Review: 5 Hollywood Actors Who Aren’t Capable of Giving a Bad Performance

One day the Writer’s Guild strike will end, and the movies and TV shows the world wants will spill forth once again. Making a movie is probably the hardest collaborative artistic endeavor anyone can undertake. A lot of things have to go right in order to make an average film, let alone a critically-acclaimed fan favorite or billion-dollar blockbuster.

One of the big wildcards in any film project is the actor. Despite advanced CGI effects, louder and better explosions, and endless remakes, in the end the thing that often makes a movie work is the talent in front of the camera. That got me thinking of that group of actors who seem to be good, or at least serviceable, in most if not all of their projects. If a movie isn’t any good, it’s not because one of these guys is in it--


Matt Damon: He’s not an acting prodigy like Leo Dicapprio or a Capital “A” Actor like Dustin Hoffman. He doesn’t have an idiosyncratic screen persona like Jack Nicholson, proprietary quirks like Al Pacino, or amazing range like P.S. Hoffman. He’s good looking, but the camera doesn’t love him the way it loves Keanu Reeves or Denzel Washington.

So why is he on the list? Because of the yeoman-like work ethic he brings to his performances and his ability to pick good projects. In none of his performances that I've seen did I get the impression he was phoning it in or operating out of his element. The simple fact is he delivers more often than any big name out there right now, which is one reason why he was was recently named Hollywood's best investment. Best Roles: Jason Bourne in The Bourne Identity, Mike McDermott in Rounders.







Laurence Fishburne: Ever since his major-movie debut as Tyrone "Clean" Miller in Apocalypse Now, he has been delivering a level of quality and artistry few can match. I can't think of another actor who possesses his unique combination of authority and humanity. He's also proven to be extremely adaptable, moving from ghetto realism (Boys n the Hood) to Shakespeare (Othello) to action-adventure comedies (Fled) to science fiction (The Matrix) without missing a beat. Best Roles: Dap in School Daze, Morpheus in The Matrix.







Paul Giamatti: He’s probably never going to be the traditional Leading Man because he doesn’t look the part, but he’s got everything else to be a star for a long time. A actor with incredible command of his craft, he has quietly put together an impressive collection of starring and supporting roles (American Splendor, Sideways, Cinderella Man) with no end in sight, thank goodness. Best Roles: Harvey Pekar in American Splendor, Miles in Sideways.







Jeremy Piven: Probably the most typecast actor on the list. Producers look at him and see the stereotypical stock broker, lawyer, or agent: a smug, Type-A power-brokering jackass. Still, in all of Piven’s projects (Entourage, Very Bad Things, Old School) he always manages to make his roles memorable.

I recently saw the film Smokin’ Aces where Piven’s part called for a standard coked-out mobbed-up rat, something any number of 30-40 year old male Hollywood actors could have done in their sleep. Piven took that role and did something with it, much more so than his co-stars. Maybe it's the way his surface jerk-ness barely conceals a range of other emotions. Maybe it's the way he combines his live-wire energy with a deft comic touch. Either way, he's always fun to watch. Best Role: Ari Gold in Entourage.







John Tuturro: He’s been in a lot of films, and been good to brilliant in all of them. His name doesn’t instantly come up in discussions of major male actors, but at the same time he’s not a “that guy” actor because he’s so unique and accomplished – anyone who’s seen him once will recognize him again. Like Giamatti, he’s got all the tools to cement his place as top-shelf talent except for the standard Hollywood look. Like Damon, he picks good roles and his preparation for them is evident on the screen. Best Roles: Bernie Bernbaum in Miller’s Crossing, Barton Fink in Barton Fink, Pete in O Brother Where Art Thou.







-C Ewing