MovieChat Forums > Warren Beatty Discussion > Is Warren Beatty genuinely "relevant" am...

Is Warren Beatty genuinely "relevant" among people a certain age at this point?

posted a year ago by TMC-4 (19447)
8 replies | jump to latest

Like say, under the age of 40? I'm not at all being facetious when I bring this up. I just thought about Warren Beatty after his recent stunt on Turner Classic Movies where he dressed up like Dick Tracy. This was presumably done as means of being able to cling on to the film and television rights even though his Dick Tracy movie is now over 30 years old.

For those who don't know what I'm talking about:
https://collider.com/dick-tracy-special-warren-beatty/

I mean, I think of Warren Beatty now for being Annette Bening's husband than somebody who was once considered a major, A-list star and Hollywood power player. Granted, even in Warren's peak years (which would've been the 1970s), he wasn't that productive. And his dithering over projects only got worse as he got older, so he presumably, was never going to let himself be rediscovered by audiences.

In comparison, his sister, Shirley MaCLaine never really left the public eye.

https://moviechat.org/nm0000886/Warren-Beatty/5ad9751ab1efd40014c188d7/Why-Hollywood-wont-cast-Warren-Beatty-anymore

[–] filmgeek99 (598) a year ago

No, Warren was never all that great to begin with. He was a limited actor with a limited range, with a measly screen presence and a notoriously overblown ego to boot. When you take a close look at his filmography, you'll see that only a small handful of films he's done can be considered classics (Bonnie and Clyde, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Shampoo) while the rest have largely been forgotten, even if they were well-received upon initial release (Reds, Bugsy, Bulworth).

He's more known now as just a guy who was once a vital part of the 70's Hollywood rat pack than anything, who made love with beautiful women much more often than great or even financially successful movies. He was an industry socialite first and a movie star second, someone who knew how to climb the social ladder of the movie business much more than how to actually entertain an audience. Even back in his day, I don't think audiences ever quite had the same love or adoration towards him as they did for someone like Harrison Ford or Clint Eastwood. He was just a familiar face who regularly got cast in prestige, Oscar caliber pictures as a result of his ability to hustle, rather than actual popularity with audiences.

To sum it up, Beatty was a socialite who mostly just schmoozed his way to the top.

[–] mtxmind (3043) a year ago

He was an industry socialite first and a movie star second

That's the basic essence of the guy. Famous for being famous. Not a really good actor at all.

[–] bozo_500 (12284) a year ago

Hes still relevant in a Dick Tracy / Bonnie & Clyde way

[–] mtxmind (3043) a year ago

I'd add Bulworth to that.

[–] chilidoggg (13118) a year ago

Bulworth might be his best film IMO like "Network" for the 1990's.

[–] Interlepos (1784) a year ago

Here is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwYcwB_deG8

He should have played Tracy in 2010. It would have worked even then.

[–] DoctorThirteen (10393) a year ago

Honestly, I've never found him relevant.

[–] Ismailov (139) 5 months ago

I'm 31 years old and know of Beatty as someone who starred in (and/or directed) famous old films like Bonnie and Clyde, Reds, etc., but aside from the 2017 Academy Awards screwup he hasn't come up much in pop culture recently.

I don't think Beatty's lack of "productivity" can be entirely blamed for this. Jack Nicholson hasn't been in anything of note for many years either, yet I'd bet far more young people have watched The Shining than any Beatty film. Having played the Joker also helps keep Nicholson's name going, at least among Batman fans.