...And Your Most Overrated Movie Star

brian_igo · #1 07-13-2002, 11:25 PM

If you can't say anything nice...

Kevin Spacey: Aside from The Rock, is there a more predictable actor working in Hollywood today?

Tom Hanks: His career took off when he decided he "wasn't going to play any more pussies." Good. Thanks for devoting the rest of your career to taking yourself very, very seriously.

Tom Cruise: I get why he is a movie star. I don't get what makes anyone think he can bring depth to a character. It always comes off as contrived.

Julia Roberts: Having two stock characters to play makes her twice as good as Tom Cruise, I guess.

William Hurt: Not really a movie star anymore, but so wooden and such an emotional black hole for every scene he is in, he deserves dishonors for lifetime achievement. (Broadcast News, where he was able to ham up the kind of shallow jerk he plays in every other film, is the one bright spot in an otherwise horrid body of work.)

Anyone else?

Brian

vania · #2 07-14-2002, 12:02 AM

I'd also go with Tom Cruise on this one. Personally, I really hate Tom Hanks, too, but I guess I have to admit he's pretty good in his films.

Conversely, I love Ben Affleck

but he can't act.

Others:
--Winona Ryder
--Leonardo DiCaprio (I love him and he showed amazing talent in "Gilbert Grape," but he hasn't shown much acting chops since.)
--Julia Roberts
--Richard Gere
--Cameron Diaz
--Meg Ryan
--Adam Sandler (okay, sure, so his reputation may not be one of "Great Actor," but why his movies are so successful is just a mystery to me! I can't stand him!)

I'd have to agree with the Kevin Spacey thing too.

magenta321 · #3 07-14-2002, 12:02 AM

Heather Graham. She's not even one dimentional. She's about a half a demention. Plus, she's scary looking.

Julia Roberts -- well, I like her, but now I think she's a complete ass after her Aloe Vera incedent.

Gilbert Godfried. I can't stand him. I can't watch him for two seconds, let alone a whole movie.

Grouch · #4 07-14-2002, 12:35 AM

Cameron Diaz.
Jennifer Lopez.
Kathleen Turner.
Elizabeth Taylor.
Liza Minelli.
Jane Fonda.
Barbra Streisand.
Charlton Heston.
Kevin Costner.
Jack Nicholson (before I saw As Good As It Gets).
Adam Sandler.
E.T. and the Ewoks.

kurt_messick · #5 07-14-2002, 12:50 AM

Hugh Grant -- plays the same character over and over and over...

shadow8 · #6 07-14-2002, 01:58 AM

Kevin Costner
Leonardo DiCaprio
Ben Affleck
Julia Roberts
Will Smith
Nicole Kidman

magenta321 · #7 07-14-2002, 02:02 AM

Yes, add Big Willy and Nicole Kidman the horse to my list as well.

Will was cute when he was a teen. But, cmon, he's an adult. When is he going to outgrow that role?

And Nicole Kidman? Please. All one has to do is watch five minutes of Moulon Rouge to see how bad she sucks (or was it the whole movie that sucked -- I'm not sure).

**soxfan**[$] · #8 07-14-2002, 11:09 AM

Richard Gere
Harrison Ford (hurt just to type that)
Meg Ryan (that one hurts, too)
Kevin Costner
Adam Sandler
Ben Affleck

Ailsa

Dani257 · #9 07-14-2002, 12:17 PM

Adam Sandler - if you can call him an 'actor'

Tom Cruise!

I do have to mention that Hugh Grant played against type in Bridget Jones Diary. He did a cad pretty well.

vania · #10 07-14-2002, 01:00 PM

Ooooh, I almost added Harrison Ford to my list, too, but couldn't bring myself to type it. He always seems to play the same sort of smirking characters, though, even when he's not supposed to!

I gotta agree with Will Smith (see reason for Harrison Ford above). Don't know about Nicole Kidman-- she was pretty good in "To Die For."

Hugh Grant played a different sort in "Sense and Sensibility" and was excellent, I thought. Also pretty good in "About a Boy."

CurtisEdmonds · #11 07-14-2002, 01:50 PM

The most overrated actor in the history of Western Cinema is, of course, the one, the (thank God) only, Barbra Streisand.

Followed closely by the Barbra Streisand of this century, Miss Julia Roberts.

I would also put in a good word here for Robert Redford, who is exceptionally overrated, but not in the same class as the two I mentioned.

**AshleyA**[$] · #12 07-14-2002, 10:48 PM

Some of my picks aside from the ones that have been mentioned are:

Keanu Reeves
Russell Crowe
George Clooney
Jennifer Aniston
John Travolta
Jennifer Lopez
Matthew McCounaghey

I'm sure I'll think of more, but these are the first that have popped into my mind.

Ashley

hypotenuse · #13 07-14-2002, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Keanu Reeves

I don't care if he can act or not.

Same with Harrison Ford.

Lynne

**soxfan**[$] · #14 07-14-2002, 11:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by vania
Ooooh, I almost added Harrison Ford to my list, too, but couldn't bring myself to type it. He always seems to play the same sort of smirking characters, though, even when he's not supposed to!

Yeah, he does. *sigh* He also persists in doing action movies even though his Indiana Jones days are way, way back in the distance. It's fine for the Schwarzeneggers and Seagals of the world to keep doing the same flick over and over, because that's all they can do. However, Ford has range -- or used to, anyway -- and it's disappointing to see him not using it.

And I can't believe I forgot to put Keanu on my list. Garden slugs have more facial expression than this guy.

Ailsa

erik_kosberg · #15 07-14-2002, 11:30 PM

Barbra Streisand (in a class by herself)
John Travolta (except for Pulp Fiction)
Bruce Willis (ditto)
George Raft
Ronald Reagan
Alan Alda
William Shatner

realtraveller · #16 07-15-2002, 01:30 AM

You are all so right, all you who listed Kevin Costner. That guy talks like he's doing a bad high school book report reading.

Other actors I just can't stand--whether or not they can act--

--Barbra Streisand
--Sandra Bullock
--Danny DeVito
--Adam Sandler
--Drew Barrymore (she should have stopped with E. T.)
--Joan Cusack

Actors I just can't help liking

--Kevin Kline
--Jeff Goldblum (though he's been in some real duds)
--Tom Hanks (I think he's great)
--Glenn Close
--the great Meryl Streep ( my all time favorite actress)