# Best acting ever?! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 10, 1999, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-acting-ever/9205 "1999-10-10T06:14:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 1999, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-acting-ever/9205/21 "1999-10-11T19:40:00Z")
Harvey Keitel in “The Bad Lieutenant”. I didn’t like the movie, but the performance was amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Yankee\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7ea924/32.png) [@Yankee\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yankee_Blue)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 1999, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-acting-ever/9205/22 "1999-10-11T20:12:00Z")
I loved Kenneth Brannagh in Dead Again, he played two roles handling a different accent - not his own - for both of them and did it all flawlesly. He was also outstanding in Much Ado About Nothing, in which Michael Keaton also does a remarkable job. I think that Val Kilmer is the best American actor of his generation. All of his performances have been right on, even if the movie wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 1999, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-acting-ever/9205/23 "1999-10-11T20:55:00Z")
Mock me if you must, but Johnny Depp has grown to surprise me as an actor. His range is remarkable, and he makes you believe that he is who he plays. Anyway. He’s not the best actor of all time, or even the best actor alive, but he’s on the road… ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 1999, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-acting-ever/9205/24 "1999-10-11T21:10:00Z")
Max: Who would mock you? Doesn’t everyone know that about Depp? He’s one of the best of his generation, and he has the courage to make unsafe choices. * * * * * * This is a non-smoking area. If we see you smoking, we will assume you are on fire and act accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![Dred\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7c8e57/32.png) [@Dred\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dred_Red)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-acting-ever/9205/25 "1999-10-12T00:14:00Z")
I am new to this so bear with me. As for Bill and Ted I couldn’t even sit through the movie to determine whether the part was well acted or not. I would definitely agree that Kilmer was great in Tombstone. I could watch him in anything. * * * Red ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-acting-ever/9205/26 "1999-10-12T00:51:00Z")
Watch the most recent version of The Island of Doctor Moreau. All you Kilmer-lovers will change your tune. ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-acting-ever/9205/27 "1999-10-12T01:18:00Z")
Max: I defy you to find me any actor who hasn’t done a bad movie or given a bad performance. Overall, Kilmer is a very talented guy. I think he’s a putz, tho. * * * * * * This is a non-smoking area. If we see you smoking, we will assume you are on fire and act accordingly. ---
**Author:** ![meredith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/43a26b/32.png) [@meredith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/meredith)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-acting-ever/9205/28 "1999-10-12T01:43:00Z")
Stoidela-“Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday in “Tombstone” - I’d watch that performance on a contiuous loop for hours.” True-but the BEST performance of Doc Holliday I’ve ever seen is Dennis Quaid in Wyatt Earp. As for the best acting-Mel Gibson knocked me on my butt with his performance in “Hamlet”,the only things I had seen him in up to that point being “Mad Max” and “Lethal Weapon” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-acting-ever/9205.md?page=1)