Overrated (Actors & Actresses)

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RockStar

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This is a very good point.

Type A: For me, the classic overrated actor is the one whose talent/performances don't really live up to their supposed greatness.

Type B: There's also the performer who underperforms constantly and rarely fulfills his or her potential. The context varies, but for me the key factor is the frequency of underwhelming performances. A Lindsey Lohan is overrated in a different way than a Tom Cruise.

Another factor is the quality of the script and/of the actor's role in it. Some actors need to be inspired by the script, others work with whatever. There are a lot of factors to take in when debating this subject in general. It's easier and more reliable to take it in a case to case basis.
 
Tom Cruise..really. He was good in Top Gun. But he has done the same character, film after film after film.

I love actors who change from film to film, that have me saying..OMG is that really so and so from such and such a film? Even Julia Roberts, who was a dream as Pretty Woman, is the same in every film. I swear she had the exact same hair in about 10 different films.

And Tom Hanks is only good with a very good director and script to back him up, which is not always the case.
 
I don't know if it's just me, but I think the word "overrated" gets thrown around so much that it has lost its meaning or gets confused with something else. For example, I've seen people use it to mean that a particular actor or actress (or movie, television show, etc.) sucks. IMO, I wouldn't say teen stars are overrated since most of them weren't rated or praised highly to begin with. Also, something that is overrated isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it receives more credit than it really deserves. Just my take on it though.
 
Ryan Phillippe, hands down. Or at least he was. Everytime someone tried to say he was the next Leonardo Dicaprio I wanted to smack them over the head. Give me a break. Compare Cruel Intentions, Anti-Trust, and I Know What You Did Last Summer to the works of Basketball Diaries, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, and hell, even The Man In The freakin' Iron Mask. Leo didn't even hit heartthrob status before those first two, if that's what they're basing their comparison on.
 
I agree that Tom Cruise is overrated. I don't think he's that great of an actor. He's never really impressed me that much. Lindsay Lohan doesn't impress that much either. Her acting seems kinda forced.
 
As far as Kirsten Dunst goes ( :lol: ) she was supposed to look dirty in crazy/beautiful and in the commentary the director and even Kirsten herself comment on how dirty she looks and how succesful they were making it look she rolls out of bed and gets into whatever pair of jeans.

She also doesn't wear a bra for the entire movie.

But THAT was intentional. :lol: I don't think she looks dirty anywhere else, seriously.
 
I totally agree with Angelina Jolie. I love her in Girl, Interrupted but other than that... What are stand out performances?

And as for Tom Cruise, I'll tell you why he's great in the four films that were mentioned above...

Born on the Fourth of July directed by... OLIVER STONE!
Eyes Wide Shut directed by the brilliant... STANLEY KUBRICK!
Magnolia directed by PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON!
Vanilla Sky personally, I don't like him in this film and I don't think that Cameron Crowe is that great of a director but he proved in the past that he could direct Cruise and make him a decent actor in Jerry Maguire and he did it again in the film.

So yeah... Cruise is great in those those films but it's not because he's an amazing actor... It's because he was directed well and the directors knew how to get a good performance out of him.
 
Don't forget that this is the OVERRATED actors thread - we have a different thread for UNDERRATED actors.


No, not really, although in that particular film he was mediocre. He had a few great moments: "Will you take me, Lady?" *swoons* And a few bad: "For we are the ONLY love gods!" But mostly he just looked exactly like what he was - an actor who'd just come from filming Malcom X (he even used the famous man's hand gestures in Much Ado). I found it distracting rather than convincing, but I'm not saying he's overrated in general.


:lol: What is it with you people and Kirsten-Dunst-is-dirty? And what does that mean? Poor girl - I'm beginning to feel sorry for her.
 
In those movies he also has the company of wonderful actors. I love Clooney, though. And I believe that it was his night, he had to win. :lol:

I've never seen "3 Kings" :eek: I have to rent it soon.
 
Nicole Kidman. Her acting continually fails to convince me and I find that there's a lack of sincerity in her manner.
 
Oh I fully understand that the markets are heavily slanted in the preteen and teen markets. Makes sense, if you think about it, because those are the consumers that have income (either an allowance, or maybe a part-time job or even their parent's wallet, plain and simple) but no actual financial responsibilities (for the most part anyway). So they have all that available money (maybe not thousands but enough to afford the movie ticket or the magazine) and no reason not to buy it...

I still think that the actors marketed for these audiences are doing a disservice to their long-term careers by doing so. I think they're overrated. Probably for the very same reasons highlighted here. I get that movie-making is a business. But when it's so obviously nothing more than a mercantile arrangement, I think it's overrated. I understand the rationale for providing new opportunities to get that cash, and I know it's not going away any time soon.

My point is that I wish it would all the same. :D Movies shouldn't be the acting equivalent of painting by the numbers. I get that it works, but it's still hideous.

And, on a side note... :lol: I wouldn't dismiss Buffy the Vampire Slayer as teen fluff so fast. I wrote a couple of term papers on the show (okay, I wrote exactly two) on how it could be seen as the modern representation of the 18th-century novel and how it explored and expanded on the conventions of the gothic literary genre... and I got me a couple of As, so I'm pretty attached to that show. :D
 
Brad Pitt is overrated, because people think he's so good looking, he's just a money magnet, so gets good roles. I can think of many actors better than him though, who don't get the credit he does. Likewise, Angelina Jolie is overrated, basically because of her good looks. (Although, to give her some credit, she was very good in Girl, Interrupted.)

I hate the way all these 'heart-throbs' get the best movie roles, they should go on talent and put the under-dogs in the limelight.
 
:lol: Well, he gave decent performances in Three Kinds and Oh Brother, Where Art Thou, but it does seem soon for an Oscar considering the rest. *shrug*

I don't mind any of those people, but clearly all of you do. Hee!
 
I have to admit that I was surprised because while he was great in "Syriana", there are lots of scenes in the movie he's NOT in and his body of work doesn't really scream "Oscar" save his recent work in said movie and "Good night and good luck".

But he was quite good in "Syriana", just that he's missing from the movie for a lot and he has other amazing actors carrying the movie with him.
 
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