This is an invalid comparison because Leo is a headliner. He opens movies, so the people who make the movies he’s in have a vested interest in making sure the audience notices him as Leo.
Gary Oldman is a character actor. (And the best actor of his generation by a country mile, IMO.)
Too funny, and so true.
Yes! To expand (this is a pet topic of mine)
Ok, so first, not all “acting” is the same and it should not all be evaluated on the same criteria. What someone like DiCaprio, or Tom Hanks, or hell even Dustin Hoffman is asked to and/or expected to do in the roles they play is vastly different from what someone like Oldman is expected/asked to do.
Second, while being able to morph into different characters so that the actor is no longer recognizable is an interesting and special ability, I would argue strongly that it is not only NOT the point when creating an acting performance, I would additionally argue that attempting to do that can frequently hinder the objective of a credible acting performance, that it, telling a story.
Example: Meryl Streep is one of the most gifted actresses I have seen. I think few will argue that she is very very good at what she does. In the movie Julia and Julia she attempted to portray Julia Child with such “authenticity” that she was totally and frustratingly distracting in the roll. It was impossible not to see her as someone doing a Julia Child impersonation. I would have much rather gone without the accent and other nonsense, or at least toned it WAY the heck down, and simply had her tell the story of the character. She is *capable *of doing that, the production chose to go a different way. She was still good, as she is a good actress, but it was…suboptimal.
Neither of the above items are credible criteria for acting evaluation. You want to point out examples of where DiCaprio was unable to portray complex emotions? Where he failed to make dynamic choices in a scene where the opportunity presented itself? Where he failed to realize a fully developed character? Where he got in the way of telling the story? Go for it. That’s credible. The other stuff…sounds like what the people who try to discredit the theory of relativity must sound like to physicists. It’s so far away from genuine criticism that it’s almost hard to argue against.
I’ll grant that there are many skills involved in acting, and an actor can be good at his craft while still being deficient in some of them. But if you’re going to claim someone as the best actor in all of history, or whatever, he’d damn well be at least competent, and probably great, in all of them.
I think DiCaprio is a fine actor, and FWIW, I never found him attractive. He had to work hard to overcome that teenage hearthrob typecasting. I really enjoyed Shutter Island, which is a lot more interesting film to watch the second time around.
Do I think he’s the best ever? No. But I consider him very good, even excellent in the right role.
As for Gary Oldman, I didn’t know who that was so I looked him up on IMDB. I still don’t understand who he is and haven’t seen about 90% of the movies he’s listed in. In what films did he give his most important/memorable performances?
Oh sure. The best ever is a crazy claim.
He’s not that pretty.
To get why people are so impressed with Oldman you soft of have to do a sampler of his work. I suggest Sid & Nancy, Rozencranz and Guildenstern are Dead, Leon: The Professional, either Immortal Beloved OR Bram Stocker’s Dracula (the Coppola one) then maybe a recent Harry Potter film (#3 is best) or a recent Batman film, and finally Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy. Maybe throw in The Fifth Element. Mostly these are good movies anyway and worth your time and they give you a representative sample of his work over the years.
I think DiCaprio does have some solid acting chops, but any movie I see him in, I never stop noticing it’s Leonardo DiCaprio.
To me, one of the main litmus tests of a “great actor” is that, sometimes, they truly disappear into a role. I can’t say I’ve seen DiCaprio do that much, if ever.
His ability to get great roles that do fit him well, however, is amazing.
What really did it for me was True Romance, where I didn’t actually know it was Oldman until years later. Mainly because I didn’t know who Oldman was until Fifth Element and the Professional (Leon).
The first time I realized who Oldman’s character was in True Romance on a rewatching I was blown away.
His resume as it stands makes him a contender for best actor of his generation.
There are easily ten performances on there that are top tier, cream of the crop acting. This Boy’s Life and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape are miles and miles ahead of typical child acting performances. Catch Me If You Can, The Departed, The Aviator, Inception, J. Edgar, Shutter Island…all of these can certainly compete for best actor against any other performance of their respective years.
Nobody currently acting today has had success in a more diverse set of roles. He doesn’t “play himself in every movie,” the way a previous poster said. He’s the honest to goodness real deal.
While I agree DiCaprio is a great actor, flatly saying nobody has been better in a broader range of roles is a statement that is very easy to argue against.
Kevin Spacey?
Daniel Day-Lewis?
Russell Crowe?
Sean Penn?
Jeff Bridges?
Philip Seymour Hoffman?
Surely one cannot objectively demonstrate DiCaprio has a more impressive resume than these guys. I mean, it’s no insult to DiCaprio to say he’s not quite as great as Russell Crowe.
I gather you haven’t seen many Benicio del Toro movies. Watch Traffic, The Pledge, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and you’ll see him disappear into three very different roles.
And as to the OP, DiCaprio is a very fine actor, despite his former pretty-boy status. Not the best, but one of the better leading men around. I thought his performance in The Departed was great.
It has more to do with being cast to play a bastard. Some of us have seen him in his non-bastard roles, and he is an excellent actor with plenty of range. He was not a bastard at all in Anthony Minghella’s Truly, Madly, Deeply or playing Col. Brandon in Sense and Sensibility and not particularly a bastard in The January Man. And he was more a flawed man succumbing to temptation in Love, Actually than a bastard.
Be interesting to see if he plays President Reagan as a bastard.
Given the fact that this movie apparently casts Robin Williams was Dwight D. Eisenhower, I can only assume that they may actually ask Rickman to play Reagan as Hans Gruber. They’re clearly fucking with us.
Since Fifth Element has been brought up I’m going to name Chris Tucker as the greatest actor of all time based on that role alone.
It seems weird, but I can totally see Williams as Eisenhower. He may usually be a goofball, but he is a damn fine actor*, I think he can pull it off.
*when he wants to be which isn’t often
Gosh, great minds usually think alike but not this time. Chris Tucker and his character almost completely ruined the movie for me, couldn’t stand that guy. Oh well, to each his/her own I always say.