Actors Who Are Wasting Their Talent

Icesickle · Post by **Icesickle** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 1:38 pm

Name some talented actors who are signing up for movies that too often aren't worthy of their talent.

We all know Robert Downey's an extremely talented actor, but he has either bad taste in scripts or a horrible agent because the movie's he picks don't match his talent level, at all.

Although he's had small supporting roles in good movies like "Good Night and Good Luck" and "Zodiac," he's only taken lead roles in movies like Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Tropic Thunder, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and Sherlock Holmes in the past 5 years. This guy should be taking the same kind of career path as DiCaprio, Clooney, and Pitt; ie, do some big budget blockbusters but also get roles in some more well-regarded movies that are worthy of his talent.

EMCEE DARTH MALEK · Post by **EMCEE DARTH MALEK** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 1:47 pm

I thought tropic thunder & kiss kiss bang bang were great roles for downey jr. I guess you're looking for something more serious, but I think something with a light/humourous tone can be just as profound.

I'm gonna say right now Christian Bale is wasting his talent. In dark knight, public enemies, terminator 4, and to a lesser extent 3:10 to yuma it seems like they hired him just for his name, they don't even let him develop a role. Compare this to '02 to '06 Bale & it's a horrible waste of talent. It seems like widespread recognition worked against his career in terms of quality output.

StormShadow · Post by **StormShadow** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 1:48 pm

awful thread based on dismissal of kiss kiss bang bang

Icesickle · Post by **Icesickle** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 1:59 pm

StormShadow wrote:awful thread based on dismissal of kiss kiss bang bang

The movie was alright. Robert Downey's one of the best actors of his generation though. It's too bad that that's one of the highlights of the last 5 years for him.

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 2:02 pm

i don't think Downey is wasting talent by doing the movies you mentioned, he's not exactly sleepwalking through them for a paycheck. He has a knack of fleshing out big roles in a way that elevates those movies beyond the LCD point needed to simply generate revenue. Neither SH nor Iron Man would be as good as they were without him. Tropic Thunder was a divisive movie but the quality of his part was pretty much the only thing everybody agreed on.

conversely, his one recent attempt at playing lead in something more complicated (the soloist) resulted in schmaltzy oscar baiting tripe

beyond that, Kiss Kiss doesn't even belong on that list imo, it's hardly a crowd pleaser in the same way that Iron Man or Sherlock Holmes are. and he's fantastic in it.

downey has no shortage of 'interesting' roles in his back catalog, both as lead and in smaller capacities. they brought him critical acclaim but not much mainstream success. now he has become a bankable star by applying his talents to more populist fare, and he did it without really compromising his abilities too much. it's not like he's racking up romcoms with sandra bullock. stop hating

Website · Post by **Random Sample** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 2:06 pm

Come on Robert Downey Jr is the only reason Tropic Thunder is watchable.

I like Robert Downey Jr more because of the roles that he has played recently.

Career Over Like Mike(NJJ) · Mon Jun 21, 2010 2:09 pm

God, i love StormShadow.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is better than all the DiCaprio + Scorsese flicks.

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 2:10 pm

Random Sample wrote:Come on Robert Downey Jr is the only reason Tropic Thunder is watchable.

i realize most people didn't like this movie as much as i did but the blanket hatred it gets is undeserved. it's surely not as good as it could've been, but there are many individual pieces that work incredibly well - they just don't add up to a greater whole. zoolander had the same issues btw, and it aged incredibly well.

Blockhead · Post by **Blockhead** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 2:18 pm

drizzle wrote:
Random Sample wrote:Come on Robert Downey Jr is the only reason Tropic Thunder is watchable.

i realize most people didn't like this movie as much as i did but the blanket hatred it gets is undeserved. it's surely not as good as it could've been, but there are many individual pieces that work incredibly well - they just don't add up to a greater whole. zoolander had the same issues btw, and it aged incredibly well.

agreed 100%. It's funny, this forum is the only place i've been where tropic thunder gets so much hate. especially considering some of the mediocre bullshit that gets championed around here from time time.

Icesickle · Post by **Icesickle** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 2:34 pm

drizzle wrote:i don't think Downey is wasting talent by doing the movies you mentioned, he's not exactly sleepwalking through them for a paycheck. He has a knack of fleshing out big roles in a way that elevates those movies beyond the LCD point needed to simply generate revenue. Neither SH nor Iron Man would be as good as they were without him. Tropic Thunder was a divisive movie but the quality of his part was pretty much the only thing everybody agreed on.

I never said he was or that he was bad in any of these. I just don't know why he's signing up for action movies directed by such respected auteurs like Jon Favreu, but not looking to work with other directors.

I have no beef with him doing action movies. It's just that he's not also signing up for roles in movies by respected directors that would truly showcase his talent like he did before his "comeback" (eg, Two Girls and a Guy and Chaplin).

Tropic Thunder was alright, but it tries way too hard. "Let's put Tom Cruise in a fat suit and get him to say raunchy shit." You can make a great comedy that's over-the-top without it seeming like every line in the movie was overcalibrated for maximum "wit" in some sort of writer's circle jerk. Stepbrothers does this, Tropic Thunder doesn't.

conversely, his one recent attempt at playing lead in something more complicated (the soloist) resulted in schmaltzy oscar baiting tripe

I wouldn't say that was more "complicated" than something like Tropic Thunder. It's pure and utter schmaltzy trash. He should have laughed that script off, not accepted it.

DLG · Post by **DLG** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 2:48 pm

tom cruise at the end is the funniest part of Tropic Thunder

Website · Post by **Random Sample** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 2:56 pm

I think Tropic Thunder is hilarious, but Robert Downey steals the show. If it wasn't for Downey's performance, I think the movie would have suffered. That is what I was saying.

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 2:57 pm

Icesickle wrote: I just don't know why he's signing up for action movies directed by such respected auteurs like Jon Favreu, but not looking to work with other directors.

maybe he signed up for Iron Man because it gave him a chance to work on a movie that is likely to make money, with a good script really well suited to his personality and a competent director. You're right though, for the life of me I don't get why he would go for something like this instead of going the respectable artistic route of hopping onto some pretentious Americana mumblecore cobbled together with 2 raggedy shoelaces by a properly festival fellated 'auteur'

Icesickle · Post by **Icesickle** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 3:16 pm

I'm not talking about mumblecore, dog.

Compare Downey's track record in the past 5 years to Brad Pitt's. Pitt has done Hollywood movies like "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," but has also signed on for major parts in "Jesse James...," "Inglourious Basterds," "Burn After Reading," and "Benjamin Button." He's in Terrence Malick's new movie as well (cue chortles).

I'm not saying all of these movies are great (2 of them are more than great, though) but at least Pitt's picking a diverse set of challenging roles in films helmed by talented directors.

All I'm saying is that an actor with as much talent as Downey should be tackling roles that are as challenging as the lead part in Chaplin more often, much more often than a less-talented actor like Pitt. Downey seems like he's on autopilot. Granted, Downey on auto-pilot is better than most actors, but he could be doing much better work.

If you want an example of an actor who's making excellent choices (none of which involve mumblecore) and picking diverse, challenging roles in movies by esteemed directors, look at Josh Brolin, who we both think highly of.

None · Post by **None** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 3:30 pm

Isn't Robert Downey Jr. doing upcoming movies with Sam Raimi and Alfonso Cuaron?

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 3:32 pm

ice i agree with you to some extent, but at the same time consider the fact that you're comparing people with different career trajectories

pitt always had a knack for successfully alternating between money roles and passion projects and critical bait

downey's career is nowhere near as even. he had a period of early starts and stops, then a period where he took on challenging work and became a critical favorite then fell from grace hard as fuck. being able to combine his obvious talent with commercial leading man viability is actually a fairly new thing for him. taking his career in this direction is nothing to balk at imo, and again not something i'd consider a waste of talent.

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 3:36 pm

oooh

adressing the add ons

a. pitt is in not a lesser actor. different from downey, but he's still got chops for days.

b. regarding brolin, sure he did W and Milk but dude also just tanked horribly in Jonah Hex and is slated for MIB3. his slate is not exactly unassailable.

hustler · Post by **hustler** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 3:42 pm

drizzle wrote:ice i agree with you to some extent, but at the same time consider the fact that you're comparing people with different career trajectories

pitt always had a knack for successfully alternating between money roles and passion projects and critical bait

downey's career is nowhere near as even. he had a period of early starts and stops, then a period where he took on challenging work and became a critical favorite then fell from grace hard as fuck. being able to combine his obvious talent with commercial leading man viability is actually a fairly new thing for him. taking his career in this direction is nothing to balk at imo, and again not something i'd consider a waste of talent.

on point. another icesickle opinion exposed as being blatantly incorrect. its admirable that he keeps trying though.

hustler · Post by **hustler** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 3:46 pm

in my opinion megan fox's talents are being wasted in hollywood. she was born to do pictures for vivid and seymour butts.

Icesickle · Post by **Icesickle** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 3:46 pm

drizzle wrote:oooh

adressing the add ons

a. pitt is in not a lesser actor. different from downey, but he's still got chops for days.

b. regarding brolin, sure he did W and Milk but dude also just tanked horribly in Jonah Hex and is slated for MIB3. his slate is not exactly unassailable.

a. We're going to have to agree to disagree because I think Pitt is a great actor but he's not in Downey's class. Downey has DDL talent.

b. Everyone makes bad decisions. He also did NCFOM.

I want to see Downey in movies as good as NCFOM or Jesse James. He's a Top 5 talent, I want to see him in Top 10 of the Year caliber movies more often.

c. What did the soon-to-be-banned poster who posted above me say? GYFAOOTT.

Tommy Bunz · Post by **Tommy Bunz** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 3:56 pm

I <3 icesickle threads.

I completely disagree with the notion that Pitt and Downey aren't in the same class. Pitt might even be an even more versatile actor than Downey actually.
The difference in roles is basically that Pitt is still the #1 actor in Hollywood and can get anything he wants and is pretty easy to work with on top of that. Its my understanding that Downey burnt a lot of bridges in Hollywood during his drugs/fuckup days and is still a difficult actor to work with.

Icesickle · Post by **Icesickle** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 4:17 pm

Tommy Bunz wrote:Its my understanding that Downey burnt a lot of bridges in Hollywood during his drugs/fuckup days and is still a difficult actor to work with.

Good point.

EMCEE DARTH MALEK · Post by **EMCEE DARTH MALEK** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 4:17 pm

all pitt can do is act crazy & put on funny accents.

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 4:21 pm

EMCEE DARTH MALEK wrote:all pitt can do is act crazy & put on funny accents.

oh yeah dude totally, his accent in the assassination was hilarious.

dat piff · Post by **dat piff** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 5:51 pm

downey missed out on a lot of movies cause he was a fuck up for a good period of time

Roy Johnson · Post by **Roy Johnson** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 6:06 pm

My first exposure to Pitt was in the 1991 flick "Across The Tracks", where he was outperformed by Ricky Schroeder.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101268/

Just kidding about the Ricky Schroeder thing. Brad's a good actor. I don't know how people could ever suggest that he's elite-level, but he's obviously talented. I've seen the vast majority of his 90s movies, but I've been understandably wary of pretty much everything that's been released over the past decade, so I haven't even bothered to check for much of it. I wouldn't mind seeing that Assassination flick.

perlman · Post by **perlman** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 6:15 pm

Matthew Mcconaughey He was great in Dazed and Confused and Frailty and that dragon movie but has been teh gay in everything else.

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 6:16 pm

remember when everybody thought mcconoghy was gonna be the next big thing after a time to kill. lol

Roy Johnson · Post by **Roy Johnson** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 6:26 pm

drizzle wrote:remember when everybody thought mcconoghy was gonna be the next big thing after a time to kill. lol

Yikes.

At least he's got U571, though. I don't know if that movie is one of my truly guilty pleasures or what, but I feel like it has mad replay value. Then again, I'm just a huge fan of war movies.

drizzle · Post by **drizzle** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 6:31 pm

i can see how you would get a lot of replay from u571, shit blows up, there's loud music, everything is VERY INTENSE, etc. def not a movie to be taken seriously though