Brad Pitt in The New York Times Magazine Special on Hollywood Seems More Nance Than Lorre

According to A.O. Scott’s slideshow about Brad Pitt’s vignette for the Hollywood special issue of The New York Times Magazine, Pitts is reported to be channeling ‘‘Peter Lorre — with a dose of Kramer.’’ I thought this odd, certainly Lorre’s trace is there, but Alex Prager, the video’s director, obviously creates an homage to David Lynch’s Eraserhead with Pitt portraying Henry (Jack Nanse). Also, Prager’s videos are included in a section titled, “Touch of Evil.” I never thought of Henry as evil. He reacts to a world gone mad in the only way that he can. He is a product of that world. Perhaps this makes him crazy, or on the other hand, he is the only sane person surrounded by oppressing madness. Regardless of Pitt’s and Prager’s motivations and inspirations, Pitt’s approximately 45 second performance is amazing. It is the only time out of Pitt’s performances when I momentarily thought that this was someone new, a fictional construct, and not simply Pitt in a different disguise.