From Stud to Dud - Part II

So last time I discussed younger actors and how they decide to ruin their blossoming career with bad choices for many different reasons.  Now I would like to discuss seasoned actors, veterans of the cinema and how they get to the end of their career just to be in every movie that is offered to them.  Before we start I want to say Samuel L. Jackson is an exception because he has always done any movie he has been asked to be in so he is just trending the same pattern he has always gone.  In addition to that he is known for his cheesiness so it works for him.  Let's talk about a few guys it doesn't work for.

One that has really bothered me has been Robert De Niro.  In 1974 he started his amazing career playing young Vito Corleone in the Godfather Part II.  Yes he had some other movies before that like Bang the Drums Slowly and Mean Streets but he shined in this role.  He won the Best Supporting Actor Award at the Oscars for that performance.  After that he had a host of movies made excellent by his great performances.  There was Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, Raging Bull (which he won his second Oscar, this time for Best Actor), The Untouchables, Goodfellas, Awakenings, Backdraft, Cape Fear, A Bronx Tale, Casino, Heat, Sleepers, Ronin, Analyze This, Men of Honor, and Meet the Parents.  Somebody try to tell me that isn't an amazing career.  He hit it all besides romance.  He had drama, suspense, action, horror, and even comedy.  But now let's look at the problem. Between 1974-2000 he was in 46 movies with all those above gems included in that time period.  Since 2001-present he has done 23 movies.  Now the pace isn't necessarily the problem in this situation, it’s the quality.  I dare you to name me one good quality movie he has made after 2000.  You might say Meet the Fockers which was ok but you already had the first one which was better.  Same goes for Analyze That.  I named 17 movies I thought were good out of his 46 since 1974.  That’s about a 37% success ratio.  Now what about the last 10 years?  If I give in and say 2 were good (which is more than I want to) he has about a 9% success ratio.  What does this all mean?  STOP MAKING BAD MOVIES!!!!  It is frustrating seeing a quality actor throw away his integrity.  Let's move on to another I would consider great.

Anthony Hopkins is one of my top actors.  I love his stage presence.  What I don't love is his lack of filter on picking bad movies to be in.  He had a nice stretch where he had Silence of the Lambs (which he won the Best Actor Award at the Oscars), Dracula, Legends of the Fall, Amistad, The Mask of Zorro (yes I am throwing that in there because I enjoyed watching it in Spanish class every year), Meet Joe Black, Instinct, How the Grinch Stole Christmas (narrator), and Red Dragon.  You will note I left out Hannibal because I thought it was garbage.  After Red Dragon though which was in 2002 he has done 17 movies with only Fracture and maybe Thor to be considered good.  How disappointing every time I see his name on a straight to dvd movie.  Such a good actor wasting his talent.  STOP MAKING BAD MOVIE ANTHONY!!!!  Let's finish up with the man with the voice.

Morgan Freeman has one of the most distinctive voices in the movie industry.  It almost always makes you think about his character and narration from The Shawshank Redemption.  Morgan's problem isn't that he has just started picking bad movies.  No he still does a lot of solid movies.  His problem is that he has decided to do every movie possible.  This is ok for Samuel L. Jackson but not such a prestigious actor as Morgan Freeman.  In the last 10 years he has done close to 30 movies.  About a 1/3 of them are good while the others seem to go straight to dvd.  He is not as bad as De Niro lately but if he keeps on this trend people are going to wonder if he is a good actor or just another Samuel L. Jackson. So my advice is: STOP DOING 2 BAD MOVIES FOR EVERY 3 THAT YOU DO!!!!

If you have others, because I am sure there are more out there, please add to the conversation.  If you disagree and think these actors are making the right moves, go talk to a shrink because you are clearly crazy. 

-Diomedes