijah and Rosario Dawson (Grace) are reunited. He is undoubtedly passionate—the impulse still raging; while she is luke warm and still on the fence. The introduction of the child is poignant, as Sean now has to grow up and be responsible for more than himself. Somehow we are not left with a keen sense that he will succeed. Failure is a distinct possibility.

In Ash Wednesday we find a post-Lord of the Rings Elijah Wood inhabiting a character with a complex set of dichotomies—a ying and yang of innocence and guilt. Between these two poles, Elijah Wood gives us his most complex portrayal since The Ice Storm. He is careful not to dominate (Ed Burns is a dominator and meant to be so), but he’s certainly a different mint in the candy dish, leaving you satisfied, wanting more and yet glad to be rid of the whole Sullivan clan. The role is also a step up to his first adult character (excluding the 40 year old Frodo). In his next role he would return to a younger part, the seventeen year old Jones in Try Seventeen/All I Want. Bravo EJW. A solid performance that glimmers in the dark.