Something struck me while watching Todd Solondz’s “Life During Wartime” earlier this morning. Actor Michael K. Williams is having a coming out moment this year with powerful supporting performances both here and in John Hillcoat’s “The Road.”
Fans of HBO’s “The Wire” are no stranger to Williams, who dazzled viewers for five seasons as stick-up man Omar Little, offering an on-the-money characterization that probably should have seen its day in the Emmy sun. Characterized by a pronounced facial scar (a reminder of a bar fight many years ago), Williams has always been something of a go-to guy for intimidating gangster types.
In “The Road,” he brings a quiet humanity to the role of The Thief, stealing for survival, rendered sympathetic by the circumstances that forced his hand.