I didn’t really have a bad opinion of Edward Norton before American History X, but afterwards I was a total fan. Previously, he was just a guy who played a decent enough everyman-type character. Afterwards, I really believed he could probably act the hell out of any role he chose to.
I used to think highly of Gary Sinise based on pictures like A Midnight Clear. But when I saw him play a bad cop in Ransom, it totally changed the way I thought of him.
It’s crazy, but I feel like I can’t trust him now. I thought he was one of the good guys. You know, like Tom Hanks or something.
Ok, I said it was crazy. :rolleyes:
The turning point movie for Keanu Reeves (for me) was The Gift. What an evil sonuvabitch! I guess it wasn’t really a turning point. He’s still a loser…just not a complete loser.
John Travolta in Pulp Fiction was a total shocker. I loved him.
12 Monkeys. Brad Pitt is amazing.
Then he reaffirmed my opinion in Fight Club.
Ecch. This performance made me like him less.
Besides, he can’t prounounce “Razzle Dazzle.”
It’s Ra-zle Da-zle, not Ra-shzle Da-shzle, dammit!
Funny, I thought Travolta wasn’t very good in Pulp Fiction (though I agree with the thoughts about Willis). I didn’t think he could pull of the trademark Tarantino dialogue very well. It just didn’t sound like it was coming from his character - It seemed to me that he was using Quentin as the model for the character during those monologue-ish dialogues.
For me: DiCaprio in “What’s eating Gilbert Grape”.
Sadly, he has failed to impress in anything else, and although overshadowed in that by Johnny Depp (who tends to do that to people anyway) I thought he did well. Wish he seemed able to follow it up
Unless you’re Sean Connery.
Adam Sandler in Punch-Drunk Love. Obvious, maybe, but very very true for me.
Have you seen Catch Me If You Can? I thought he was fantastic in that role. He hit the nuances of the character dead on.
No, no, no. You must never refer to both Richard Gere and Sean Connery in the same post about movies. shudder
Anyway, Ewan McGregor in Moulin Rouge. I guess previously I had just never really “got” him as an actor but now I find myself going back and watching his previous movies and really enjoying his performance. Strange.
Oddly enough, that movie taught me that Mark Wahlberg is a WELL above average actor, which truly surprised me.
Come on Coldfire, you knew that that was just a prosthetic in the last scene, didn’t you?
Oh… you mean…
Never mind.
No, actually… I’ve avoided it because a) I was skeptical about Sean Penn’s ability to pull off a serious dramatic role, and b) I didn’t have a friend who’s taste I trust badger me for over a year to give it a chance. :smack:
I guess I know what I’m checking out next time I hit the video store.
The House of Yes made me not hate Freddy Prinze Jr. for about an hour and a half. Then I saw an ad for Head over Heels.
I was swayed to accept Brad Pitt as a decent actor too. Fight Club, Snatch, and 12 Monkeys, being representative of his talent, but in actuality my opinions about him began to change before that–when I saw him in Seven. Although, I have a personal theory that all actors seem more talented when acting opposite Morgan Freeman.
My contribution to this thread is Tom Cruise. I was never a fan of his, and I absolutely hated Top Gun. Seeing his dead on portrayal of a slimy self-help scam artist in Magnolia, and then Vanilla Sky, coupled with his inclusion in movies I liked, like Minority Report, has altered my opinion of him and his talent (to select roles if nothing else).
I was going to say Mark Wahlberg, but for Three Kings. Before that, I used to sneer about “Marky Mark” trying to act. Now, his name attached to a movie is enough to make me want to see it.
Nicole Kidman in “Moulin Rouge!” I’d always found her really bland. Her work never stirred any emotion in me. But her performace in “Moulin” wowed me. She was just outstanding. Now I have a Nicole on my computer screen all the time
Fairly obvious, but Sharon Stone in Casino. Quite a step up from Total Recall and Basic Instinct. And Patrick Swayze in Donnie Darko, which makes his cheesy blandness in every other film he made look deliberate.
And doing things in reverse, it was amazing the first time I saw The King of Marvin Garden to see that Jack Nicholson could actually play a normal-sized human being rather than the somewhat bizarre caricature he trots out in virtually every film since.
(As to the OP, I can’t think of why you’d think Sean Penn was a bad actor unless you’d never seen any of his films: from his early days in teen movies like Ridgemont High and At Close Range onwards, he’s always been a fascinating actor.)
After seeing Hayden Christiansen’s horrible, horrible acting in Star Wars, I was pleasantly surprised by his performance in Life As A House. He’s green yet, but he really may be able to act.
I couldn’t stand Ryan Phillippe until I saw him in The Way of the Gun.