Is Jeff Goldblum's Acting Quality Measured by His Expressive Eyes?

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Ivan Seeking
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Being a bit of a movie buff, I tend to pick things apart, as I'm sure many people here do.

Here is one that came up recently: Is Jeff Goldblum a quality actor, or is he just someone that people like to watch? While I tend to enjoy his movies for light entertainment, I started noticing that he never really seems to act. He has a characteristic manner from which he never deviates.
 
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LOL, cue in the Dinosaurs.

He sucks as an actor. :smile:

Speaking of sucks, I just saw a few minutes of this movie called "deep blue" on syfy about killer man-eating sharks. My-god. It was epically bad.
 


Well I don't go to movies often, but I find there are lots of actors who can't act. I'd put Goldblum in that category...one character: smart, sort of funny and non-conformist, dry delivery of lines. Funny the first time or two you see him, but then you realize...hey, it's the same character as the last movie!

Another actor like that: Kevin Costner...ugh. I made the mistake of seeing "Robin Hood," in the early 90s. Didn't even bother learning a quasi-British accent! And it's that way in most of his movies...I think he speaks in a monotone and keeps a frozen expression. So much for acting.
 


He was married to Geena Davis. Other than that, yeah he's not a good actor.
 


Funny, I've thought the exact same thing before about him. He's ok I suppose.

There's a few other actors that come to mind; Morgan Freeman, Nicholas Cage, Stephen Segal, Vin Diesel, Steve Buscemi.
 


Ivan Seeking said:
Here is one that came up recently: Is Jeff Goldblum a quality actor, or is he just someone that people like to watch? While I tend to enjoy his movies for light entertainment, I started noticing that he never really seems to act. He has a characteristic manner from which he never deviates.
I agree that he's a quality actor (insofar as he is good in the movies he is in) and that he doesn't have much range. He is what he is and he's good at it, but he's nothing more.

I suppose having only one role that is probably just a reflection of himself means he can't "act". But I would separate him from someone like Kevin Costner, who isn't good in any role. I'm not sure why people keep giving him jobs (he's not as hot as he used to be, so maybe casting directors are realizing how terrible he is...).
 


B. Elliott said:
There's a few other actors that come to mind; Morgan Freeman, Nicholas Cage, Stephen Segal, Vin Diesel, Steve Buscemi.
You think Morgan Freeman and Steve Buscemi are in the same category as those others? Freeman is an oscar winner and it really isn't debateable that he's a superstar. Buscemi you might have an argument on, but I tend to think that no one as ugly as him could keep getting jobs if he couldn't act. Looking at IMDB, yikes, he has 121 movie credits!

Vin Diesel and Steven Segal are generic action movie actors. They are like Goldblulm in having little to no range but being decent at the one role they play over and over. Cage gets slightly more varied roles, but is mediocre in general.
 


Speak of the Devil. He's on Law and Order right now! See if you can guess what his character does?
 


Ivan Seeking said:
I started noticing that he never really seems to act.
The mark of an artist.
 


Cyrus said:
LOL, cue in the Dinosaurs.

He sucks as an actor. :smile:

Speaking of sucks, I just saw a few minutes of this movie called "deep blue" on syfy about killer man-eating sharks. My-god. It was epically bad.

Speaking of sucks, hey Cyrus.

I agree though, Goldblum has never impressed me. Whenever I think of him, I think of him with gawking at a dinosaur.
 


My friends and I had a conversation a while back about this. "Who are good actors?"
We came to the realization that just about every actor plays pretty much the same in every movie. Some actors have two or maybe even three faces but other than that they're all pretty much the same across the board.

Particularly good examples...

Morgan Freeman: Same character in every film. The only one I know of where he plays a bad guy he is still a good guy and still acts the same regardless.

Christopher Walken: Just about everybody loves him but he is the exact same in every role he plays.

Denzel Washington: He has switch hit between good guy and bad guy but the two faces are not very different from one another, just one is Denzel being an ***hole and the other one isn't.

Johnny Depp: Though I have seen him play a regular character way back when he was on 21 jump Street it seems that all he ever plays any more is some variation on the crazy weirdo.

Patrick Stewart: I can never see him as anything but Captain Picard. Maybe that's really the problem and not his acting but even in Jeffrey he just seemed like a gay Captain Picard to me.


Funny thing is that Brad Pitt is abouot the only actor I can think of that seems to have quite a range of personality in his movies. Sensitive romantic, suave businessman, macho typical male, and stonecold ****nuts insane. He seems to really try to act like a different person in each role.
 


I always find it hard to look past his acting. He never becomes an actual character -- always just a blatantly posing actor.
 


Add Tom Cruise to that list of people who can only play one role. Sucks at it too.
 


Wow, they made him a lead role, he's a detective!

I swear it was like watching Jurassic Park all over again. This just in, T-Rex did the murder.
 


jimmysnyder said:
The mark of an artist.

I didn't say that one can't tell he is acting... :biggrin: I don't think I have ever seen him show emotion!
 


What about Russell Crowe? he seems to only get roles in movies of the past... Gladiator, Cinderella Man, A Beautiful Mind, ...

Goldblum is an ok actor. He's best role is that Human Fly movie, followed by Jurassic Park 1, and that's it...
 


Anyone else notice his "glasses" never have a prescription?

USA+Network+American+Character+Photographic+3F9HGeVNjXQl.jpg


http://blog.spout.com/wp-content/uploads/340x.jpg

Those are "I'm wearing these to look smart" glasses.
 
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Cyclovenom said:
What about Russell Crowe? he seems to only get roles in movies of the past... Gladiator, Cinderella Man, A Beautiful Mind, ...

I think Russell Crowe is an excellent actor.

Imo, someone else that can't act his way out of a box is Elliot Gould. I have never understood why he was or is considered to be a big star [aside from the fact that someone gave him a bunch of work].
 


Something that I have come to appreciate is the acting in silent films. While they are usually overly dramatic [I assume to compensate for the silence], the ability that the actors had to convey emotion was far above and beyond the capabilities of perhaps most popular actors today.

It seems to me that the closeups in silent films, combined with the silence, made the acting far more challenging than even theater. Of course the ability to convey emotion with the voice is another talent and skill. Many of the actors from silent films couldn't make it in the talkies.

One example of great facial expression is found in Fritz Lang's Metropolis. When the evil robot assumes the form of our angelic heroine and deceives the masses, [I think it is when she is finally tied to the stake] she produces some facial expressions that are priceless. Now THAT is evil personified!
 
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TheStatutoryApe said:
My friends and I had a conversation a while back about this. "Who are good actors?"
We came to the realization that just about every actor plays pretty much the same in every movie. Some actors have two or maybe even three faces but other than that they're all pretty much the same across the board.

Particularly good examples...

Morgan Freeman: Same character in every film. The only one I know of where he plays a bad guy he is still a good guy and still acts the same regardless.

Christopher Walken: Just about everybody loves him but he is the exact same in every role he plays.

Denzel Washington: He has switch hit between good guy and bad guy but the two faces are not very different from one another, just one is Denzel being an ***hole and the other one isn't.

Johnny Depp: Though I have seen him play a regular character way back when he was on 21 jump Street it seems that all he ever plays any more is some variation on the crazy weirdo.

Patrick Stewart: I can never see him as anything but Captain Picard. Maybe that's really the problem and not his acting but even in Jeffrey he just seemed like a gay Captain Picard to me.


Funny thing is that Brad Pitt is abouot the only actor I can think of that seems to have quite a range of personality in his movies. Sensitive romantic, suave businessman, macho typical male, and stonecold ****nuts insane. He seems to really try to act like a different person in each role.

Some of these are my favorite actors. I think they are excellent at the roles they are in even if the roles are similar every time. I've never seen a villian more vile than Denzel Washington in 'Training Day'. Christopher Walken doesn't need to act because he is the act. You could add Robert Deniro, Al Pacino, Clint Eastwood and Samuel L. Jackson to that list too. Excelling in one area doesn't make someone a bad actor. They're good actors that are great at certain roles. Most actors eventually get typecast. It's the ones with range that are the rarity.

I don't think Brad Pitt is all that great. If you're looking for actors with range and talent then check out Gary Oldman and Robin Williams. Comedic actors are noted for their range.
 


Huckleberry said:
Some of these are my favorite actors. I think they are excellent at the roles they are in even if the roles are similar every time. I've never seen a villian more vile than Denzel Washington in 'Training Day'. Christopher Walken doesn't need to act because he is the act. You could add Robert Deniro, Al Pacino, Clint Eastwood and Samuel L. Jackson to that list too. Excelling in one area doesn't make someone a bad actor. They're good actors that are great at certain roles. Most actors eventually get typecast. It's the ones with range that are the rarity.

I don't think Brad Pitt is all that great. If you're looking for actors with range and talent then check out Gary Oldman and Robin Williams. Comedic actors are noted for their range.

I do not dislike any of them or think they are bad actors. I actually like them very much and picked them because they are rather popular. And I don't particularly care for Pitt much except when he is playing a crazy guy.

I didn't finish my thought though, sorry, I was a bit distracted.

I think that what really makes a great actor is not so much the ability to play many different people as the ability to play many different situations. The thing that strikes me most about the actors I mentioned is that they are quite believable in the roles they play.
 


Johnny Depp is a wonderful actor, who else could fill the shoes of Vincent Price so well? He can be goofy, zany but early on captured my heart with Gilbert Grape.
 


TheStatutoryApe said:
... I don't particularly care for Pitt much except when he is playing a crazy guy.
I loved him in 'Fight Club' and '12 Monkeys' and 'Troy'. He plays a great crazy or eccentric individual. I wasn't thrilled with his performance in 'Meet Joe Black'. He made Death look both all-knowing and naive. Maybe that was the point, but it didn't appeal to me much. There's something about his acting that says "Hey, I'm Brad Pitt!" It's like he hopped out of an Ayn Rand novel or something. Eh, maybe I'm just jealous. I dunno. I'd like to see him play an ordinary shmoe.
 


lisab said:
Another actor like that: Kevin Costner...ugh. I made the mistake of seeing "Robin Hood," in the early 90s. Didn't even bother learning a quasi-British accent! And it's that way in most of his movies...I think he speaks in a monotone and keeps a frozen expression. So much for acting.

YESSSS!
I've been saying this for years! Is the entire North American audience hynotized?

And it was Robin Hood where I first started saying it. For all the world, I am positive that, looking at him play that character, you could tell that even he was flabbergasted as to why they cast him...
 


I'm surprised no one mentioned John Wayne yet. John Wayne played John Wayne exceptionally well.

The list of actors who can't act is very, very long. How about a short list of actors who can act? I'll nominate Dustin Hoffman.
 


Good actors:

Christian Bale
Patrick Stewart
Ian Mckellen
Ben Kingsley
 


D H said:
I'll nominate Dustin Hoffman.

Yep.

Tom Hanks is good.
 


Huckleberry said:
I loved him in 'Fight Club' and '12 Monkeys' and 'Troy'. He plays a great crazy or eccentric individual. I wasn't thrilled with his performance in 'Meet Joe Black'. He made Death look both all-knowing and naive. Maybe that was the point, but it didn't appeal to me much. There's something about his acting that says "Hey, I'm Brad Pitt!" It's like he hopped out of an Ayn Rand novel or something. Eh, maybe I'm just jealous. I dunno. I'd like to see him play an ordinary shmoe.
Jeez. Seen a movie this decade?? :-p

See Snatch, Burn After Reading, Benjamin Button.