Always a likeable guy but a few years ago he went from good guy to bad guy in all of his new roles and apparently there's no way back. Sad but true?!
shareRight? - Grand Piano, The Frozen Ground, Drive Hard etc.....Also Look at some of the stuff Elijah Wood has done lately....weird.
shareI suppose that depends on your definition of villain (spoilers ahead):
1989-His character worked on weapons of mass destruction
1990-His character helped con folks out of their hard earned money
1991-His character is determined to be a big political power broker any way he can
1992-His character is an anarchist who skips out on a rather large check at a diner
1997-His character is a professional assassin who grows a conscience
2003-His character tampers with and manipulates a jury from within
2008-His character is a shady lawyer who embezzles $2 mil from a client
"In a time of universal deceit,
telling the truth is a revolutionary act."
George Orwell
One of the reasons is his being an independent thinker.
For all practical purposes he is finished after this
http://www.alternet.org/world/8-surprising-celebrities-outraged-israels-assault-gaza
Ever since he decided an acceptable haircut is no longer required. And yes, then you can be Edgar Allen Poe or star in a stinker like Drive Hard or Grand Piano. Or Frozen Ground. Not that the latter 2 are totally bad, but the script was pushing it too fast at some point.
I'll take the Cusack from American Sweethearts and Grosse Point Blank any time. Love the actor, hate his recent work.
And there is a lot of recent work. Guess he needs money.
Totally agreed ! He used to be one of my favorite actors, but his recent hairstyle really turns me away, LOL. Now that he is aging and lost his good looks, I can understand that he can never get the leading man roles he was used to when he was young, and has taken on character roles. However, in movies before 1970, villain characters could be mean and diabolical and at the same time still be handsome, well-groomed, suave and charming in appearances.
sharehe's playing roles as who ever the hell he wants to. lol, he's up there with the highest payed actors. Look how much he's worked in the last 5-10 years. He's working like he's got a billion dollar a year drug habit.
powdered faberge egg anybody?
Well he's always been a B+er. He's never really been an A lister.
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Scientologists love Narnia, there's plenty of closet space.
He was "the good guy" in a lot of films but he's also played a lot of different kinds of roles throughout the years in between and has been playing more "bad guys" lately. Maybe he just enjoys it. He did play a ton of "happy go lucky, silly, romantic, funny, kind, hero" guys. And few and far between was he the con man or bad guy so maybe he's just enjoying the thrill of being the bad guy! I think he is EXCELLENT in either role and extremely believable as the bad guy so why the hell not?? I thought he was incredible in this film. He is so good at being bad, and so good at being good. I will admit, AT FIRST because he is such a likable guy and has played a lot of good roles, and that good person shines through him, during this film I kept thinking he was going to be the "nice bad guy" and ultimately just give Nina back. I even thought he might end up being a good guy before I discovered he took her. Then even when I knew he took her I was like "aw hes such a likable bad guy, hes gonna let them see her, probably give her back, give them food and water, awe that John Cusack" but then he did an amazing job of flipping the switch, and making us realize he has absolutely no good in him, and i started to hate him. I felt BAD for the guy for like 5 mins (not that I think what they were doing is ok in any way I just mean sometimes in movies when you also root or the bad guys and you're not sure why kind of thing) like when I realized he was screwed over and he seemed desperate in trying to get more money, he seemed like his conscience was swirling or something, but then I quickly hated him when he really showed his true colors. He did a good job of showing a lot of different layers of this character. Or maybe not layers but he keeps you guessing as to just how bad hes gonna be. I dont think I was liking him just cause hes a likable guy that is part of it, but he is such a good actor that he literally kept unfolding this character like an onion until you realize ok he really is just as bad as that *beep* that beat up Ryan Phillipe's character at the bar. Thats who I thought was the real evil one, I thought he had some good in him, and was more about the money not hurting/killing anyone and wasnt actually going to kidnap any children. But he was just as vicious if not worse than the other guy. So I am glad hes playing villians! He does it so well. And if he plays a good guy in his next film ill go watch him in that too. Hes just rad.
Also, in the movie "The Prince" that movie honestly was just plain terrible, so don't blame John Cusack if he wasnt too great in it. I think he did the bet he could with some really awful, AWFUL material. They gave him barely any lines, barely any character development to go on, so I think he tried to just make it a character role to make it interesting, and he was interesting to watch in it, but everything about the film was so bad, especially surrounding his specific character there was no redeeming it. And as little of a role h had in that film, he did better in like the 4 scenes he was in that the guy who was unfortunately in the entire film. God that movie was atrocious.