Leo needs to break his habits.. - J. Edgar (2011) Discussion

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] bgm5 13 years ago

I think you're absolutely right. I saw a poster for this movie, and immediately thought "There he goes with that expression again." I actually logged onto IMDB to see if this was being discussed.

Maybe he should make a comedy and try smiling a little.

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[–] mikeyflatley 13 years ago

dont let these moronz convince u otherwise bec ur absolutely rite. da guy has no range. if he wuz rite 4 dis role, i wud not even complain, but total miscast...total. 4 instance, tom cruise is another guy dat playz himself in every movie but then he pickz da rolez dat fit him - alwayz da same cocky sob character like his real life personality so i dont have any beef on him bec he playz those rolez quite well!

I live, I love, I slay, and I'm content

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[–] Theef 13 years ago

Leo is a very fine actor. Never terrible, and sometimes is the best thing about a movie (The Aviator, Shutter Island). But I haven't been blown away by any of his performances for a long, long time. Granted, I haven't seen J.Edgar yet but that last time I walked away thinking 'my God what an actor' was What's Eating Gilbert Grape. That far back.

I think Leo's career choices have been very deliberate post Titanic. In an effort not to be type-cast and get swallowed by all the fangirl, pretty boy adoration, he's forgotten how to just let loose in front of the camera and lose himself in a role, like he used to in the early days. Now, everything feels very deliberate with him. As a result, he's lost the spontaneous spark he used to have.

Another grouse, why can't he do a comedy for a change? Not slapstick or grossout but something light and humourous. CMIFC was as close as he's come and he hasn't done anything remotely approaching that since. Why not?

He's got an impressive body of work, no question, but a little bit of versatility in his movie choices wouldn't hurt.

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[–] pbstuckey 13 years ago

I think to go off and do a silly comedy is the scariest (and best) thing he could do for his career.

It's a catch-22 for Hollywood actors,'cause the agent-studio types always want them to repeat themselves. If you stay in the same nitch as an actor you're slowly going to die as a creative force.

"So she can one day become president and declare war on Germany like back when we were awesome."

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[–] EvieLee-NBH 13 years ago

Catch me if you can, was a comedy. :)

I am you and what I see is me.

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[–] pbstuckey 13 years ago

No, it was a drama with a few modestly humorous moments.

"So she can one day become president and declare war on Germany like back when we were awesome."

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] EvieLee-NBH 13 years ago

Three oscar noms at his age speaks for itself, play again.

I am you and what I see is me.

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[–] nowoolplz 13 years ago

um, but he didn't win any. and the oscars are a scam, anyways.

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[–] EvieLee-NBH 13 years ago

Gotta any proof they are a scam?

I am you and what I see is me.

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[–] nowoolplz 13 years ago

wow, you MUST be someone important.

you got any proof they AREN'T?

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[–] sweetmelody 13 years ago

He doesn't need to prove they aren't. The burden of proof is on the one making the accusation.

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[–] nowoolplz 13 years ago

He doesn't need to prove they aren't. The burden of proof is on the one making the accusation.

yeah? what's your proof of that?

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[–] pbstuckey 13 years ago

Matt Damon is somebody who takes the risks that Leo has so far refused to. How many actors have starred in a movie for both Scorcese and the Farrelly brothers? He's done heavy drama, heavy action, thrillers, westerns, comedies, and he's supposed to be great in the upcoming "We Bought A Zoo", which is a family movie. It's all about risk taking. Actors have to be brave.

I think Leo is terrbily afflicted with Hollywood-itis. It's probably par for the course when you're a child actor. Indifferently educated, ungrounded, with a unfocused sense of the real world. Who else would invite dozens of supermodels to their birthday party? Immature. Not living in the real world.

And, I'm sorry, but that kind of thing shows up in the performances.

"So she can one day become president and declare war on Germany like back when we were awesome"

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] pbstuckey 13 years ago

The scope of actors is limited by their personal capacities. Their intelligence, courage, generosity of spirit, depth, and breadth as people.

You can't honestly portray what you can't understand. That's why Leo is marked by his overt manerisms as an actor. He thinks acting is about aping behavior.

"So she can one day become president and declare war on Germany like back when we were awesome."

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] pbstuckey 13 years ago

My point is, that the growing superficiality of his performances is inevitable, given his nature. He was a better actor when he was very young. He can mature, but he obviously hasn't yet.

We're talking about a 37 year-old man, not a teenager. A man nearing middle age who invites dozens of supermodels (not one, DOZENS) to his birthday party (which normal people celebrate with friends and loved ones) is overtly immature, vain, self-aggrandizing, arrogant, and disrespectful, as well as clueless as to his own crassness.

I'm simply observing his behavior and commenting on it from the point of view of his acting. You can't send a boy to do a man's job.

"So she can one day become president and declare war on Germany like back when we were awesome."

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] AJarcher 13 years ago

...you're seriously going to trash someone you don't know based on hearsay about what their birthday was like? Not to mention that you have absolutely no way of knowing whether any person on the planet that you don't know personally is any of those ridiculous adjectives. This is hilarious, you need to stop obsessing over people you don't like, trust me, you sound really dumb saying it.

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] pbstuckey 13 years ago

Are you claiming dozens of supermodels were not invited to his birthday?

"So she can one day become president and declare war on Germany like back when we were awesome."

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[–] AJarcher 13 years ago

I am saying that you can't know for sure what his, or anyone's birthdays, are like; why anyone would care at all what they are like; how you can claim he (or anyone you don't know personally) didn't have "friends and family" there, or how what you read from some lame bits of press brings you to an immediate conclusion that someone is "vain, self-aggrandizing, arrogant, and disrespectful, as well as clueless as to his own crassness", and other things. Or why you would bother fixating on that constantly.
Having a complete dislike of an actor is one thing, and is fine, but you are going above and beyond what you will ever know about him or most other actors. It just sounds petty.

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] pbstuckey 13 years ago

I'm furious that a performance which adds absolutely nothing to a thin script would even be considered. J Edgar was supposed to be a biography for heaven's sake. A biography during which we learn nothing - nothing - of any significant value about the supposed subject.

You will, I'm sure, blame the script. But a good actor can give all sorts of subtle little details about a character regardless of the quality of the script. That is glaringly absent in this case. The only thing this movie says about J Edgar was "It's Momma's fault!"

Ridiculous.

Look at what a good actor does in an even worse movie, with an even worse script - The Happening. John Leguizamo is terrific in that movie, and gives his character so much detail and interest and background. And he was given infinitely less to work with than Leo. A tiny handful of lines.

"So she can one day become president and declare war on Germany like back when we were awesome."

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[–] AJarcher 13 years ago

I'm not sure about getting nominations, but whenever someone obsesses over celebs' flaws (real, imagined whatever), it just sounds nuts. Drawing these conclusions, making them personal, it's nuts.

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[–] pbstuckey 13 years ago

Everybody has flaws. I'm simply pointing out the Leo's reduced capacity as an actor has a likely and obvious source. It's a shame, really. People get Hollywood-ized, particularly those people who grow up in it.

"So she can one day become president and declare war on Germany like back when we were awesome."

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[–] celavie77 13 years ago

It'll be fun to to watch when you explode after the Oscars snubs this *beep* of a movie for Best Picture.

And when DiCaprio is inevitably snubbed for attaching his name to it.

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[–] 13 years ago

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[–] AutumnSF 13 years ago

AJarcher, I like your posts.

You've said it very well. I'll just add that many people these days celebrate their birthdays with family and close friends and then, they party with the same close friends, other not so close friends and often, if not always, it's the friends who organize the partying.

These whiny posters come to conclusions that are unbelievably ridiculous. The arguments they give to support their conclusions are even more ridiculous.

Now, the "opinions" on the "habits that Leo needs to break" sound more like "demands" than opinions and they really take the prize for ridiculous-ness.

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[–] bmagsalan 13 years ago

I only watched the 'Last King of Scotland' to watch Forrest Whitakers performance, just so I can see if Leo was robbed for wither Blood Diamond or The Departed. Honestly, Whitaker gave the performance of his life in that movie. I remember it clearly because this was the movie that introduced me to another great actor that I follow - James McAvoy. I like Leo, and he's given great performances but I've never felt for a fictional character like I do for the character Robbie Turner that James played in Atonement.

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[–] davinci-tool 13 years ago

I absolutely agree. Is not that everyone has its own face and we cannot do something about it…the actors supposed to personificate characters…that's acting…if you can't change your face from movie to movie you are missing the point...

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[–] SingleServingJack 13 years ago

actually, every single actor has those. it's just natural.

de niro, nicholson, al pacino, pitt...

everyone develops a certain style and as they get older, some of the mimic just repeats itself.

it happens to everyone and will continue in the future.

Laura:You left a dead prostitute buried alone in the desert?
Kyle:She's not alone.

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[–] EvieLee-NBH 13 years ago

singleservingjack, ftw. I can pick out numerous mannerisms carried through various films by some of the greatest actors ever. People really need to get over it, this isn't the 90's anymore. Dicaprio is grown up and is a fine actor.

I am you and what I see is me.

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[–] bgm5 13 years ago

River Phoenix didn't adapt the "eye-brow frown". He used it in that one movie as he was playing a young Indiana Jones, and therefore mimicked the elder's expressions as best he could. It also added comedic value to the role.

I hope you're not comparing Leo to River Phoenix. I like Leo's movies, mainly because he surrounds himself with great talent, but he'll never be the actor the River Phoenix was. Never.

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[–] 13 years ago

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