Actors who have lost their way (or found it)

I recently saw the trailer for Due Date and cringed to see an actor of Robert Downey's caliber in a lame looking buddy comedy, especially with the likes of that no-name bearded guy from The Hangover.

Why go down this path? He's made some great movies over the years before and after drugs, such as A Scanner Darkly and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang that showcase what a good character actor he is (IMO). Natural Born Killers is another, although that's going back a bit.

He's drifted lately doing the popcorn blockbusters such as the Iron Mans and the Sherlock Holmes types which would be too financially enticing to turn down. But it's such a shame when a capable actor takes up these mediocre roles like in Due Date, probably due to sheer monetary gain.

They drove a dump truck of money up to my house... *sob*... I'm not made of stone!

It got me thinking about other actors who have followed a similar path.

Nicolas Cage: he used to be one of my favourite actors, he seemed to have such an intensity in his roles and I'd see a movie based purely on the fact he was in it. Loved movies like 8MM, The Rock, Adaptation, Con Air, Snake Eyes, Lord of War. These days, what's happened? Sorcerer's Apprentice, Astro Boy, Ghost Rider, Kick-Ass (which I liked as a movie, but his role was just silly).

Christopher Walken: a shameful example. What classic movies this guy's been involved in. The Deer Hunter, Annie Hall, Pulp Fiction not to mention countless others. I could go on but clearly one of the finest actors in years. These days, the likes of Click, Welcome to the Jungle, Balls of Fury, even that (awesome) Fatboy Slim video clip. Bit of a mockery of what was and still is a stalwart career. Will he do any more proper roles before retiring?

Morgan Freeman: another great actor, not so far fallen as some others, but think of what he's done. Shawshank Redemption, Power of One, Driving Miss Daisy (lol), Se7en just to mention a few. What's he done lately? The Almighty movies, Bucket List (a tongue-in-cheek poke at the nearing of the end?), and a fair few voice over type roles. I haven't seen Million Dollar Baby but they say it's worth it, so perhaps there's hope for him yet. ;)


Then you have the reverse. Actors that have started off doing all the silly stuff then tried (and maybe failed) to take on more serious roles.

Jim Carey: from Ace Ventura, The Mask and Liar Liar to The Truman Show, Man on the Moon, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Number 23. Actually, Carey seems to chop and change a lot, trying to be more versatile I suppose. But for a while there, he definitely seemed to be trying to steer his career in the opposite direction, maybe to avoid being type-cast forever.

Adam Sandler: Not much to say, we all know what type of movies he's made. But he has tried to get serious the last few years, well, kind of. For a period there he seemed to have gone from stupid comedies to deep, emotional roles to generic rom-coms. Punch Drunk Love, Spanglish, Reign Over Me, after those he seemed to just give up and go back to what he knows best with stuff like Zohan.

Jack Black: I like his comedy but he shouldn't try to be serious. He tried with King Kong and The Holiday but he must know in his heart it's not the path for him to follow. Tried and failed.

Robin Williams: I can't figure this guy out, really. What's his main strength, comedy? It seems like he started that way then tried something a bit different with One Hour Photo and Insomnia. He's done stuff like Good Will Hunting which could be labeled a classic I suppose. It seems these days he's not in huge demand for movies, maybe his stand-up routine is just too popular. But his most recent movies are definitely on the 'silly' side.

Incidentally perhaps, my five favourite actors are (in no particular order):
Al Pacino
Jack Nicholson
Christopher Walken
Steve Buscemi
Michael Douglas

Got any other examples? Thoughts?

Robert De Niro: I've always been a huge fan of De Niro's, but he hasn't really given an outstanding performance in a while. He was all right as the gay pirate in Stardust, but that's been it for me. He just hasn't really wowed me as of late, I miss his intensity. Maybe, he needs to consider working with Scorsese again.

Yeah, Robert Downey Jr. is an extremely talented man. He has really made a great comeback from Iron Man and Sherlock Holmes. Like you, I hope he'll pick a more serious and dramatic role in his future projects to come, which show us just how great of an actor he is, and can be.

I would like to mention his buddy Val Kilmer, too. Very talented as well, but needs to pick better films. He was good with Cage in the Bad Lieutenant, though.

I completely agree with you on Nick Cage. I know he's kind of broke right now, so he's been doing a lot of movies that he might not usually do. The Bad Lieutenant was the last movie that I thought he was awesome in.

Morgan Freeman was fantastic as Nelson Mandela in Invictus. He gave a brilliant performance, and really immersed himself in the role. Also, you should definitely see Million Dollar Baby, if you haven't yet!

I hope Michael Douglas stays strong. He's battling cancer right now, and my condolences go out to him and his family. It was nice to see him back and reprising his role as Gordon Gekko, for which he won an Oscar for.

"Greed, for lack of a better word, is good. Greed is right, greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA. Thank you very much."

I would also like to give an honorable shout out to his father Kirk Douglas, one of the finest actors ever, who's still here with us now, 93 years old!

On top of my head, my favourite contemporary actors (like the past 10 years or so) are:
Al Pacino
Daniel-Day Lewis
James Caviezel
Robert De Niro
Johnny Depp
Leonardo DiCaprio
Denzel Washington
Sean Penn
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Kevin Spacey
Tom Hanks
Natalie Portman
Nicole Kidman
Kate Winslet
Naomi Watts
Meryl Streep
Helen Mirren
Jack Nicholson
Sean Connery (my idol)
Clint Eastwood (another one of my idols)

I have many more favourites, who are Hollywood greats, like Bogart, Grant, Stewart, among many others, but I'm just going to keep my list to contemporary actors.

The "no-name bearded guy from the Hangover" is the new gold standard for Hollywood comedy (it was up until recently Vince Vaughn and Jack Black before him).

Downey Jr isn't exactly a high-caliber actor. His reclaims to fame are Iron Man, Sherlock Holmes, and Tropic Thunder. A buddy comedy flick is right up his alley.

I agree with de Niro and Freeman. They both need better scripts and movies, or better agents.

Tom Cruise needs to stop making the movies be all about him and more about the characters he plays.

I miss Edward Norton from Primal Fear days.

Steven Seagall also had some very cool action flicks in his early days, but he has turned to shit over the past 10 years or so.

Nice to see Stalone doing what he does best and succeeding at it.

Van Damme is another one that turned to shit. His highlight this decade has been playing himself in the show Las Vegas, and actually dying.

If it wasn't because he has gone crazy over the past few years, Mel Gibson would still be producing quality movies... though I hear Edge of Darkness is quite good, haven't seen it yet.

Where's Tim Robbins? His activist ways kinda have ruined his acting career from what I can see.

The guy I miss the most is Emilio Estevez. Always loved him as an actor, particularly on his Young Guns days.

Nicolas Cage simply has to put himself in better movies. He's still getting a ton of roles, just not good movies... though I want to see that Season of the Witch one. I really enjoyed Next and Knowing, and he did well in Kick-Ass I thought.

Throughout the years I've always hated Leonardo Dicaprio, but I have to admit that the dude can act and he has done consistantly good movies and has put himself in very good roles for himself, often challenging ones.

George Cloney has always seemed to me like an under-achiever in the acting world.

I'm counting the days for Arnolds Schiaoiuneggr political days to be over.

You should watch JCVD, Munsu. It's kind of a parody of Van Damme's life and he pokes fun at his own persona.

Seagal was never much of an actor, but he had some cool moves and some badass movies kicking ass. Then he went the way of all martial artists in movies, he trained in wire-fu and added rappers to his cast and his movies were shit.

I like Will Smith but I think he also has the Tom Cruise effect where his real life persona takes over and the roles he plays take second seat.

I hope Tom Hanks has some more epic movies in his future.

Mel Gibson and Russell Crowe need to stop making epic war movies. They are no longer epic, just boring.

Van Damme was kind of stupid to turn down an offer to star in The Expendables. I'm not sure what his thinking was there, it's not like you're going to be getting any better offers nowadays...

Yeah, I actually like Cruise. Putting his Scientology and personal beliefs aside, he's be in many good films. Collateral, Minority Report, and The Last Samurai were all solid movies. I thoroughly enjoyed them. He was also pretty funny, and did a good job as Grossman in Tropic Thunder, lol. But, his recent movie Knight and Day, not so much. I can tolerate his self-indulgence, but he should consider doing more quality movies, he's capable of it.

Tom Hanks' next film looks good. He'll be directing and starring in it. Larry Crowne - "After losing his job, a middle-aged man reinvents himself by going back to college."

I'm not sure what's gonna happen with Mel Gibson. I heard that his upcoming movies might be delayed, due to the scandal. Also, Hollywood might shun him for a while, kind of like what happened with Caviezel, which ironically enough was related to Mel, because he played Jesus in his movie. I know Leonardo DiCaprio pulled out of an upcoming project with Mel.

I like George Clooney, although he seems to play the same characters a lot. He always has the whole suave, debonair, and charming thing going.

Arnold is nearing the end of his term as governor, so yeah, I hope we see him back soon. His movies were always a guilty pleasure of mine.

Speaking of action stars, Bruce Willis has been doing fairly well. His upcoming movie, Red, looks absolutely awesome. John Malkovich, Morgan Freeman, Ernest Borgnine (my god, he's still acting), Richard Dreyfuss, and Helen Mirren are also in it!

In my opinion Bruce Willis should be doing a lot better... not crap like Cop Out. I felt embarrased for him.

Hopefully he'll step it up... he just chosen quite a few poor roles over the past 5 years or so.

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Originally Posted by Zati

Van Damme was kind of stupid to turn down an offer to star in The Expendables. I'm not sure what his thinking was there, it's not like you're going to be getting any better offers nowadays...

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The Expendables without Van Damme and Seagal made the movie cast incomplete to me.

I'm definitely with you on that one, it would've been a pretty perfect cast, if they had agreed to be in it. It's unfortunate that they both turned it down.

Stallone already has a sequel planned, so hopefully, he can get those two on board this time around, or one of them at least.