Issue 147

Big names, lots of shame

23rd October 2006

Now not every film an actor picks is going to be a hit; that's just one of the mysteries of the industry, why do some films fail where similar films succeed?

With the fluctuations of the market, a number of actors and actresses have attempted to keep their Curriculum Vitae nice and varied as a means of covering trends, but some have played the odds a little too finely, while others have benefited greatly. But who has shown the least pickiness in featuring in some all-time classics and some absolute howlers?

The perennially cool Samuel L. Jackson can be accused of being the worst offender, for seemingly being unable to say 'no' to any project. There is no denying this has worked in his favour in a handful of cases; his iconic role of Jules in Pulp Fiction and the mouthy partner, Zeus, in Die Hard: With a Vengeance spring to mind as examples of his powerhouse ability. For every light-sabre wielding Jedi performance, however, there is The Man with Eugene Levy or, god forbid, S.W.A.T playing opposite such 'powerhouse performers' as Colin Farrell and LL Cool J. Is it just the inability to refuse on any grounds or the simple love of the art form?

Following his recent venture onto the big screen as Neville Flynn in Snakes on a Plane it looks like Jackson is fully aware of his appeal and is quite consciously playing to typecast, as the 'badass mo-fo' that he so willingly portrays; rendering him a caricature of himself. Saying that, Jackson will shortly be seen on our screens alongside Christina Ricci in Black Snake Moan, a dark southern drama that is creating Oscar buzz a year ahead of schedule. Moves like this could see Sam save face for his previous ventures into such mistakes of cinema as xXx2: State of the Union - the most unnecessary sequel since The Whole Ten Yards (2004). However, to renege on this appraisal, the next picture staring the big bald man will be Home of the Brave, a topical Iraq-set army movie, in the vein of Black Hawk Down, featuring such acting talents as Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson and Chad Michael Murray. The jury is seemingly out on whether Samuel L. is a man of immense ability just keeping his face out there, or whether he's suffering from an inability to tell a potential nightmare from an award winner.

Sofia Coppola is another artist who has been blessed with a mixture of genius and mediocrity. Having featured in the first two Godfather films as an extra, she was elevated to a key role in the climatic The Godfather Part III. Things never looked set to create a memorable performance, as she happened upon the role when first choice Rebecca Schaeffer was murdered, second choice Winona Ryder dropped out and her father, screen writer and director of the trilogy Francis Ford Coppola, pushed her onto the screen inducing a monotone,expressionless performance.

Seemingly doomed to obscurity following the critics panning, it wouldn't be until 1999 that she would do anything of note, stepping behind the camera with The Virgin Suicides. Showing this wasn't a fluke, she followed it up with a piece of considerable critical acclaim when she penned and helmed Lost in Translation, the off-beat resurrection of Bill Murray and the movie that made Scarlett Johansson. Seemingly the inability to act had been forgotten and she had found her calling. A potential turkey awaits, however, in the form of her next writer/director credit: Marie Antoinette. The self-indulgent romp starring the vapid Kirsten Dunst and the cruelly wasted Steve Coogan was met with nothing but venom at Cannes and could make or break Coppola as a writer/director when she succeeds in attaining a release date. We don't exactly wait with eager anticipation.

Another front runner for the most wide ranging picture choices, awesome to awe-inspiringly horrible, is Dustin Hoffman. After creating a back catalogue that only the greats can really contend with; from his youthful exuberance in The Graduate to his stark, intense performance in Straw Dogs and the Oscar winning roles in Rain Man and Kramer vs. Kramer, not mentioning countless other roles that have met with nothing short of sensational praise, but has the steam run out of the methodical 69 year old? If so, the route of the problem could lead straight to Ishtar, a film that started the decline with its incessant in-jokes and mindless slapstick. This was what would be the beginning of a bad run of present, with his recent ventures including the hit and miss Wag The Dog, the irreverent and largely ignored I Heart Huckabees and the bottom of the barrel, kids movie Racing Stripes with the only real thing of note done recently is the over-thetop lunacy of Meet the Fockers. But that's hardly setting the Academy's hearts a flutter and the likelihood of another outing to contend with his early work seems to have fallen by the wayside.

In essence, there seems to be a great deal of luck in landing a good role in a good film. If that fails, the best you can do is to do the very best with the role you are given. All to often though, in today's celebrity driven movie industry, actors end up being cast as their Hollywood persona rather than the actual character in the screenplay, like Tom Cruise, who has fallen back on playing himself in every piece after...well… Interview with a Vampire (1994). Even here his smarmy charm still seeped through.

Acting is a tough business and although it is hard to succeed, you would hope it would become clear that actors can help themselves out in preventing a succession of black marks on the report card, by carefully scanning those job offers. Hopefully actors will begin reading a little closer, checking over the plot, the length the budget can go and the integrity of the film. Most of all though - avoid anything that features the words 'Uwe' and 'Boll'; and if you don't know who that is, consider yourself very, very lucky.

Chris Sloley