# How exactly does Ryan Reynolds keep getting work? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 23, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280 "2013-07-23T03:25:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stonebow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Stonebow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stonebow)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280/1 "2013-07-23T03:25:11Z")
Don’t get me wrong. I understand he’s handsome and in great shape. But the man just seems to have a way of killing otherwise serviceable movie concepts. As a geek, I blame him for the wrecking of the Blade, Green Lantern, and Deadpool franchises. And now, my understanding is that RIPD, which is Men in Black meets the Sixth Sense (how do you screw that up?), was a box office bomb as well. I can understand why he might do well in the rom/com genre…but why keep throwing big budget films his way? If my perception is off, and he is a gifted thespian whose best work is cut in post-production, please let me know that as well. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280/2 "2013-07-23T03:28:59Z")
Maybe the [Stonecutters](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZI_aEalijE) are behind it. “Who makes Steve Guttenberg a star?” ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280/3 "2013-07-23T03:33:51Z")
I was just reading about the current big budget flops and started wondering about Ryan Reynolds too. Poor guy. I wonder if the opposite isn’t true. It’s not that RR brings down otherwise passable movies, it’s that he’s the ray of light in crapfest movies. He needs a better agent. Join Scientology. Something. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280/4 "2013-07-23T03:46:05Z")
He’s picked some less-than-great roles and had some very bad luck at the box office, that’s for sure. [http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/07/weekend-could-be-requiem-ryan-reynolds-career/67390/](http://www.theatlanticwire.com/entertainment/2013/07/weekend-could-be-requiem-ryan-reynolds-career/67390/) [http://thereeltimes.com/2013/05/05/why-ryan-reynolds-career-is-so-frustrating/](http://thereeltimes.com/2013/05/05/why-ryan-reynolds-career-is-so-frustrating/) > **[» The Movie Star](http://grantland.com/features/the-movie-star/)** ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280/5 "2013-07-23T03:52:12Z")
> [@Stonebow](#): > > As a geek, I blame him for the wrecking of the Blade, Green Lantern, and Deadpool franchises. You really think _Ryan Reynolds_ and not Wesley Snipes is responsible for what happened to the _Blade_ franchise? And what Deadpool franchise? How would a Deadpool movie have been any more likely if someone else had been cast in that role? Unless you’re asserting he had some sort of effect on the writing of the Wolverine movie (or the GL movie for that matter)? ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280/6 "2013-07-23T04:15:06Z")
> [@Stonebow](#): > > Don’t get me wrong. I understand he’s handsome and in great shape. But the man just seems to have a way of killing otherwise serviceable movie concepts. > As a geek, I blame him for the wrecking of the Blade, Green Lantern, and Deadpool franchises. Somebody decided The Merc with a Mouth shouldn’t have a mouth. _They_ killed Deadpool, not Reynolds. ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280/7 "2013-07-23T04:25:59Z")
He keeps getting work because he seems like he has everything to be successful. Good looking, in shape, kind of funny in a snarky sort of way. I think he just doesn’t fit the hero (or anti-hero) type he keeps getting cast as. Maybe he picked bad roles, maybe it was his agent, maybe that’s all he was offered. I think he’d do much better in a not so over-the-top role like an intelligent non-slapstick/teen comedy or rom-com if he dropped about 50% of the snark and humbled up a bit. I’d kind of like to see him in a role where he plays a humble shmuck. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280/8 "2013-07-23T04:44:44Z")
> [@Stonebow](#): > > If my perception is off, and he is a gifted thespian whose best work is cut in post-production, please let me know that as well. I haven’t seen the movie but the consensus seems to be Reynolds gave an excellent performance in _Buried_. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280/9 "2013-07-23T05:39:14Z")
I saw Buried in the theater, and yes, he did. That’s an intense role and he was fantastic, showing that he has the chops if he has the right director and script. I’ve seen very few of his other films, but in general he seems very down to earth and likeable. ---
**Author:** ![GovernmentMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e9c0ed/32.png) [@GovernmentMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GovernmentMan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280/10 "2013-07-23T05:44:07Z")
> [@Stonebow](#): > > Don’t get me wrong. I understand he’s handsome and in great shape. But the man just seems to have a way of killing otherwise serviceable movie concepts. > As a geek, I blame him for the wrecking of the Blade, Green Lantern, and Deadpool franchises. And now, my understanding is that RIPD, which is Men in Black meets the Sixth Sense (how do you screw that up?), was a box office bomb as well. > > I can understand why he might do well in the rom/com genre…but why keep throwing big budget films his way? > > If my perception is off, and he is a gifted thespian whose best work is cut in post-production, please let me know that as well. Possibly the dumbest post I’ve ever seen. Would Reynolds not being in those films magically make them better directed and written? ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280/11 "2013-07-23T05:53:58Z")
Reynolds has been in some real stinkers, but most of them weren’t bad \*because \*of him. Check out some of his smaller films. _Buried_, as mentioned, is good. I also liked _The Nines_ and _Chaos Theory_. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280/12 "2013-07-23T08:11:03Z")
He’s also the voice of the snail in that stupid snail movie about the snail\* that came out this weekend to mediocre business. \*It has a snail in it. ---
**Author:** ![Stonebow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Stonebow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stonebow)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280/13 "2013-07-23T10:42:11Z")
> [@GovernmentMan](#): > > Possibly the dumbest post I’ve ever seen. Wow. Are you new here? This is not even the dumbest post I’ve ever made. This was less a question about Reynolds’ acting ability and more an issue with the folks that do casting. It seems clear enough to me that Reynolds is not ‘that guy’ that will put butts in seats even for a terrible movie just because he is attached, or can rise above the material. I realize those are 2 separate issues- quality v box office- but it seems he does poorly at both in so far as the big budget action genre is concerned. I can accept he does good work on smaller films. I also do not blame the guy for showing up to work every day if he is getting paid. I am just mystified as to the coincidence that does saddle him with ‘stinkers.’ Also, Blade III was terrible, and while the issues may have started with the rewrite, exacerbated by Snipes’…problems…if my amnesia induced trauma lets anything through, it is that Reynolds was actively offensive on screen. Either he is plagued by horrible writers, or he really needs to be told to never ever ad lib. ---
**Author:** ![DeweyDecibel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@DeweyDecibel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeweyDecibel)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280/14 "2013-07-23T11:12:07Z")
My guess is that he’s a decent-to-good, not great, actor (see the aforementioned roles where he showed talent) who has terrible taste in what offers to take. Maybe a bad agent, but the actor also has a lot of say. Some actors just seem to have a way of picking really good roles, they have taste or a knack for reading scripts or something. If their taste lines up with yours you can be reasonably confident that a role they choose will be a good movie. Obviously this fails sometimes, due to other factors, but it’s a decent barometer. An example of this sort of actor for me would be Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Reynolds does not seem to have good judgement in what to take. Or he just needs money and takes crap roles with big paychecks. ---
**Author:** ![JLRogers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@JLRogers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JLRogers)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280/15 "2013-07-23T11:36:26Z")
> [@Stonebow](#): > > As a geek, I blame him for the wrecking of the Blade, Green Lantern, and Deadpool franchises. You really think the actor killed those franchises rather than studios rushing to crank out the next hit flick for the manchild demographic somehow managing to overestimate the level of schlock a bunch of grown men who take comic books seriously will accept? > [@Stonebow](#): > > And now, my understanding is that RIPD, which is Men in Black meets the Sixth Sense **(how do you screw that up?)**, was a box office bomb as well. Well, the premise is staggeringly lazy. It probably didn’t take much to “screw that up.” The real trick would’ve been making it watchable. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280/16 "2013-07-23T11:55:52Z")
> [@DeweyDecibel](#): > > Some actors just seem to have a way of picking really good roles, they have taste or a knack for reading scripts or something. If their taste lines up with yours you can be reasonably confident that a role they choose will be a good movie. Obviously this fails sometimes, due to other factors, but it’s a decent barometer. The poster boy for this, IMHO, is Leo DiCaprio. Say what you like about him, but the man picks terrific projects, and works with excellent directors; the only weak film he’s made since 2000 was _Blood Diamond_, and even that was a calculated risk, not a sell-out. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280/17 "2013-07-23T12:07:18Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > The poster boy for this, IMHO, is Leo DiCaprio. Say what you like about him, but the man picks terrific projects, and works with excellent directors; the only weak film he’s made since 2000 was _Blood Diamond_, and even that was a calculated risk, not a sell-out. I thought Blood Diamond was pretty good, wouldn’t call it a weak film per se. Might not be Oscar material but as a thriller it did a decent job. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280/18 "2013-07-23T12:12:45Z")
> [@Wallenstein](#): > > I thought Blood Diamond was pretty good, wouldn’t call it a weak film per se. Might not be Oscar material but as a thriller it did a decent job. Maybe so, but that just proves how high the bar is - since 2000 he’s worked with Martin Scorsese, Stephen Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino, Christopher Nolan, Sam Mendes and Baz Luhrman. Show me one other actor who’s worked with directors as good. I’m sure he’s gotten offers to work with second-rate directors on second-rate scripts. I’m also sure he’s been offered a ton of money to do so, much more than he’s getting from Scorcese. The fact that he hasn’t proves he has one of the best-managed careers in Hollywood. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280/19 "2013-07-23T12:26:29Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Show me one other actor who’s worked with directors as good. Daniel Day-Lewis, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2013, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280/20 "2013-07-23T12:30:10Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > Daniel Day-Lewis, maybe? Maybe, but he works much less frequently, and even he’s had a few stumbles (remember **Nine**?) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-does-ryan-reynolds-keep-getting-work/664280.md?page=2)