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posturing and mannerisms.
Harrison Ford, DeNiro, Pacino, Nicholson---all have become caricatures. You've seen one performance of theirs in the past 10 years--- you've seen them all.
However, to command our attention, not all artists overact, chew scenery. Case in point: the Frenchman Johnny Hallyday's lead role in "The Man on the Train." Straightforward, yet not the dead-eyed, somanabulistic Nicholson of "Schmidt."
Follow Ups:
can be subtle and effective, never overacts, and can lead.:o)
mp
My thoughts exactly. The movie currently playing with Costner "Open Range" is good evidence. My favorite DuVall film: "The Apostle."PS -- Annette Benning's performance in Open Range is as flat as Kansas; but the rest of the cast is good, IMHO.
I agree with this writer, his list works for me....my favorite is tender mercies....heart wrenching without one ounce of sappiness, or overt sentimentality...very hard to accomplish, and he pulls it off beautifully.mp
6. THX 1138 (1972)
Well determining whether someone is a good actor or not is a matter of preferance and not an objective fact. I'll agree that actors like DeNiro and Nicholson are STARS and were at one time(ie the 70s)considered great actors but the fact that time has passed does not make them any less talented. What has changed though is the film making and their choice of roles. DeNiro seems to parody himself all the time and has become a cartoon - though to tell the truth I always felt his characters were pretty much the same every movie...All his Mobster roles and Jake Lamatta?? Pretty much the same all the time. Kenny G plays 5 notes perfectly...but they are just 5 notes.Nicholson is simply SOOOOOOOOOOOO popular that as soon as you see his face IT'S JACK or theeeeeeeeeeere's Johny.
The great actors of this generation seem to remain the Michael Caine, John Hurt, Ralph Fiennes, Anthony Hopkins, Morgan Freeman types. Of Which Ralph is the youngest. But even he had a lot of difficulty doing the powderpuff LIGHT romantic character in Maid in Manhatten...a totally formula politically correect Pretty Woman - It's nice enough but Ralph hardly seemed comfortable in it. Nevertheless there are very few camelian(sp?) actors out there that seem to hide in their roles pretty well. Fiennes seems to be one. Watching Strange Days, Schindler's List, The English Patient and Oscar and Lucinda convinces me that there is a quality Actor that needs, if he's going to be on the A list, to get some larger crossover mass appeal films.
I think Kevin Spacey and Richard Dreyfuss are two of the very best American Actors...but so are(and they are not all American) Morgan Freeman, Ed Norton, Tom Hanks, Dustin Hoffman, Gene Hackman, Ben Kingsley, Daniel Day Lewis, Sam Jackson, Tom Wilkenson, Billy Bob Thornton.
Indeed, Billy Bob Thornton, arguably, was robbed of a nomination in Monster's Ball(who I felt was the driving force of that movie), and I felt he should have won for Sling Blade.
Trouble is a lot of these actors are better suited for certain things. Very few actors I know of do a very wide range of characters equally well. And let's face it a lot has to do with the director and the script. The Matrix was a very popular film in SPITE of the fact that Keanu Reeves is maybe the worst BIG actor I've ever seen. People complain about Costner...but the guy is a Hopkins in comparison.
I suppose my favorite right now is Ralph Fiennes...even he has certain mannerisms and a kind of intensity that seems ingrained a bit. He said he never felt comfortable after starting Maid in Manhatten 3 days after finishing Red Dragon(He did LIGHT pretty well in Strange Days and Oscar and Lucinda). I have yet to see Spider...but the premise seems to be more in line with his strengths...physical presence stage acting.
Ohh and he was robbed in Schindler's List. The worst oversight of the decade of a major award. Academy - Blegh.
> All his Mobster roles and Jake Lamatta?? Pretty much the same all the time. Kenny G plays 5 notes perfectly...but they are just 5 notes.the problem with kenny g isn't that he does the same thing every time; it's that he does the same schlock every time. could one say that hitchcock isn't in the pantheon of geat directors because he chose to do suspense every time. or that scorsese isn't a great directors because his best films were, well, the films with deniro. i wouldn't criticize an actor for lack of greatness in range, and i know that you acknowledge point too in your post. few can achieve great depth in even one thing in their lifetime.
The smart ator or musician is the one who knows their limitations OR who knows where their success lies. Kenny G was an example BUT, he sells has sold and will continue to sell because more people like his version of Jazz than say Patricia Barber and MOST of the critically acclaimed stuff.I own a few Kenny G albums and it is repetitive - good at putting you to sleep though...not sure if that's a compliment :) but it has its use...as does Enya.
DeNiro and Scorcese are brilliant at what they do. But when I watched Casino I was thinking...wow a dumbed down Goodfellas with basically the same but weaker feel - though I liked Casino to a degree.
specific: I meant LEADING actors.
Kevin Spacey, John Malkovich: too effeminate to be leading actors, but both are superb.
Denzel, Morgan, and Samuel (L. Jackson)...excellent actors all (though D can chew up scenery if not tightly directed)...but they don't seem to get the scripts: I don't know if America is ready for an A-A leading man outside of an "ethnic" picture.
At one point in time, our leading men were stars---and damn fine actors. Alas, no more...
but he needs to choose his scripts carefully.
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Nicholson and DeNiro used to be actors, now they are movie stars. There are some good American actors around, but they are not usually Leading Men.
Also, just because you are a good actor, doesn't mean you will excercise good judgement in script selection (witness Kevin Spacey).Thank you, Ms. Piggy, for mentioning Johnny Depp as an example.
"Shove it up your ass and light it with a match." - a rather frustrated moderator.
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Best American actor? Morgan Freeman.
doesn't overact :o)The test of the overactor in question....
watch them with the sound muted. The only thing to study is the mannerisms.
Watch J-Lo in angel eyes without sound....she is so self aware of her every movement....and the test works, she is a horrible actress.mp
when your recent roles include a drag queen and a pirate fighting ghosts, i don't know if the right thing is not to overact. :-)overacting or not, i *wish* i were johnny deep.
Who digets and looks around while the other one is speaking their lines?Robin WIlliams. Could not be worse.
We could have a lot more fun! on this theme.
* My mother told me never trust an ex soviet, how right she was.
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