DevilWithaHalo said:
You mean the one where he plays a slightly eccentric but emotionally distant lone ranger do to unfortunate circumstance in back-story who gets coincidentally roped into a noble pursuit where his actions secure the well being and emotional growth of supporting characters under his unlikely tutelage where he learns just as much from them? Because that's ALL of them!
I'm keeping the formula for the moment...
Axolotl said:
No I mean the one where he plays a simle-minded yet lovable criminal who upon finding out that he can't have a child with his wife, goes out to kidnap a baby.
Eccentric? Check; he's a criminal looking for love kidnapping a baby. Emotionally distant before of back story? Check; his criminal past prevents him from legally adopting. Noble pursuit? Check; he's just trying to raise a family. Emotional growth of characters? Check; his wife realizes the errors of ruining another family just to have their own. Learned as much? Check; he tried to avoid returning to his criminal way of life.
Axolotl said:
Or how about the one where he plays the Elvis-loving semi-psychotic convict that travels America with his girlfriend listening to rock music and being chased by the messed up assasins ever seen in a film.
Not personally familiar with this work... looking up IMDB... Wild at Heart? I just read the synopsis on Wiki, and yah, I could paint the same picture with the same formula.
Axolotl said:
You know, his good films.
A good film doesn't excuse bad acting. And bad films can have better acting then they deserve.
axlryder said:
Bad Lieutenant, Adaptation, Face Off, Raising Arizona, Leaving Las Vegas, Honeymoon in Vegas, The Rock, etc. The dude is pretty varied.
Wow... really? I'll just run some things off the top of my head... (*The Bad Lieutenant*, Bad Lieutenant is a completely different movie)
Slightly Eccentric: Target obsession, Chemical Super Freak, Elvis impersonator, etc.
Assorted Past: Criminal history, sons death, back injury, etc.
Emotionally Distant: drug infused romance, melancholic depression, etc.
Coincidentally roped: only one who knows how to act as criminal to find location of bomb, only one who understands chemical composition, etc
Noble pursuit: saves people, saves people again, wants family, etc.
Supporting Characters well being and development: makes up with mother, Mason gets a clean slate with his daughter, etc.
He learns just as much: how to be a man, how to be a father, gets over his depression, he sobers up, etc.
Now granted, you could potentially write a formula for every type cast actor, and that's the problem. I don't like type cast actors, unless they are excessively good at what they do. Cage is not, and his type irritates me to no end. Just as Jack Black's type irritates me as does Marky Mark.
If you want to see actors capable of varied roles; look at Morgan Freeman and Tom Hanks.
