His presence instantly makes any movie he's in much better

I've always loved Robert Duvall and just in the last couple of days I happened to watch A Civil Action and Apocalypse Now within a few days of each other, and it occurred to me that Duvall's presence alone makes any film much better. Once Duvall appears on screen, boom!, instantly you have a better movie than you had before he showed up.

The Apostle, which he wrote, directed, produced, and starred in, remains one of the greatest cinema achievements of all time. If anyone hasn't yet seen that one--and I think there are a lot of people who sadly aren't even familiar with the film--I highly recommend it.

Quite shockingly, Duvall is 93-years-old at the moment that I type this. It's always sad to see beloved actors grow old and move past their best years and he's at the age where any day now we might learn that he's no longer with us. Looking at his IMDB page, there are no new projects listed. I guess maybe he's decided he's retired without actually saying it.

He's turned in so many great performances over the years and has a style and charisma that is all his own. What a legend.