I'm sorry, but....

I hope no one is offended by me expressing my view here, but I just think Jeffrey Wright is such an awful actor, perhaps *the* most overrated actor in the world today.

Why do I say this? Because it seems to me that he relies so much on gimmicks. Almost every part he plays, he gives the character a gimmick and plays that gimmick to the extreme. A gimmick that doesn't add anything to the actual story or the character itself. An example is his portrayal of Dr. Rutledge in "Source Code". What was the point of this character having a limp and talk like that? Or his portrayal of Colin Powell in "W.", as if he was a white man. And now, in "Boardwalk Empire", again there is gimmickry from what I can see in the trailer. For me, it feels put on, it doesn't feel authentic.

Now, I know some actors give characters a significant trait to make him/her stand out. The best example of this is perhaps Benicio del Toro in "The Usual Suspects". The character of Fenster was so underwritten and forgettable, but del Toro created this fascinating persona with the distinctive body language and an intonation to rival Christopher Walken, that he became one of the most memorable people from the whole film. The screenplay writing guru that was Blake Snyder used to say that one should give minor characters "an eye patch and a limp" (symbolical language there) to distinguish them. Mr. Wright, it seems to me, has taken this principle way too seriously.

He has delivered some excellent performances as well, in particular his turn as the gay nurse Belize in "Angels in America" against Al Pacino. But overall, and especially lately, I think he has become a parody of an actor. But then again, that's just my opinion.

Sorry for the rant!