MovieChat Forums > Phoenix (1998) Discussion > Anthony LaPaglia

Anthony LaPaglia

posted 15 years ago by agsconnolly
11 replies | jump to latest

I thought this film was great and I have very few complaints about it generally. However, I do wonder what other people make of Anthony LaPaglia, not just in this movie but also in general. Whenever I see him I think he's a terrible ham and always overdoes his parts. He just looks fat and middle-aged rather than tough and rugged. There's also his attempt at an American accent which, in my opinion, does not mask his true accent properly.

I will always be haunted by an episode of Frasier where LaPaglia was playing an English 'soccer lout' along with Robbie Coltrane and Richard E Grant. Never mind that only one of those people is English and none of them would be seen dead at a football match - LaPaglia's performance in that was typically overblown and cliched.

Any other thoughts on him?

[–] Roar_Girl 15 years ago

Personally, I've only seen him in two things. This and another movie which I don't know the name of, but he did a good job in that one, and I thought an alright one in this. I've only seen it once, so I'd have to watch it again to judge but it all seemed good to me.
Of course (Don't know about you) but I'm Australian and I think that because of that, any hint of an Aussie accent from him was probably just accepted as normal, so I'll try to pay more attention next time.

[–] Charmed03 15 years ago

Not quite sure what you mean by none of them being seen dead at a soccer match. He's not actually playing a 'soccer lout' anyway he's playing a loutish brother.
Anyway my only criticism about the Frasier character is that he is south London/cockney and Daphne and mother are from Manchester. The only way this could be explained is if he moved away from the family as a little boy which was not the case.

[–] 15 years ago

[deleted]

[–] agsconnolly 15 years ago

Charmed03 - sorry I was referring to a different episode of Frasier - not the ones where he plays Daphne's brother. There was a one-off episode featuring him, Coltrane and Grant where they played football louts.

I agree about the difference in accents between him and the rest of Daphne's family though - but I guess to Americans it doesn't make a lot of difference.

[–] justlooking7 14 years ago

I happen to strongly disagree with your post -he's not a ham, he doesn't overdo his parts IMO. He won an Emmy for Frazier, so his peers disagree too. When Coltrane and Grant appeared with him on it, it wasn't a one off, they were *all* playing Daphne's brothers. Also, they'd tried him with the correct accent but it didn't work out, the laughs weren't there, so they asked him to change it and the Cockney accent worked best. Also, Grant is from Swaziland and Coltrane is Scottish BTW.

Let's see -so he won the Emmy for that; a Golden Globe for Without a Trace; two Best Actor awards at the AFIs, the most recent for his political film Balibo late last year; he won a Tony for Best Actor on Broadway. Sounds like a damn good actor to me.

And strange but true, someone yet again tweeted the other day at being surprised that he's Australian, not American, so he still gets away with it.

He's damn good and sexy as hell in Phoenix, so there.

[–] passingthetime 14 years ago

Couldn't agree with you more justlooking. I have to question whether the poster was actually watching Anthony LaPaglia or has actually got him mixed up with somebody else.

I have always found him to be an extremely versatile actor. I can't say I have ever seen him put in a bad performance. He was superb in Lantana, Chameleon, Balibo, Without A Trace, The Guys... I could go on.

In Phoenix he played the part of Mike Henshaw with sublime sleaziness, LOL. Still damn hot mind you.

[–] scotch-on-the-rocks 14 years ago

I agree with both of you justlooking and passingtime. I don't believe the poster really is aware of Anthony LaPaglia and his acting abilities. He's done comedy and drama, both exceedingly well! His Simon on Frasier is a classic, so what if he's not using a Manchester accent, what he's doing works, it suits the character and is hysterically funny!

LaPaglia plays a really sleazy corrupt cop in Phoenix, he's sleazy and hot at the same time, the expression in his eyes when he looks at someone, you know he's thinking about what he can do to the person or what he can make the person do. You don't see him playing such a bad person, maybe the poster was expecting Jack Malone! And Mike Henshaw is no Jack Malone!

[–] jukaswo 13 years ago

I'm with Lucky Dollar, justlooking, and passingthetime. PLUS, my husband is a dead ringer for A.L. so I take issue with the "fat and middle-aged" description! :-D

"All I need are some tasty waves, a cool buzz, and I'm fine."
--Jeff Spicoli

[–] VampyreMike 12 years ago

I really like Anthony, where else do you see an Australian Italian huh? Plus, did anyone see 29th street? Amazing underrated film!

Thanks,
www.segacduniverse.com

- Mike

[–] bear022013-909-645034 10 years ago

He is Australian and always falls short of the mark.

[–] bear022013-588-696101 9 years ago

Ray Liotta,Danny Cannon,Anthony LaPaglia and Gail Ann Dorsey with help from Tom Noonan....are the film Phoenix!