Why is there so much hate for Kevin Costner? I think many would agree that Dances with Wolves is pretty darn good film, as is Field of Dreams. But I think Waterworld while not a great film is at least entertaining (up until the Smokers destroy his catamoran), and I really liked The Postman (that Tom Petty cameo never ceases to make me smile). He did okay in Silverado, Bull Durham, JFK, 13 days, A Perfect World, even **3000 Miles to Graceland ** was okay. Despite some pretty decent work and a good eye for a script, Costner is always given a ration of shit.
Can’t stand him. The only role I ever appreciated his drab, monotonous, apathetic style in was The Untouchables. But that’s only because the character accurately portrayed his acting (non)style. Delivering a line deadpan takes talent. But dude delivers ALL his lines deadpan.
It’s like he’s trying to deliver all his lines that way on purpose, like he’s mocking his craft or something. He’s just not very…dynamic. Which is not a problem in and of itself, but he keeps getting ROLES despite being one-dimensional. He’s screwing somebody. Well.
I think it’s just fashionable sometimes to heap scorn on certain celebrities, e.g., not too long ago, there was unanimous and universal agreement that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s Gigli was the worst movie ever made, even though 90% of the people making this judgment probably hadn’t even seen the movie, and it’s pretty damn unlikely that it’s really that bad (haven’t seen it, just a guess). I think Costner is (was) despised because he’s perceived as a massive egotist: putting himself in hero roles that he’s not really up to playing (esp. Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves). I’ve seen a lot of Keanu Reeves bashing in these parts, and I don’t really get it, for the same reason…
I just saw Costner’s Open Range, and thought it was a pretty likable movie (if you like westerns)…
Well, you lost me there. DwW has its moments but suffers from its inflated sense of self-importance. And FoD is fine as treacle goes, but that’s all it is.
And our paths continue to get farther apart. Postman, to these eyes, is atrocious and Waterworld a ridiculous snooze.
I don’t hate Costner, but I do hate how success (and a couple Oscars) inflated his ego disproportionate to his actual talent. Bull Durham remains the best film he’s ever been in–funny, smart, and original–but ever since he hit it big with DwW, the movies that are the most insufferable are also the ones where he’s clearly calling all the shots (you can add The Bodyguard, Robin Hood and 13 Days to that list) or is overtly preening for attention (the tedious Tin Cup, Wyatt Earp and For the Love of the Game). The trailers for Dragonfly, Graceland and Message in a Bottle were unbearable; you couldn’t pay me to see the films.
Having been taken down a few pegs, recently (as well as getting demonstrably older) has helped bring back that humility that you saw in those early years. Open Range is the best American western of the last decade and his performance in The Upside of Anger is self-effacing and fun. So there’s hope yet…
This seems to be a common complaint vs. KC…he’s just a crappy actor who nevertheless is given loads of attention and plum roles in blockbuster films. But since there are other crappy actors who give only drab, monotonous performances and yet are universally beloved (e.g. Harrison Ford), we’ve come full circle to the original question: why is KC singled out for abuse?
Because. I can laugh when Ford delivers a straight line joke.
“Snakes, why’d it have to be snakes”
“Nazis. I hate those guys.”
“Who’s Scruffy?” (responding to a barrage of insults from Leia in Star Wars)
etc. The guy can deliver a good deadpan. And his face moves when he talks. KC, not so much–dude’s a frickin’ droid.
Because, as being said, people perceive him and his work as inflated. Harrison Ford is conceived as good guy, he might be your neighbour, brother or uncle, fine ol’ carpenter. KC thinks he’s Elvis, and he just isn’t. The lie irritates.
I think the Keanu Reeves-bashing is a bit different because even if you think he’s an untalented dolt who’s somehow ended up with a successful film career, he still seems likeable. Costner, while also attacked as untalented, just comes across as a conceited prick (especially in the last ten to 12 years). Thus, he’s more fun to bash.
An inflated ego is definitely brought his days as a top box-office draw to a halt. How else do you explain why he did The Postman–a plodding post-apocalyptic sci-fi epic–right after he dodged a bullet with Waterworld–a plodding post-apocalyptic sci-fi epic.
I would differentiate between Waterworld and The Postman. I think Waterworld was a decent movie. Any chance of most people liking it was destroyed by the press regarding its cost and frequent delays, more than the movie itself.
I just watched The Postman for the first time. While it was not abysmal, it took the mediocre parts of Waterworld and made them worse. It should have ended about an hour before it did. It dragged terribly in places, and had a worse of example of the “Costner - Loner Messiah” syndrome than Waterworld.
Dances with Wolves drove me nuts because I can’t stand the, “Indians good, kind, uber-society,” portrayal anymore than the, “Angry red savages,” portrayal.
IMO, Costner is a journeyman actor, with limited chops, who is a legend in his own mind. If he confined himself to the type of role he had in Bull Durham and Tin Cup, he could make a good living and not make everybody’s shit list. Instead, he thinks he is An Actor, and foists dreck like Waterworld, The Postman, and Robin Hood on us. Luckily, we can vote with our wallets and send him back to dinner theater.
I mostly hate Coster because of 13 Days. His accent is typically awful (he’s the anti-Streep, when you think about it). It butchers the history of the Cuban Missile Crisis pretty badly, and so much of the action is altered JUST to give Costner’s character a place in the scene (and thus a place in history) he did not really occupy. And I seem to recall that in the film, a US spy plane is shot down over Cuba. Had that really happened, there would’ve been a war and we wouldn’t be talking about a “missile crisis.”
Just to clarify my position, I don’t think Costner is a great actor or director (in fact, now that I think about it, the list of Costner movies that I’ve liked is pretty damn short…I will confess to getting a kick out of The Postman, in a bad Star Trek sort of way…). I just think it’s strange that he inspires such loathing…