The more I see/hear him the more I think Gene Hackman....

[rusnak]

Hackman was good in "The Package" and "Behind Enemy Lines".

I think when guys get older, the mental acuity that gives them a wellspring from which to create new characters dries up.

[tabs]

BTW I like Gene Hackman.

Montgomery Cliff, James Dean, Marlon Brando and Jack Nicholas...


China Town and The Two Jake's.

[sammyg2]

Dead bug!

All right sportsfans.

[stevej37]

He's been in a ton of movies...always plays the part excellent. Haven't heard anything about him in a while..is his health ok?

I couldn't believe it when I looked up his his history on IMDB and it said that he played the blindman on Young Frankenstein...unreal!

[dan88911]

Originally Posted by tabs

Hackman has retired. Along with Sean Connery.

The trick to acting is to make it seem like you are not acting. Harrison Ford in Apocylspe Now fumbled with some papers during a scene, where the assistant director got mad at him. Coppola told the assistant he's acting.

John Wayne only played one role in his life and that was being John Wayne.

I agree with you about John Wayne and would say the same for Robert Mitchum.

[scottmandue]

I think many of us forget that actors are just ordinary people working a job.
It is possible sometimes a good script can make a bad movie or a bad script can be made into a good movie.
I suspect sometimes an actor just need a job out of boredom or a need to pay the bills and end up in a stinker.
Then the public reads them as a "bad actor" because they got caught in a crummy movie.
Just my two cents.

[gsxrken]

Funny. Never could stand him, Tommy Lee Jones, or Kurt Russel. In anything.
Gary Oldman is amazing

[JavaBrewer]

I can see where the OP was going with this, I have a list of actors that IMO are not really acting but just playing themselves. Nick Cage, Jack, John Wayne. If you feel that way about Gene Hackman I suggest you watch The Birdcage. Difficult for a movie hard azz to transition to comedy and Gene, again in IMO, pulled it off magnificently. Perhaps due to the heavy talent he was surrounded with but none the less, one of my favorite roles he has played.

"I feel like I'm insane.."

https://youtu.be/zykSvrhlquY

"Nasty European Traditions" LOL

https://youtu.be/8pR2i-NQCZ8

Oh carp, didn't want to bring politics into this

[berettafan]

Birdcage is great. Lot of genes movies are good. Just don't like him much.

Nick cage is the most overrated actor in the history of film. He sucks so badly it's not funny. Awful awful no talent hack. Raising Arizona was funny but that's where it ended for him.

There may not be an actor on the planet I despise more. and that includes anyone from twilight.

[MMiller]

Originally Posted by gsxrken

Funny. Never could stand him, Kurt Russel.

Really..no love for Tombstone or Big trouble in little China ?

[stevej37]

Originally Posted by berettafan

Birdcage is great. Lot of genes movies are good. Just don't like him much.

Nick cage is the most overrated actor in the history of film. He sucks so badly it's not funny. Awful awful no talent hack. Raising Arizona was funny but that's where it ended for him.

There may not be an actor on the planet I despise more. and that includes anyone from twilight.

Have you ever seen Red Rock West?

[Baz]

Originally Posted by gorthar

Overrated? Hmmmm, maybe but I always liked this scene from Mississippi Burning

Edit: Language NSFW

Good one! That was a great movie....

[Por_sha911]

Originally Posted by tabs

what you are describing is the character overlaying the persona of the actor.
Peter Sellers... another one.

I believe you are referring to an actor who becomes typecast. No matter how many brilliant characters they play, they are seen in one light. Robin Williams was Mork. Peter Sellers was Inspector Clouseau (FYI: he did an incredible job with the movie Being There but no one gives it any attention). The actor ends up in the same type of roles over and over.

Back to Hackman. He was brilliant as Popeye Doyle.
BTW, notice which later hard nosed character wore the same hat:

[911_Dude]

I thought he was especially good in Crimson Tide. Such an a-hole.

[craigster59]

If you want to see an acting triumph check out Dana Andrews in Zero Hour (basis for the movie Airplane) or Hot Rods To Hell. He had to have been the worst.

I like Gene Hackman, he and George Kennedy always played good "heavies".

[sand_man]

Originally Posted by berettafan

Nick cage is the most overrated actor in the history of film. He sucks so badly it's not funny. Awful awful no talent hack. Raising Arizona was funny but that's where it ended for him.

I like Hackman and most of the other actors mentioned in this thread. Never cared much for John Wayne (how un'merican of me...don't hate him or anything, just gets to be one dimensional), and I agree with your Cage sentiments...Arizona is the only thing I really like him in and that's likely due to the Coen brothers.

Other obvious old schoolers that I enjoy: Cary Grant, Gary Cooper, Burt Lancaster, Jimmy Stewart, Gregory Peck, William Holden, Spencer Tracey, Fred MacMurry, Edward G. Robbinson, Anthony Quinn...

[GG Allin]

Originally Posted by VincentVega

He has to be mid 80's now, he is old!

Get shorty, The Firm, Unforgiven, Enemy of the State, Wyatt Earp, The Conversation, French Connection... I think he's great.

The Firm was a good movie. Never gets played anywhere on cable.



Keanu Reeves and Bill Paxton are on my list of worst actors. The only thing Keanu Reeves has accomplished as an actor, is not ruining The Matrix.

[Don Ro]

Originally Posted by tabs

Hackman has retired. Along with Sean Connery.

The trick to acting is to make it seem like you are not acting.
John Wayne only played one role in his life and that was being John Wayne.

True...he was always John Wayne. Boring, really.
.
Now a versatile actor is Dustin Hoffman.
I do like Gene Hackman's acting, BTW.

[winders]

Funny, based on the movies I like to see over and over, I am a huge John Wayne, James Stewart, and Kevin Costner fan. I have never found John Wayne to be boring. He was a much better actor than he was given credit.

Generally speaking, I seem to dislike the characters that Gene Hackman plays. Sometimes that is because I am supposed to. Other times, not.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by gsxrken

Funny. Never could stand him, Tommy Lee Jones, or Kurt Russel. In anything.
Gary Oldman is amazing

+1 on all counts except Hackman. A God. Not even close to Jack Nicholson, though.

Odd thing is I can watch all their (Jones/Russel) moves and they are usually more than palatable.

Compare Harvey Keitel to Tommy Lee Jones. Both almost Bronson like tough looks, but Keitel genuinely frightens me. Gotta be a reason for that.