Read Rob’s list of 5 Actors that are Better than their General Roles. Click through to see his choices.
I recently watched Killer Joe and was genuinely surprised by Matthew McConaughey’s performance in the title role. For the longest time, all I had known of McConaughey’s acting was generic pretty guys in romantic comedies that I was in no way the target demographic for. I had seen his classic role in Dazed and Confused. I liked that performance, but it was rather small so I didn’t chalk it up to much. Since Killer Joe, I am more than willing to watch any new movie that he is in as long as it looks like an interesting film.
I talked about Channing Tatum in my recent list of my favorite characters of last year. He surprised me in 21 Jump Street and since then I have enjoyed watching him in 10 Years and Side Effects. When he isn’t in watered down rom com roles or movies where the title is the thing the movie is about (Fighting), he plays a certain niche of characters that is entertaining and works well for his range. I would like to continue to branch out into these kind of roles.
Cuba Gooding Jr. has had a strange career. On one hand there are highs like Jerry Maguire and A Few Good Men. On the other hand there are some deep lows in Snow Dogs and Boat Trip. It’s like his management just gave up at some point in the early 2000’s. If someone was only familiar with these latter roles, they would most likely assume that Cuba Gooding didn’t have a pretty rich history of great movie roles. Another example of his wishy-washy acting choices is showcased by the fact that he was in American Gangster the same year as he was in Norbit. What?
Originally, the most I had seen of Bradley Cooper was in The Hangover. I thought he did a fine job, but it seemed like the sort of role that could be played by anyone of his type. I put off seeing Silver Linings Playbook for the longest time because I had never seen Bradley Cooper in anything in which he impressed me. However, he really shows his chops in this movie. He creates a believable character that allows the audience to forget they’re watching a performance.
I feel like when she’s in the right scenario, with the right director and people to play off of, she gives a great comedic performance. Horrible Bosses and Office Space are good examples of this. I wouldn’t say she is a classic comedic actress or anything like that, but she is capable of holding her own against some comedy heavy hitters. And as far as dramatic roles, I think she surprised more than a few people with The Good Girl.
