In another thread, someone brings up The Butterfly Effect’s director’s cut, which is actually a pretty good film. Ashton Kutcher gets a lot of flack for being a shitty actor, or at least taking shitty roles. But this is a strong exception to his list of roles.
Will Farrell also gets a lot of shit, especially on this board (I disagree, but whatever). However, I haven’t met many people who weren’t impressed by his turn in Stranger Than Fiction.
Rubberfaced Jim Carrey has been descending into crazypants territory the last few years, and most of his roles are pretty awful. He was great in The Mask, but I’d say his real exception would be Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Even The Truman Show would qualify, making Carrey more likely to take on really good roles *and *really terrible roles.
I like Sandler in general as well when I’m in a mood for a mindless comedy - but he was good in Funny People as well. It’s another Judd Apatow movie that goes on 30 minutes too long, but it’s good.
H.I. McDunnough from Raising Arizona would like to have a word with you.
Reeve was also good in I Love You to Death, Feeling Minnesota, Speed, and **Tune in Tomorrow . . . **. His best films tended to be small art films that few people saw. However, his career has gone downhill since The Matrix.
I’ve said this before but Quentin Tarantino is a great director for acting - a skill which is underappreciated. But think of some of the people who have given great performances in a Tarantino movie that they haven’t equaled any other movie.
I don’t know about Spanglish or Funny People, but Sandler was great in Punch Drunk Love.
You’d never expect to see “Oscar Winner” after Bruce Willis’ name, but he is usually pretty good in whatever he is in.
Nicholas Cage had a few good ones in the eighties and nineties. But really, Con Air is a goddamn masterpiece compared to some of his recent ones. Kick-Ass is the only good one, and that’s partially because he’s not a main star.
How can you not love Keanu in THE MATRIX, where folks spend the movie patiently explaining stuff to the guy who has no idea what’s going on? It’s like the role was written for him!
I seem to remember him being good in The Gift, though that role didn’t have nearly as much screen-time as he usually gets. That probably worked to his benefit. I should say to his credit, however, that he seems generous about his salary; he gave something like $75 million to the effects crew on The Matrix, saying that he could live off the money he’d already made for a few centuries.
And since I’m the guy who mentioned The Butterfly Effect in that other thread, I don’t feel as bad about not coming up with another example of my own. heh.
Tarantino also insists on great dialogue, to the point where his films would be impossibly talky if the talk weren’t crisp and dazzling. If you look at Kill Bill, particularly Vol 2, every scene could inspire a parody for the room he gives the actors to ham it up, and it works for every scene, but it is almost too much: each scene has, through the dialogue, rising action, conflict and resolution.