I was just thinking about this the other day. I rarely see him mentioned when favorite actors are being talked about, so i was wondering, do people rate him as an actor, and if not, why?
I think is a very good actor. Mind you I haven’t seen all of his work, what I have seen impresses me.
He has shone in his roles but unfortunately many of his characters are not exactly likeable people. His best (in my oppinion) Bernie Burnbaum is a weasle and boarders on the shyster/shylock stereotype making him unpalitable
who wasn’t happy to see him get it in the end
He steals the show in The Big Labowski with his five minutes of screen time as Jesus the Pederast Bowler. But once again an unlikable character.
I even liked him in Brain Doners.
In Barton Fink he does another powerhouse job on a character that is not exactly endearing.
In Quiz Show he is utterly detestable but it is the character not the actor.
Pete (O Brother Where art thou) is probably his most likable character… Even then…
He was good in his Spike Lee venture, Mo better Blues, Do the Right thing, Jungle Fever.
I think it says lots when you have certain directors go to him and recast him like Lee and the Coen Brothers have.
I agree that he’s a fantastic actor. In “Monday Night Mayhem” he did an astonshing job of playing Howard Cosell (though I should stress that the movie itself was terrible). And I’d disagree slightly with kingpengvin in that in “Quiz Show” I found his character both sympathetic and tragic:
He was forced to take a dive because he was uncouth and unattractive while Van Doren was good-looking, suave, &c. Herbie Stemple was taking answers, but he was desperately going after his only chance to be “somebody” in life, while Van Doren was born somebody.
My two cents. I admire Turturro a lot. Even the less-than-stellar movies he’s been in (coughAngerManagementcough) have been brightened by his appearance in them.
I think he’s fantastic. Sometimes I pop in The Big Lebowski just to watch John’s scenes, and then I rewind and watch the rest just for good measure.
I like Turturro a lot.
kingpengvin, while it’s a good observation that he tends to play kind of grungy characters (he steals Rounders, for example), you’ve got a movie in your list where he’s the most sympathetic character, by far. Jungle Fever. As far as I can recall, it’s his most “normal” performance, and quite charismatic. It’s too bad he doesn’t get to do that more often.
Count me in as a John Turturro fan. I think he has excelled in every role he has taken, yet his roles are all over the map. I guess you might call him a character actor, but in my opinion, some of the finest of actors are character actors.
My favorite role of his: Pete in “O Brother Where Art Thou”.
I couldn’t believe that was him in O BROTHER, especially when he was dancing during the “In the Jailhouse Now” scene. Realizing that was the same guy as Barton Fink and Mo Better Blues made me re-evaluate him in such a way as to say “Yes, he’s a very good actor”.
I also like watching John Turturro, and for anyone who is a fan and wants to watch him play a sympathetic character, I recommend finding a film called Unstrung Heroes.
kingpengvin: you left out one of Turturro’s better Spike Lee films: “Clockers”. There’s an exceptional scene with just him and Harvey Keitel in a police station talking about the worth of pursuing criminals when the victim is a gangbanger/drug dealer.
I personally think Turturro is an amazing actor who has unfortunately gotten typecast as “ethnic” a-holes. He’s got a complexion that can be taken as a variety of ethnicity, which I read him commenting upon in a cnn.com interview as one of the ways he consistently gets jobs: he can blend into many nationalities. The problem is, though, he’ll show up when a film needs an Italian, a Mexican, or a Jewish “shyster” (a phrase someone in this thread previously used) instead of just a damn good actor.
I agree that his best role was Barton Fink because it gave him a chance to shine in the limelight and to be shown as the amazing actor he truly is.
–greenphan
As kingpengvin pointed out if the Coen brothers keep using you you’re good. I like him in everything I’ve seen him in but maybe his taste is going off because I haven’t seen anything he’s done since O Brother, Where Art Thou? but I’ve seen him in 17 movies up to then. I recently watched the special edition DVD of Raging Bull and he makes his first uncredited appearance in it.
I like Turturro a lot. I don’t care that many of the characters that he plays are not very appealing–he is still a fantastic actor.
I thought he was great as Herbie Stempel in “Quiz Show,” and i also liked him in his rather small role as gambler Joey Knish in “Rounders.” Although i thought “The Luzhin Defence” wasn’t a great movie, his performance was still very good.
And what more can you say about Turturro in “O Brother, Where Art Thou” and “The Big Lebowski”? Brilliant.
I still can’t bring myself to see “Mr. Deeds,” however.
Saw “Clockers” for the first time a couple of weeks ago, and thought it was great. And that was an excellent scene.
Well mhendo, the only good thing about Mr. Deeds was Turturro. If there was an easy way to watch only his scenes in the movie, I’d recommend you do that.
I’ve always enjoyed his work, but it took me forever to realize that the normally serious actor was the guy in O Brother, Where Art Thou?
He’s a little underrated as an actor and I thought he was particularly good in Quiz Show.
I’ve only seen him in Oh Brother Where Art Thou? and The Big Lebowski, but I loved him in those.
Was he good in Barton Fink? I’ve never seen that one, and the reviews have been mixed.
Two of my favorite Turturro performances haven’t been mentioned yet-
Illuminata , which he directed (and also features Christopher Walkin as a “Macaroni Queen” and the always wonderful Bill Irwin), and Box of Moon Light , which also introduced me to Sam Rockwell. Any Turturro fan owes it to himself to see these movies!
On the first viewing it seems really hard for many people to really like until the final John Goodman scene in the end… those who have seen it will automatically know what I 'm talking about.
Suddenly everything else falls into place (albeit a weird place) and you want to view it again and it gets better with each viewing. At least that is what I and my friends have found.
I wonder if others found the same thing?
*Johnnyboy,
I just saw this same thread on yesand.com’s bulletin boards (I post there as BobK). Wonder if there are any other BBs we have in common?
I think Turturro is a damn fine actor. I have really enjoyed him in most of the movies already mentioned. I would also like to throw in a recommendation for Five Corners, one of Turturro’s first films (and one of Tim Robbins’ as well). Great performance there, especially the scene where he visits his mom for the first time after spending some years in the clink.