I caught the 1999 super hero movie Mystery Men last night and saw that singer/songwriter Tom Waits played a substantial character in the film, as the eccentric non-lethal weapons inventor Dr. A Heller.

While Waits has been in a number of films I am always surprised to see him on screen, and equally delighted that he doesn’t get typecast. Although most of his characters are a little odd, Waits’ range is dynamic enough that they don’t all seem the same. caugh-christopher walken-caugh-caugh If you’d like to see Tom Waits in another excellent film be sure to check out Jim Jarmusch’s Down By Law, it’s a completely different genre than Mystery Men, but is still quite excellent. Also, be on the lookout for Terry Gilliam’s fantasy adventure The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus that is coming out sometime next year where Waits plays Mr. Nick.

If you could care less about Tom Waits (shame on you) then you might get a kick out of seeing Paul Reubens playing the part of The Spleen.