With his uniquely manic, comic/paranoid persona, Turturro works best
just off centre of the action. He's been a consistent stalwart for
directors like the Coen Brothers and Spike Lee, giving their films the
extra fizz that comes from boldly imaginative support acting. His lead
roles are more problematic, as that persona tends to grate after a
while. This is fine when it’s the point, as in Barton Fink - where you end
up willing John Goodman to finish him off - but not in Box Of Moonlight,
which reduced him to a single tic. Still, if you can have too much
Turturro in any one film, only Steve Buscemi rivals him as the face of
American indies over the 1990s.
