A bona-fide sociopath

I don't know. I've never seen The Negotiator. But what is your point, though? Most actors base their performers on other actors or even a person that they know. The difference is that they're able to bring a little of themselves to their roles (and some humanity) so that you don't feel as if they're merely being robots mimicking someone. This humanity is why you feel Captain Jack Sparrow is a real character (as opposed to being a soulless rote imitation of Keith Richards).

He's amazing in The Negotiator. One of the best films.

Thank you. One of the reasons why I dislike American Beauty so much is that if you're familiar with Jack Lemmon's work, Spacey doesn't come across as channeling Lemmon but as doing a creepy, soulless imitation of him that missed the very mark of why people loved him. By that I mean, it wasn't the head turns, the delivery and the facial tics that defined Lemmon. It was his humanity that people loved the most. But Spacey--perhaps lacking humanity himself--missed this very signature characteristic by a mile in American Beauty.

To give everyone some contrast, go watch some clips of a soap opera actor named Christian LeBlanc. He is clearly an admirer of Jack Lemmon. However, with him, you don't feel like he's doing a flat imitation. You feel like he's a human being doing a loving homage to Lemmon precisely because he admired him for his humanity and everyman persona (not because of the signature facial tics, mannerisms, etc.)

It's a bad movie if it doesn't capture the essence of who Jack Lemmon was, and that's someone who represented the everyman and a humanity you could relate to. Spacey plays Lemmon as if he were a soulless sociopath.

Thanks...I think?

Every time I see someone use terms like "woke", "canceled", and "cancel culture," I just know they're an idiot who spends all their time on social media. It's so sad when grown adults stop forgetting how to use vocabulary or thinking above the level of a 4chan troll.