But not if one assesses greatness in a superficial manner. That's the specific element of the alleged kind of reasoning which I more intended to impugn as unjustified: superficiality.
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Well, for me, an actor's truly great if they can make the audience feel a wide range of emotions through their powerful performance. It's one thing for an actor to move me to tears, it's another for him to make me laugh my arse off, but it's a wonderful thing if he's truly capable of pulling off both, especially if it's with a single role. This is why I voted for DeNiro over DiCaprio: DiCaprio may have played a wide variety of roles, but every single one I've seen so far have been completely serious, from start to finish, no room for making me laugh my arse off. Richard E Grant put in a mostly comic performance in Withnail & I, but it was a role not only played straight but also gave me one of the most deeply moving endings that I have ever watched. I can't think of a role where DeNiro has both moved me to tears and made me laugh my arse off in a single film, but he has achieved both seperately. I'm still waiting for the same from DiCaprio. Until that happens, I'm still convinced he's "good", at best.
I think there are merits in both sort of actors. I admire versatility, but isn't necessarily bad to know what you do best and focus on that either.
Guessing you're not a Blackadder fan, then? Because while the first series was admittedly similar to his Bean roles, from the 2nd series onwards it's a completely different type of comic character he played: sly, devious, and a much more craftier bastard than his usual roles.
Sorry if that sounds like having a go, I'm not, I'm just saying that, surprisingly, Atkinson really is good at more than one type of role. Oh, and the end of series 4 proves that he can be a great actor at times. Just not in films like Johnny English! :lol:
Definitely good to consider our standards. Cause, you know, we already had a Best Character contest. Best Actor should be judged by different qualities.
This group is closing today !
no surprises here...
Robert De Niro advances !