Most overrated actor ever

Shatner is damn good at cheeze. When cheeze is done well, it is as entertaining as hell. Star Trek and its offshoots were a cheeze dynasty, with Shatner as the big cheeze. That is why he is so awesome in Boston Legal. David E. Kelley knows Shatner's stock in trade, and makes beautiful use of it, crafting a character in Shatner's wheelhouse. Not everyone is excellent in an Olivier or Streep sense.

Besides which, I don't think he's ever been rated highly, chopswise.

 

Not sure about that, Dools. Was considering promising when younger - did some time at the Stratford Festival and made his first movie appearance in "The Brothers Karamazov". However, his talents seemed to have atrophied once he began doing television.

 

Well, OK, I'll amend that to say that he hasn't been thought of as having acting chops in 40 years. I'm saying that he has acting chops of a different kind.

 

I'll agree with you on that. He has taken his cheese and made fondue.

 

Darn right. Denny Crane.





Denny Crane.



Denny Crane.

 

I love that movie, and Cage was indeed very good in it.

 

Haven't seen Adaptation, but I do know Cage has had a few darn good performances:
--Leaving Las Vegas
--Red Rock West
--Weatherman
--Valley Girl
--Raising Arizona
--8mm

And that's just off the top of my head. Sure he does some dreck; most big-name actors do at times. But I don't think he's rated as one of the very best, so I don't really see him as overrated.

 

A lot of it goes back to that baseball as poetry bullshit that has been discussed on another thread (though I can't remember now which one -- maybe it was this one). That said, I hate the baseball as poetry bullshit and still kind of liked Field of Dreams, though I wouldn't call it a classic or anything.

 

Overrated in his own mind: Vin Diesel. He fucking blows.

Vin, if you're on here, my real name is Jay Mariotti. You can find me in Chicago.

 

I know I'm going to catch some shit for this, but .... Denzel. Can't stand him, don't think he's hot. Blah.

And Al Pacino.

 

Yes, you will catch shit.

All great performances:
Malcolm X
Training Day
The Hurricane
Man On Fire
Philadelphia
Glory
Mo Better Blues
Devil in a Blue Dress

I won't call he recent turn in "Inside Man" a "great performance," but somehow he makes things look so easy and effortless -- as if his character walked into a movie where everyone else was acting.

Denzel is one of the greats.

 

But you just did.