Wouldn’t that be a “whoa!” moment? 
I’ll second Brad Pitt after seeing him in *12 Monkeys * and Seven, almost back to back in 1995. I thought he was a useless pretty-boy from all those ads for Legends of the Fall, the period piece where he had long blond Fabio-like hair and rode a lot of horses. But those two movies showed me he’s an awesome actor, actually a top-notch character actor who gets typecast in a lot of “leading man” roles just because of his looks.
I was a Johnny Depp fan ever since seeing him in *Edward Scissorhands * (in 1990, I believe), but the movie that really made me take notice of his chameleon-like method acting was Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, where he BECAME Hunter S. Thompson. I enjoyed his Captain Jack Sparrow character and a lot of his roles before and since, but I argue that Fear and Loathing is his best overall acting role to date.
Smokin’ Aces was a violent black comedy/action shoot-em-up/crime drama that came out earlier this year, ultimately a flawed movie with a lot of potential to be something greater. Still, it was packed with excellent performances, perhaps led off by Ryan Reynolds. While synonymous with so many goofy gross-out comedies like Van Wilder, this time Reynolds played a serious, competent FBI agent in a dramatic role. I thought he did a stand-up job, even surrounded by heavyweights like Andy Garcia, Ray Liotta, and Jeremy Piven. One more occasion where a comic actor did a seamless transition to a serious, meaty part.
More of a Constantine moment, in that it would surely be a sign of the Apocalypse.
Okay, I’ll say it: I admit to being just a teensy bit impressed with Keanu in The Gift.
I just thought of another one, more recent, that surprised the hell out of me: Justin Timberlake in Alpha Dog. And if I thought that was some sort of fluke, he blew me away again in Black Snake Moan. I know nothing about his music or his boy band days or his persona, but I do know that he’s a really good actor, and if he keeps on improving, he can be a great actor.
The first thing I saw Brad Pitt in was Kalifornia, so right off the bat I took him as a serious actor, because he was downright freak-out frightening in that role of a spree killer. Actually, later on I found out that I had seen him earlier, in Thelma and Louise, but I’d forgotten. Kalifornia was the first thing that smacked me upside the head with his talent. I never did see Legends of the Fall, so I never got that pretty boy thing. I was not at all surprised when he gave such good performances in 12 Monkeys, Seven, and Fight Club. It amazes me that to this day some people STILL take Brad Pitt as an untalented pretty boy! He continues to do great work, such as his recent Jesse James in The Assasination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford.
Kinda in the same realm, thank GOODNESS the first time I ever paid attention to Mark Walhberg was in Boogie Nights, so I knew him right off the bat as an excellent actor too. I’m so glad I never knew the “Marky Mark” persona so I never had to resist the urge to call him that. Maybe someday others will be able to resist the urge too. Unless they just can’t remember how to spell Walhberg.
Also, I’ve always taken Leonardo DiCaprio to be an excellent actor because the first thing I saw him in was his holding his own against Rober DeNiro in This Boy’s Life.
And NailBunny, you almost sound ashamed of it, but you were quite right to be impressed by Keanu in The Gift. He was very frightening, in the good actor playing a bad guy way, in that.
Jim Carrey’s worst acting performance is Eternal Sunshine and it’s not even close. It’s a complete write-off of the talent required to do a comedic performance to claim that Eternal Sunshine showed he could be an actor.
Ace Ventura, Dumb & Dumber. . .that was acting. That was creating memorable characters with their own unique mannerisms, and diction. They were brilliant vocal and physical performances.
His performance in Eternal Sunshine can only be characterized by his lack of doing what he’s good at. There was far more chemistry in his relationship with Jeff Daniels than this his relationship with Kate Winslet.
On the other hand, if you saw Kate Winslet try to pull off a role like The Mask, you’d leave the theater in embarrassment for her.
Brad Pitt isn’t a character actor. Character actors are, by definition, usually typecast, because they’re good at a particular type of character, and their demeanor and appearance quickly establish what role that character is supposed to play.
R. Lee Ermey is the perfect example of a character actor; once he’s on screen you know he’s probably a Marine-style hardass. Dennis Farina (tough mob-style guy), Steve Buscemi (scheming little weasel) and Michael Clarke Duncan (big scary black guy) are other good examples.
Brad Pitt was never really typecast as a pretty boy; he’s been doing serious and varied work his whole career.
It’s spelled Wahlberg.
Sure, he’s great at comedy, but I think it would have been out of place in this flick.
You can actually tell them apart? The look the same to me.
Because they are both blondes…?
Seconding this. Really, really good.
You really need to see I Love Huckabees. Infact, that’s a great choice for this topic. Mark Wahlberg’s performance in that movie really blew me away, and made me think “damn, this guy’s actually good at this acting thing”.
Kevin Bacon in Stir of Echoes. Great film and has him doing the tortured bit very well.
Watch him in New Jack City, he does a real good job for most of his scenes in that movie.
If we’re mentioning that movie, it was owned by Giovanni Ribisi. His performance was stunning, and this before he was very well-known as a capable dramatic actor.
But yeah, Keanu managed to pull off the menacing redneck – and the accent, for that matter – far better than I imagined he could. Hilary Swank, also good as his abused wife, with little concern about dragging other people into her mess.
Actually that was a damn good movie, all things considered.
I came here to suggest those two, specifically, Sarah Michelle Gellar as Faith in Buffy’s body, and Eliza Dushku as Buffy in Faith’s body.
While I’d been impressed with Gellar’s acting before this, Dushku’s performance was wonderful.
Sorry, but I’m not impressed with anything that has the name Huckabee in it.
Jack Black in King Kong. I always saw him as a buffoon but he impressed me as the sleazy, do-anything-to-get-the-film director. Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting but moreso in One Hour Photo. Creepy.
:smack: I knew I shoulda looked it up!
Another vote for Donnie. He was the absolute best thing about one of the latter Saw movies and believable in that role to boot. Everything I’ve recognized him in, he’s been amazing.
Now for my additions, it’d have to be Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction and Simon Pegg in Hot Fuzz. Now I’m not one to watch much comedy anyway, especially not what some would consider mindless, so I’ve skipped most of Will’s oeuvre. However, his turn in that was borderline genius. By the same token, although I liked Shaun of the Dead, I didn’t know if Hot Fuzz (gotta love the name!) would come even close and therefore worthy of the 2 hours. Fortunately, it was a great movie with an even greater turn. I adored him in that (and now he’s scheduled to play Scotty!!) and can’t wait to see him in more serious fare in the future.
Further back was Jessica Lange in Frances, so much so that I own it.