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Overrated actors

Five Overrated Actors: No. 1- Al Pacino

September 22, 2010 By Andrew Jordan Leave a Comment

Al Pacino was great in The Godfathers Part I and II. But somewhere after that he started yelling, and he hasn’t stopped yet. Yelling isn’t acting. Yelling is yelling. It’s much more difficult to give a subdued, subtle performance than it is to over-act every single emotion.

Al Pacino is listed in the pantheon of great actors of the 20th century, and is considered the equal to such contemporary greats as De Niro, Gene Hackman, and Dustin Hoffman. But he’s not anywhere near their level – or at least, he hasn’t been since the 70s.

Also: Five Underrated Actors

Five Overrated Actors: No. 2- Leonardo DiCaprio

September 22, 2010 By Andrew Jordan 2 Comments

For some reason Martin Scorsese decided to choose Leonardo DiCaprio as his go-to leading man about ten or fifteen years ago, and he’s been suffering for it ever since. DiCaprio’s reedy, simpering voice and awkward attempts at capturing the mannerisms of his characters has led many of Scorsese’s movies to seem flat and forced.

Nothing Scorsese’s ever going to do will ever match Raging Bull – partially because De Niro was so good at being both pathetic and sinister. DiCaprio is the softest, wussiest actor ever – putting him in a Scorsese movie is like casting Elmo as Darth Vader.

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Five Overrated Actors: No. 3- Viggo Mortensen

September 22, 2010 By Andrew Jordan Leave a Comment
[caption id="attachment_2401" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="though I like the Colonel Sanders look."][/caption]

Remember Boromir, from The Lord of the Rings? That was a good role filled by an excellent actor – the Englishman Sean Bean. He was a courageous swashbuckler, but still had the dramatic capability to show his compassion towards his much-disparaged younger brother and the temptations of the Ring. I have always thought – ever since I first watched the movies – that he should have been Aragorn (played by Viggo Mortensen), since he is a superior actor, and a much better fit for the role.

Remember Aragorn’s final speech before the last battle against Sauron’s forces? Remember that? That was terrible. Listening to quiet, broody, tinny-voiced Viggo Mortensen trying to give an epic, series-ending speech was painful, and an utterly deflating disappointment in what should have been the most stirring, sweeping moment of the series.

Viggo Mortensen was our #3 pick – Click here for #2

Five Overrated Actors: No. 4- Samuel L. Jackson

September 22, 2010 By Andrew Jordan Leave a Comment

Look, I like Samuel L. Jackson. I saw Snakes on a Plane on opening night and I cheered when he yelled his catchphrase. I really loved Pulp Fiction, and he was pretty great in it. But he’s not a great actor. He’s just a guy with a strong stage presence and a sense of humor about himself. I’ve never seen himself really try for greatness – I’ve never seen him show any vulnerability or compassion. He’s always just Samuel L. Jackson – intense, but predictable.

Click here for #3

Five Overrated Actors: No. 5- Jake Gyllenhaal

September 22, 2010 By Andrew Jordan Leave a Comment

Jake Gyllenhaal is so desperately earnest in all of his roles. From Donnie Darko to Brokeback Mountain, he always looks like he’s trying so hard. Unfortunately that works against him – it’s hard to take him seriously during his crazier rants with the psychiatrist in Darko, and it’s even harder during his weaker moments in Brokeback Mountain. It’s just so obvious how much he wants to do it well – he lacked the naturalism of, say, his counterpart in Brokeback Mountain, Heath Ledger.

Ledger was lauded for that movie, and rightly so, because of the ease with which he carried himself as the pent-up cowboy Ennis del Mar; despite actually being from America, though, unlike the Australian Ledger, Jake Gyllenhaal’s western-ish mannerisms never quite felt as true.

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