The issue with Reeves is that his best performances were all in low-profile movies that few have seen. Has anyone here seen Tune in Tomorrow? How about I Love You to Death? Feeling Minnesota?
The problem with Reeves is that he does have a mannered way of saying things (much like John Wayne did). But given the right script, he can give a fine performance (much like John Wayne could – you probably don’t remember how reviled Wayne was as an actor before True Grit, in exactly the same terms people complain about Reeves).
I will have to disagree. None of these people are even close to being bad actors. But I’ll accept that they are not great actors. I think that neither Sandra or julia deserved their Oscars…but Oscars are (suppposedly) great performances, not competent ones. They were both completely competent. Carrey has been solid in more than one film, and like many comics who can act (Robin Williams) he just needs a director to reign him in.
I say again…genuinely bad acting makes even Keanu look like he’s good. And I’m not talking about forcing the local dry cleaner to act and seeing how bad it can be, I’m talking about people who have agents, who take classes, and who have actually been cast in actual films that you can actually see. They can be stunningly, jaw-droppingly, are-you-fucking-kidding-me-am I being-punked-is-this-a-gigantic-joke- who -the-hell-cast-this-shit bad. And apart from Sofia Coppola in The Godfather (who isnt’ actually a big star and wasn’t then, it was just a big movie with other big stars) I don’t think anyone else in this thread can honestly be said to be as bad as that.
I think Keanu perfectly qualifies for his performance in Much ado…
His other works don’t qualify your above criteria (although they usually make me cringe)
Bo Derek is someone I’d classfy as being not really a professional actor; she was a model who was used in movies as a name draw. You can’t really blame her for being a bad actress any more than you can blame Brett Favre for being a sht actor in “There’s Something About Mary.”
If you want to see genuinely bad acting, watch a geniune shit indie film. That’s how wannaba actors act.
Yeah, but that’s a place where it is sometimes difficult to disentangle the bad acting from the bad directing and writing. Also, the “star” and “creator” is a total moron, and not at all a star or famous other than as the result of his failure.
I’ve been saying this for years. Surprised to see so many agreeing with it, actually, because I usually get ignored when I post it here. Something must’ve caused a shift in the zeitgeist.
Fact is, the vast majority don’t know acting from their assholes, and just say “X is a bad actor” or “Y really chewed the scenery” every once in awhile because they heard someone else say it and they want to feel like they know what the fuck they’re talking about.
Go work on a student film with a bunch of 19 year olds who have never acted before. You’ll worship at Saint Keanu’s shrine that night.
So, so, so not true. I have seen painfully bad acting - the acting equivalent of the guy singing “Oh holy night” from the “Christmas songs that won’t get airplay” thread.
Frankly, if you can memorize a line and say that line in front of a camera, and give the impression that you are a reasonably normal human that just thought up those words right then, then you are at least a competent actor. Whether you can be a both a competent actor and yet a bad actor is another question entirely.
I think that anyone who wants to declare that someone is a good actor or a bad actor should be required to take at least a month or two of acting classes.
It’s kind of like when a sports fan says something like, “Jake Delhomme sucks as a quarterback”. Well he is certainly, at this point, one of the worst qbs in the NFL. But in the world he is clearly one of the best.
