Sam Rockwell will tell you it’s not good enough to be good in a movie, and it’s not good enough to be good in a good movie. You’ve got to be good in a good movie that people see. After years of being good in good movies that enjoyed most of their success in the afterlife, he’s hit the jackpot with this month’s buzz-generating Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. As a cop who goes “from Barney Fife to Travis Bickle” before we know what’s hit us. Rockwell reminds us that “professional actor” is not an oxymoron – just a rarity. Given how often his performances teeter between loose and completely unhinged, the studious, technical approach behind them is surprising. Rockwell’s reverence for his craft and a generation of actors and films we may never see again signals a depth that still demands – and will doubtless reward – further exploration.