# Beat this jaw-dropping casting job **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 5, 2006, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495 "2006-06-05T16:19:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495/21 "2006-06-05T19:54:22Z")
Hey, this is educational. I had yet to hear a single person come to Keanu Reeves’s defense. Personally, I think he’s incredibly hammy, but weirdly enjoyable. He’s an awful actor, IMHO, but part of me enjoys his attempts at serious drama. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495/22 "2006-06-05T20:01:46Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] Jack Nicholson _knew_ how to act. Sadly, we’ll probably never see it again. He seems content now to just play Jack Nicholson. I would say that from _The Witches of Eastwick_ onward (inclusive), he gave up acting and started parodying. [/QUOTE] The Defense calls “About Schmidt”, “The Pledge” and “Something’s Got To Give” to the stand, please. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495/23 "2006-06-05T20:10:05Z")
John Barrymore and Kay Kyser in [Playmates](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0034033/). (And let’s not have any of that “John Barrymore was a ham” stuff–I’ve been watching a lot of his movies lately,and he was _vastly_ under-rated because of his personal problems. He was a ham, sure, but top-quality, delicious deli ham!) ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495/24 "2006-06-05T20:38:31Z")
[QUOTE=Askia] The Defense calls “About Schmidt”, “The Pledge” and “Something’s Got To Give” to the stand, please. [/QUOTE] **Something’s Got To Give** was Jack just being Jack (and interestingly also starred **Keanu** )- I didn’t beleive him in that part at all. I didn’t see About Schmidt or The Pledge, so I cannot comment on those ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495/25 "2006-06-05T20:41:24Z")
Wasn’t Judi Dench in a movie with Vin Diesel? Ugh. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495/26 "2006-06-05T20:46:10Z")
I’ll give you **About Schmidt**. I didn’t see _The Pledge_. I concur with **anyrose** on _Something’s Got to Give_. One acting job in two decades. Perhaps I’ve missed it, but has **Kevin Costner** done anything worth watching since his pair of baseball movies? ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495/27 "2006-06-05T20:54:42Z")
[QUOTE=Rhythmdvl] Wasn’t Judi Dench in a movie with Vin Diesel? Ugh. [/QUOTE] GOOD one. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495/28 "2006-06-05T20:59:05Z")
[QUOTE=Rhythmdvl] Wasn’t Judi Dench in a movie with Vin Diesel? Ugh. [/QUOTE] [To be fair…](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0129167/) Though his performance was a little mechanical there? 😃 ow! stop hitting me! ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495/29 "2006-06-05T21:20:26Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] Perhaps I’ve missed it, but has **Kevin Costner** done anything worth watching since his pair of baseball movies? [/QUOTE] No. Unless you want to see pore-level close ups for 3 hours in the Postman. Definately on my Top 20 Most Painful Movies Ever list. ---
**Author:** ![ululate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/59ef9b/32.png) [@ululate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ululate)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495/30 "2006-06-05T21:34:56Z")
[QUOTE=anyrose] **Something’s Got To Give** was Jack just being Jack (and interestingly also starred **Keanu** )- I didn’t beleive him in that part at all. I didn’t see About Schmidt or The Pledge, so I cannot comment on those [/QUOTE] Might want to give “Reds” a try: he plays it low-key and detached, a little hesitant and a little disappointed – but mostly just quiet and sincere. Got him a Best Supporting Actor nomination. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495/31 "2006-06-05T21:45:42Z")
[QUOTE=Birdmonster] Hey, this is educational. I had yet to hear a single person come to Keanu Reeves’s defense. Personally, I think he’s incredibly hammy, but weirdly enjoyable. He’s an awful actor, IMHO, but part of me enjoys his attempts at serious drama. [/QUOTE] I have almost never\* seen a Keanu Reeves film I did not enjoy, from _Mnemonic_ to _Constantine_, _Much Ado_ to _Idaho_. Knowing Keanu’s in a movie will often motivate me to see it (like _Constantine_, for example). I’ve never\*\* been served wrong by following this tack. The same could probably not be said for a lot of other actors. For instance, I enjoyed _The Devil’s Advocate_ _in spite of_ that overacting ham, Pacino. This may have had more to do with Charlize than Keanu, but certainly he didn’t ruin it for me. Another on that list of so-called great actors who do nothing for me would be Nicholson (yes, I’ve seen _Easy Rider_, _Cuckoo’s Nest_ and _The Shining_) \*The last Matrix movie was underwhelming to me, but not because of Keanu, rather because of the plot. \*\* OK, except for the last Matrix movie… ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495/32 "2006-06-05T21:56:59Z")
Everybody needs to give Vin Diesel a break. He’s good at playing certain types of characters. He can’t carry a movie as the leading man, but the same could be said for tons of great character actors. Diesel fills a certain role that Hollywood presents again and again, the stone cold tough guy, and fills it well. ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495/33 "2006-06-05T22:14:03Z")
[QUOTE=anyrose] **Something’s Got To Give** was Jack just being Jack (and interestingly also starred **Keanu** )- I didn’t beleive him in that part at all. I didn’t see About Schmidt or The Pledge, so I cannot comment on those [/QUOTE] You didn’t believe him in that part? He was Jack Nicholson as himself - except instead of a famous actor banging young women he was a famous record producer banging young women! -Joe ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495/34 "2006-06-05T22:26:03Z")
[QUOTE=Argent Towers] Everybody needs to give Vin Diesel a break. He’s good at playing certain types of characters. He can’t carry a movie as the leading man, but the same could be said for tons of great character actors. Diesel fills a certain role that Hollywood presents again and again, the stone cold tough guy, and fills it well. [/QUOTE] Agreed. And as far as The Chronicles of Riddick goes, it wasn’t Diesel’s acting that made that movie crappy, it was the script. ---
**Author:** ![anyrose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anyrose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anyrose)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2006, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495/35 "2006-06-05T22:34:29Z")
[QUOTE=Merijeek] You didn’t believe him in that part? He was Jack Nicholson as himself - except instead of a famous actor banging young women he was a famous record producer banging young women! -Joe [/QUOTE] _that_ part I believed - it was the redmeption that was far from convincing ---
**Author:** ![Hung\_Mung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@Hung\_Mung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hung_Mung)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495/36 "2006-06-06T00:30:43Z")
[QUOTE=Annie-Xmas] Juliette Lewis paired with Johnny Depp and Leonardo Decapiro in “Gilbert Grape.” [/QUOTE] Boom. You could replace Juliette Lewis with a dazed-looking marionette in any role. I firmly believe the two are indistinguishable. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495/37 "2006-06-06T01:01:37Z")
Whenever people talk about casting, I recall when Robert Altman’s movie _Nashville_ came out. The two movie critics at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch disagreed vehemently – one thought it was brilliant, the other thought it stunk. The newspaper printed their reviews side by side. I was particularly struck by one review: “Henry Gibson, stunningly cast against type…” while the other said “Henry Gibson, woefully miscast…” ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495/38 "2006-06-06T02:42:21Z")
While I’m no great fan of Keanu’s acting, he was perfect for his role in the underrated campfest that was **Dracula**. I fully believe he was cast because Coppola knew his accent would be horrid. ---
**Author:** ![Hometownboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/5e9695/32.png) [@Hometownboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hometownboy)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495/39 "2006-06-06T06:11:40Z")
Jean-Claude Van Damme was in [Sudden Death](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114576/) with Powers Boothe… J-C also had a cameo in The Last Action Hero, in which Sir Ian McKellan appeared, but I’m not sure cameos count in the view of the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2006, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495/40 "2006-06-06T06:31:37Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou] I was particularly struck by one review: “Henry Gibson, stunningly cast against type…” while the other said “Henry Gibson, woefully miscast…” [/QUOTE] Casting against type (or even actor pigeonholding) can produce some interesting and intriguing results as long as the actors have the guts and chops to pull off the role reversal. Michael Keaton as “Batman.” Bill Murray as a mob boss, Robert De Niro as a hapless wimp in “Mad Dog and Glory.” Sylvester Stallone as a washed out law enforcer in “Copland.” Mel Gibson in “Hamlet.” De-glammed Halle Berry and Charlize Theron in “Monster’s Ball” and “Monster.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beat-this-jaw-dropping-casting-job/359495.md?page=3)