Kevin's Watch

If Hanks is on there, Harrison Ford should be too.

Syl wrote:If Hanks is on there, Harrison Ford should be too.

Agreed. He's been in some great films, but his acting is pretty one-dimensional.

Since I've been bitchin' about actors always being the same character, then I've gotta mention Denzel Washington.

After reading the text in the opening post I got the distinct impression that the reviewer is a fairly unhappy person that just likes...well nothing. He does make a few good points though but it all comes of with an air of bias. IMHO. All of the actors that are mentioned have strengths and weaknesses alike and of course anyone can choose to act in a bad film (or several) without knowing it will be bad before they sign on. I suspect many scripts seem just fine until they are actually filmed. Sometimes you just take a shot and hope for the best. The concept of an over rated actor is based solely on the individual viewer's perspective. Frankly if you are a fan of one of the actors mentioned, said actor is probably going to be forgiven for makeing a misstep in his or her career. I guess this is a long way of saying though I don't seem to agree with the reviewer, to each his own.

Denzel Washington???!!!
Man I disagree. That guy is so good he could read the phone book and make it watchable...

I think all of these folks listed have at least one acting performance that makes me understand why they are overrated. Sure...they did (at least) one stellar role, and the rest have been phoned in. Even the person I most agree with, who is Matthew Mc, still did a horrendously memorable role in Dazed & Confused. Haven't seen him in anything that did it for me since, but everyone remembers that character. I do have to assert on him though that if someone is overrated, then they have to have many psycophants, which I don't honestly hear a lot of people going on about how great Matty-boy is at what he does. So I'd drop him from the list on a technicality. And I agree that Denzel be on this list if we must, as Malcolm X was about the only role I ever saw him do anything that didn't leave me snoozing. Then again, the roles he takes don't really appeal to me.
I must admit that Harrison Ford belongs on the list too, though I don't think anyone these days thinks he is especially good anymore, with the long string of crap he has done since...ohhh....I dunno...let's say since the last Indiana Jones film. The annoying thing is that I think he can act, and will take Regarding Henry as proof of this. He blew me away by shedding the tough guy image and showing a heap of vulnerability in that one. Which irritates me all the more that he decided to go back to making one crap actiony flick after another, or another police flick. I haven't watched a new movie from him in a LONG time. And Callista Flockhart didn't do much for his street rep either.

Usivius wrote:Denzel Washington???!!!
Man I disagree. That guy is so good he could read the phone book and make it watchable...

Hey, I'm a fan of Denzel, but you have to admit, he's the same character every time. IMHO, his best performance was as Trip in Glory.

I dunno, Matty Mc isn't a great actor, but I think he does OK with the roles he picks. I thought he was great in both Contact and Sahara.

Denzel's been in some junk films, but I enjoy a lot of his work.

IMO, Denzel is one of the best ever. And range? Cry Freedom, Philadelphia, and Training Day are as different as can be.

Denzel is a fine actor! What a bunch of whiners you guys are.

aTOMiC wrote:After reading the text in the opening post I got the distinct impression that the reviewer is a fairly unhappy person that just likes...well nothing. He does make a few good points though but it all comes of with an air of bias.

True...but at least the reviewer injected some nice sarcasm.

Frankly if you are a fan of one of the actors mentioned, said actor is probably going to be forgiven for makeing a misstep in his or her career.

That's true for me...but in reverse for someone like Jack Nicholson: I loved his performance in The Shining, and that's all that really matters to me about Jack. His other roles and movies don't mean as much to me.

[Heath Ledger] stumbled upon a great trick, and one that hasn't been used in so long that people have forgotten it: he mumbled. Marlon Brando wowed people for years by using this trick. Apparently, if people can't understand what you're saying, they assume it's something profound.

I agree strongly on this point. It's the same reason why I disliked Last Tango In Paris: Brando mumbled through that movie and people call it genius.

But I totally disagree with the critic about Tom Hanks. For a stretch in the early 90's right up to 2000, he was my favorite actor. The critic can keep his Bachelor Party memories; I'll keep Saving Private Ryan, Apollo 13, and Castaway, thank you very much.

Nobody rated Kate Hudson, Matthew Mconoughy and Ben Stiller in the first place so how can they be over rated?!

The man has a point.

If you think about Mallywood actors, very few are character actors...Hannibal, Jack Sparrow and Bill the Butcher come to mind. Most are like Denzel and Tomy C., doing good acting within the range of their own personalities. And I think Denzel's gangsta cop in TD was outside of his usual characters and easily deserved the Oscar.