and doesn't stand for anything by a Trump-like stupidity in solidarity with his fans, the Bruce Willis's are the problem with Hollywood today.
All you have to do is mention Die Hard an a certain level of moron not too high off the bottom will cheer for him like he is Bogart or Tracy. but he is just another moron who has been in movies and has a lot of money.
Someone's jelly.
shareHe's excellent as the all american protagonist... the everyman, yet a superstar...
I can't imagine someone else in Unbreakable... Casting him in the Sixth Sense was masterfull...
The only thing I think I liked Bruce Willis in was "The Color Of Night" because it did indeed fit his image of someone who is arrogant and having his world fall apart. I think that role got him most of the other roles he is famous for ... but he is just not any good at acting and lousy typecast roles.
shareThat was a fun movie... I agree, he's pretty good playing unlikable characters...
I liked him in DePalma's Bonfire of the Vanities... Playing a boozer journolist...
He is great in Unbreakable, 12 Monkeys, and the first four Die Hard films. Everything else you can replace him with any action star and it would not make a bit of difference. Also he is really phoning in his performances. I was actually astonished in how little invested he was in Glass and Death Wish (terrible movies, but at least act like you care). Also he picks terrible straight to DVD films. Usually I use to be able to name the mega movies that he put out to theaters, now I cannot even recall the last five movies he did.
shareHe is great in Unbreakable, 12 Monkeys, and the first four Die Hard films. Everything else you can replace him with any action star and it would not make a bit of difference.
I'm not talking about how good the movies are. I'm describing how he would he made the performances iconic. Also yeah, those are all good movies you just described (safe for The Jackal), but anyone could have played the roles. Hell Mickey Rourke was the first choice and would have been better than Willis. I am talking more about his straight to DVD films which I can almost guarantee you would be hard pressed to name three.
shareHe nailed Death Wish...
I didn't think he'd measure up to Bronson, but as they went in a different direction with the remake, he did pull it off...
He is a star. Like many stars probably a better actor than he's given credit for or has had a chance to demonstrate. But like many stars he is associated with certain roles and character types that are less popular these days - also he's older. If he makes a deliberate move in to perhaps smaller roles in character actor territory we may, or may not, see how good an actor he really is - lots of examples of that in Hollywood's past.
shareTo the OP:
You are, of course, entitled to your opinion, but I am not sure that you know what goes into being an actor. Yes, Willis will probably never win an Oscar, but very few actors become actors to win awards. I guess you never watched him in Moonlighting, or caught his brilliant comic turn on Friends.
I am not sure that Willis is a jerk. There are those who would paint him as one, because to survive in Hollywood, I think you have to be strong and stand up for yourself, and there are those who would paint him as a jerk because he doesn't fit into their mold of what he should be.
I watched Moonlighting, or rather had to watch it when I hung out with a friend. Never cared for it. I liked Willis in the Color of Night. I just think he is a selfish, right-wing, jerk. People who make a lot of money from a job like acting and then do the whole I did it myself self made man bit are unsympathetic to me.
share"People who make a lot of money from a job like acting and then do the whole I did it myself self made man bit are unsympathetic to me"
I definitely agree with that. There are a LOT of people behind the scenes that help contribute to an actor's success. Agents, managers, accountants (when they are not stealing from the actor) and lawyers (ditto! - I don't like lawyers.). But, if the actor isn't any good, eventually they fall by the wayside. That's why, like it or not, Willis is still bankable and in a lot of films, because his name is still a draw. So, to a degree, all actors are "self made".
> But, if the actor isn't any good, eventually they fall by the wayside.
That's the thing, they don't. There are people with political connections that just keep working and getting jobs. Not necessarily the good actors, just the actors that are lucky enough to have roles that set people to liking them. That doesn't necessarily make them good actors. I was just commenting on Bryan Cranston, who in general I think was great in Breaking Bad. I have not seen him in much other stuff, but I don't think he is a great actor. He was in a great show. But you are right when you talk about how many other people it takes to make that connection with the audience ... even the lawyers! ;-)
We agree to disagree. Breaking Bad was great because of Cranston. Cranston is one of those nuanced actors who can sell an emotion with a look. That is NOT easy to do. Case in point. You may not be one who likes Kaiju films, but in the 2014 remake of Godzilla he was brilliant. He stole every scene he was in, and outclassed Aaron Taylor Johnson with ease. That movie, which I like a lot, would have benefitted with a LOT more of him in it.
shareMy fave Willis performances are in Mortal Thoughts with Demi Moore, where he plays a loathsome husband who gets his just desserts, and one of the 1980's Twilight Zone episodes called Shatterday, where he plays a guy whose doppelganger starts taking over his life.
He has seemingly become another Seagal...enough of a name to be able to get roles, but in very low grade movies and barely ven making a cameo.
I disagree. Though the First 2 Expendables and Looper are the most recent films I have seen him in.
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