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Originally Posted by Gillianren
And I personally really like Death to Smoochie. While I'll freely admit that certain roles by both actors are considered universally bad (please get me started on Cheaper by the Dozen, especially in comparison to the true story on which it's theoretically based), I think the real issue is that, well, Robin Williams's tastes don't align with yours. Or mine. Or anyone's but Robin Williams's, naturally.
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Of course, yes. If he wants to do roles he considers important, that's fine. The same with kid-movies. But at some point, you have to be able to say, "Robin Williams's standard has gone down- look, he's making Mrs. Doubtfire 2."
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Originally Posted by Gillianren
However, I do consider Robin Williams to be one of the great underrated actors of our era, Oscar notwithstanding. Let's face it, most people think of him as the Genie from Aladdin, right? Or Adrian Cronauer, forgetting the dramatic elements of that role. (Robots was cute, but no real stretch for the man.) They forget that Dead Poets Society was very much a dramatic role with funny bits, as opposed to Good Morning, Vietnam, which was a funny role with dramatic bits.
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Underrated ? I don't think so. Perhaps if there was, in America- the land of award shows, a film-and-screen comedy award equivalent to the Academy Awards, then
yes, sure.
I graded Good Morning Vietnam, and Dead Poets Society higher, don't worry. It's not a straight-line decline in quality, but it sure is a pretty convincing trend. Comedians take safer and easier roles, as their careers progress. They no longer innovate, or try to see if their stock humor is still popular enough. It seems in Hollywood, the trend is: Stand-up
---> Few Movies
---> Sitcom. I expect we'll see Adam Sandler in an ABC or CBS show any day now...
If you really want a challenge, list and grade all of Michael Caine's movies, and see if you can spot a decline. I'd bet there is one, but that it's more slight, and difficult to see, since there'd be such a huge population...