In those she was his secretary, period, not his love interest (at least in the original series, I’m not talking about any retcons). Since so much of the comic book character was the “playboy” part, having him get involved (or even interested in) his secretary would have complicated things way too much. The adjective that fits original-comic-book Potts is “efficient”.
It’s not just you. I cannot watch him in anything without at least some juvenile-ness to the character (I thought he was fine in Catch Me If You Can, for example.) What is Scorcese’s problem? Does he have the hots for Leo, the way he once had the hots for Robbie Robertson?
(Not that there’s anything wrong with that, per se. Just sayin’, it’s affecting his casting decisions, and not in a good way.)
I though Jennifer Jason Leigh in The Hudsucker Proxy was pretty good at that type of performance.
That was almost 20 years ago. Is she still current?
I’m sure Amy Adams could handle that sort of thing.
I don’t know about Robbie Robertson, but for a while DiCaprio was Scorcese’s new DeNiro.
Well, since you’re quoting me - I am aware that she had a modelling career. It mystifies me. Yes, I find her hideous, and furthermore and separately, her performance as an actress objectionable. Do you have a problem with me having an opinion?
Keanu Reeves on the other hand is a very pretty human, but his acting tends to the wooden, and his performance in Much Ado is an example where it doesn’t work for the film (as opposed to, for instance, Bill and Ted, which I love in a nostalgic teenage sort of way).
Tell me, if you find these threads so tiresome, why do you read them? Is it purely so you can announce what a bunch of mindless sheep we all are whilst you lay dung all around? But then when someone mentions Matthew Broderick, and you agree that he was poor in that role, that’s not sheep-like? That’s right, anyone who agrees with anyone else on the internet is a mindless idiot… except YOU! Well done, you.
Just look at all the individual instances of SDMB posters bashing Andie MacDowell in Four Weddings and a Funeral. (Bonus tracks!) Dear God yes, this echo chamber of hatred is tiresome. For pity’s sake, the movie is nearly two decades old! Can’t we at least find something new to collectively bash for the sake of group identification?
(By the way, kudos to GuanoLad for taking note of this weird internet grouphate of Andie MacDowell long before I ever mentioned it.)
I think there is only one winner of a thread like this. Andie McDowell was just awful in Four weddings and a funeral. It really was a terrible performance.
Oh, thank Og. I was afraid nobody was going to mention her. 
It’s funny, Duvall always comes up in these kinds of threads, but I’ve seen The Shining lika a billion times, and I think she’s terrific. She’s the original scream queen. What am I missing?
I agree. I’m a terrible judge of Keanu Reeves’ acting, though - he gets 3 and a half stars out of five for me just for being his gorgeous self.
That said, I do think he is unfairly lambasted for being terribly wooden. He has made a serious career as an A-list actor - you don’t do that sustainably for 23 years just by being pretty.
I think she sucks the fun out of every scene she’s ever been in.
Sorry, Jamie Lee Curtis starred in “Halloween” two years before Shelley starred in “The Shining.” 
Oh, I just thought of another one. Andie MacDowell in Four Weddings and a Funeral. Jesus H, she made the movie nearly unwatchable. Anyone agree?
She is not showing her teeth in any of those photos. An old roommate used to shout out “toothbrush!” every time she opened her mouth when watching Groundhog Day.
And I’m surprised no one has mentioned Keanu Reeves yet either.
Amen. She was awful (as usual) in LAC. Great movie, great performances, except when she was onscreen. The Oscar was a joke.
Amen some more. I liked him in This Boy’s Life, loved him in Gilbert Grape. Didn’t pay much attention to him for a while, until he played a cartoon character in a cartoon movie. (Titanic.) Since then I’ve never been able to take him seriously. Your last line speaks for me too.
.
Robert Redford in Out of Africa really tries hard to wreck one of my favorite movies and yet fails, even with his stiff performance and inappropriate American accent.
I remember the first time I saw Out of Africa and adored it. It had so much I loved: a great screenplay, terrific performances, gorgeous cinematography and a breathtaking score by one of my favorite composers, John Barry.
The hitch came when I saw it a second time and I realized that there was this blond Californian in the film playing an aristocratic, fairly opportunistic, ex-patriot Brit in British East Africa. It was then I realized how badly miscast Robert Redford was as Denys Finch-Hatton. Denys was an Oxonian and very upper-class. Apparently Redford tried to perform with an English accent at first but director Sydney Pollack said, “Aw shit, Bob, knock it off. It’ll never work.” I still love the movie, but that is only because I have developed the ability to cut-and-paste Jeremy Irons face and voice onto Redford’s performance as I’m watching.
I did a quick peek at Robert Redford’s IMDB film performances and I realize that when he’s not playing a fairly light role he sucks. He would have pulled* Out of Africa* away from my favorite movie list, but I just pretend he isn’t there as some silly American who grew up in England, the son of peers, who attended Eton and Oxford, yet came out of it speaking like he grew up in Santa Monica.
Blecch.
I still prefer the first True Grit to the recent remake, but Glen Campbell sure proved he was no actor…
I just watched Barry Lyndon the other night, and thought Ryan O’Neal’s performance was painful. I loved the film otherwise, and kept wondering how other actors would have fared in the lead role.
Prepare to be grossed out: These teeth?
No, groupthink isn’t coloring perceptions at all!
So glad to see others put into words what I’ve been feeling for a while - Leo DiCaprio just isn’t believable in his adult roles, though as TreacherousCretin put it he was fine as a cartoon character in cartoon movie Titanic. He just hasn’t transcended his boyishness, at least for this watcher. Compare to Joseph Gordon-Leavitt, who has.
Oh I know I’m going against the grain here, but Keanu’s acting never bothered me. Course I never watched him in the Shakespeare…