I hope he continues to make movies for a long time. He is certainly one of the better actors currently working. I though he was terrific in Primal Fear, American History X, Fight Club, Larry Flynt and Rounders.
Incidently, all of those are pretty good movies (imho) and somewhat unconventional for hollywood so I think his choice of movies to make is first rate.
puts hand up yet another lust-filled fan of Edward Norton. I haven’t seen Red Dragon yet, so I can’t really say what my views are on it, but he was excellent in American History X.
One of the best actors of his generation. No doubt about it.
A top notch actor. A nicely understated performance in Red Dragon. The character is one who has been so emotionally damaged by his job that he’s shut himself off from others, including his own wife, but still has an undercurrent of rage, frustration, and passion operating just under the calm exterior. He does a good job of showing us a man who is trying to sublimate his emotions and not quite succeeding.
I love him. If he quits making feature films, I hope he does porn – with me!
He was great in that one with Brando and DeNiro (Damn…I can’t think of the name of it). He’s great in everything. And way hot.
I saw Red Dragon last night and I thought it was a good movie (never seen Manhunter) and Norton gave a fine performance. I can’t say it was a miscast because I didn’t read the book to have a preconceived idea what the character should be like.
How can you bash someone like Norton when you have Cage and Keanu Reeves making movies?
I don’t agree with Astorian regarding Hannibal. It had to be hard to do a prequel with a character that was detroyed in “Hannibal”. IMHO they did a good job bringing the character back to the SOTL portrayal.
Chalk me up as another viewer who considers Edward Norton one of the best film actors of his generation. (The finest American actor working today, by the way, is Morgan Freeman. Don’t even bother to argue, because I’m right. :p)
Don’t make the mistake of confusing his roles with his craft. Norton is one of the most inventive, innovative actors working on film today. He doesn’t have a lot of range in terms of his physicality and vocal technique, but his emotional skills, and his ability to distinguish his characters with some extremely subtle choices, are very impressive.
And based on Keeping the Faith, he has the potential to become quite a director, too.
Cervaise (WHNYRAF) wrote:
I’ll bet you’re too young to remember him from Electric Company! 
Haven’t seen “Red Dragon” so I can’t comment on it but, even assuming the worst about Norton’s performance, that one movie is hardly justification for declaring his career over. Edward Norton is still in the stage of his career where he can be regarded as having immense promise. He’s already had several great performances (e.g., “American History X” and “Fight Club”) but we still haven’t seen his best yet. Also, Norton is still willing to take challenging parts rather than just cruising through one crappy movie after another because they offer the biggest paychecks.
That charge warrants a long and caustic rebuttal but I’m not going to do it. There’s just no accounting for taste and this thread is already getting perilously close to being tossed in the Pit.
Far and away my favorite actor. I haven’t seen Red Dragon but I think he’s got major acting chops and is unbelievably versatile.
American History X
Fight Club
Score - Unbelievable in this one, almost rivals AHX
And I’m not embarrassed to admit, Keeping The Faith.
I have loved Edward Norton since the second I saw him in Primal Fear, so hands off, he’s MINE!!
have you seen him sing in “Everyone Says I Love You”? Superb!
I bet this troll that started the thread IS Edward Norton and he just wants some love. haha
Email me Eddie, i’ve got a ton of love for ya!
And I agree with everyone who says he’s the finest American actor of his time. I hope he has a long career.
Well, let’s still not forget that he edited American History X into The Edward Norton Show. In doing so, he wiped out key elements of his relationship with his prison laundry buddy.
Norton’s escape from the wrath of Black inmates in the movie was a classic Deus ex Machina. It was suddenly revealed that his laundry friend had saved his ass, and yet their relationship had been woefully underdeveloped.
Yeah, he posted it in the Home Theater Forum too, where, in an earlier thread, he’d said that Edward Norton was one of his favorite actors. I think Norton killed his brother or something.
You pick on Ed Norton and completely ignore the real problem: Vin Diesel.
I was flipping channels today and came across The Fast and the Furious. The cars were out-acting this guy.
Cervaise, I certainly agree with you about Morgan Freeman (and, BTW, I DO remember him from Electric Company! Also remember S. Epatha Merkerson “Law adn Order” from Pee-Wee’s Playhouse, but that’s a different thread). I’ve always said that Freeman could play anything but a 19-year-old white girl, and he MIGHT be halfway successful at that!
As for Norton, I don’t consider him to be in league with Freeman or Gary Sinise or Tom Hanks, but think he does a pretty good job. Just saw Red Dragon tonight (been 20 years since I read the book, so comparison is vague), but LOVED the movie! Even my hubby, whom I dragged kicking and screaming, enjoyed it a lot.
Vin Diesel is the next Van Damme.
And “Fight Club” had a stupid concept? As Homer said, “Explain how!”