MovieChat Forums > Sam Neill Discussion > How has he got away with it?

How has he got away with it?


Sometimes you come across an actor who is so bad, you sit and wonder how on earth they have managed to get away with it so long. I know Keanu Reeves gets a lot of flack, but I honestly believe Sam Neil is one of the worst actors working today. He is incredibly wooden and has the range of a tea-spoon, something that is especially exposed when he somehow manages to get cast opposite actors with real talent (see A Cry in the Dark with Meryl or The Piano with Holly Hunter) where he gets blown off the screen. I understand he's Australian and those casting directors are familiar with him and give him jobs, thats fine, just not in some of our best films and certainly not with some of our best actors. He does him and everyone else no favours.

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I only know him from his genre films like "Event Horizon" and "In the Mouth Of Madness," etc. and I thought he was pretty good in those films.

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I have always liked him. He's not a great actor - he has never shown a great deal of range - but he has an easy presence and a dry, somewhat sardonic delivery that works very well in certain roles. And I am a sucker for the NZ accent.

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I reject this completely.

Sam Neill is a gentleman and a fine actor. As for Evil Angels, or A Cry in the Dark as it was known outside of Australia, his portrayal of Michael Chamberlain was every bit the equal of Meryl Streep’s, in fact you could say he got closer to the mannerisms and essence of the real life character.

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Respectively disagree. I have yet to see Sam Neill perform a truly bad role. He's played heroes, villains, mysterious individuals. I don't know if he'll ever earn an Oscar but I believe he's a great actor.

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