What's the beef with Kevin Costner flicks?
POSTED BY: jewelstaitefan
UPDATED: Saturday, April 3, 2010 06:59
VIEWED: 6151
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Quote:
Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
Sounds like your complaint about Costner flicks is that Costner flicks are soooo excellent that your level of expectation is so much higher than for any other actor that when the editor, director, writers, or producers create a less-than-spectacular film, you blame Costner. Like Streep or DeNiro never had a dud. Not to mention Gabriel Byrne or Kevin Spacey.
Summarized enough?
Thanks for your explanation, that helps explain the attitudes which caused me to start this thread.
I don't see how you draw that conclusion from my comments. Fair enough if it's your take on what I wrote but that's not how I feel on this subject.
If you look again at my first post you will see that, of the films of his that I've seen, I like more of them than I dislike. The Postman, Waterworld and The Bodyguard are what I consider to be his worst. And I certainly don't feel that I fit in with the attitudes that you mention in your original post. My comments were directed more at him because your post was about Costner and his movies, not just the movies as standalone items. He isn't completely to blame for how I feel about these movies but the emphasis of your original post led my comments to be about him. Plus he directed The Postman, was involved in directing on Waterworld and was a producer on all three of the ones mentioned. That shows he had a lot of involvement in how these films turned out so he has to take his share of the criticism (good or bad) that goes with that.
I don't hold him in any higher esteem than any other actor that I like. I am a big DeNiro fan, I like a lot of his movies. Again, like Costner, they tend to be the earlier ones. I haven't seem much of either of their recent movies, not because I think it's bad, but because I have a lot of other things to watch and their recent movies just haven't appealed to me in a way that their earlier works did. I don't really have an explanation as to why they don't appeal except that it's the way I feel about them. Doesn't mean they are bad movies.
Your comment that DeNiro, Streep, Byrne and Spacey have made dud films (and they have, every actor has or will) but don't seem to accept that I think Costner has made some duds. My comments aren't about Costner flicks in general or even really Costner himself. They are about those particular three films, and Costner in them, that you singled out for me to explain myself further.
To me, you seemed to have generalised my comments about three of his movies to mean all of his work. If I'm wrong on this I apologise.
To sum up I like Costner and I really like some of his movies. As I said above Field Of Dreams is one of my all time faves and a style of film that I find myself drawn to.
But he has made some very poor movies in my opinion.
JSF: you haven't really commented yourself about which ones you like/dislike, barring a couple of them in your replies. You asked us what we think but what do you think?
"I don't believe in suicide, but if you'd like to try it it might cheer me up to watch."
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I wasn't very fond of The Postman - just found it a bit overlong/overindulgent and plodding. Otherwise, I've liked most of his films.
Off the top of my head:
Dances with Wolves - a bit played out now, but still a damned well made film.
The Untouchables - A bit slow in places, but awesome in others.
Open Range - Best western of the last decade.
Robin Hood - Okay, so his accent sucks and Rickman steals the show, but it's still fun.
Waterworld - A bit overstuffed, and I'm not a fan of Hopper as the villain, but still plenty of good stuff in this one.
Mr. Brooks - A nice switch-up from the usual Costner flick.... and one movie I can stand Dane Coook in.
JFK - Just saw this for the first time a while back - damned good film, and Costner's big summation speech is excellent.
"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."
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Quote:
Originally posted by Stegasaurus:
Personally, I like Kevin Costner. I would, however say that his acting is a lot like Keanu Reeves: they act as themselves. Either one of them do not show a great range when it comes to acting, their characters are almost always seemingly the same person.
This is true of most big stars.... or even not so big ones. I, for instance, have not seen a lot of variation between Fillion's roles, either.
"I thoroughly disapprove of duels. If a man should challenge me, I would take him kindly and forgivingly by the hand and lead him to a quiet place and kill him."
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Quote:
Originally posted by Storymark:Quote:
Originally posted by Stegasaurus:
Personally, I like Kevin Costner. I would, however say that his acting is a lot like Keanu Reeves: they act as themselves. Either one of them do not show a great range when it comes to acting, their characters are almost always seemingly the same person.
This is true of most big stars.... or even not so big ones. I, for instance, have not seen a lot of variation between Fillion's roles, either.
I totally agree. Although his performance in Blast from the Past seemed a bit diff... oh wait, no it didn't. He still got punched in the face.
I think there are those actors/actresses out there that we just feel comfortable with, so we don't tend to criticize their acting. But those that we just can't find a comfort zone with, well, they are the ones we try to put on the chopping block.
Although I don't care for Keanu, my all time disliked actor is Harvey Keitel. There's just something about the guy that creeps me out to no end, even before I saw Bad Leiutenant.
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Haven't seen anyone mention his role in Ron Howard's "Night Shift" as Frat Boy # 1. He was great. Didn't say a word. :)
Honestly, I like some of his movies, hate others.
Waterworld was laughable.
Postman, I gave up about 30 minutes in.
Liked JFK okay. Even liked American Flyers a li'l bit. Bull Run was okay. Silverado was fun. Liked Dances With Wolves. No Way Out was decent.
Never saw A Perfect World, but heard it was good.
Freaking HATED Robin Hood. Walked out on that one.
LOVED Fandango.
Some hits, some misses. Him being in a movie wouldn't keep me away from it, nor would it be the deciding factor in going to see it.
"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero, Real World Event Discussions
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Quote:
Originally posted by lwaves:Quote:
Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
Sounds like your complaint about Costner flicks is that Costner flicks are soooo excellent that your level of expectation is so much higher than for any other actor that when the editor, director, writers, or producers create a less-than-spectacular film, you blame Costner. Like Streep or DeNiro never had a dud. Not to mention Gabriel Byrne or Kevin Spacey.
Summarized enough?
Thanks for your explanation, that helps explain the attitudes which caused me to start this thread.
I don't see how you draw that conclusion from my comments. Fair enough if it's your take on what I wrote but that's not how I feel on this subject.
If you look again at my first post you will see that, of the films of his that I've seen, I like more of them than I dislike. The Postman, Waterworld and The Bodyguard are what I consider to be his worst. And I certainly don't feel that I fit in with the attitudes that you mention in your original post. My comments were directed more at him because your post was about Costner and his movies, not just the movies as standalone items. He isn't completely to blame for how I feel about these movies but the emphasis of your original post led my comments to be about him. Plus he directed The Postman, was involved in directing on Waterworld and was a producer on all three of the ones mentioned. That shows he had a lot of involvement in how these films turned out so he has to take his share of the criticism (good or bad) that goes with that.
I don't hold him in any higher esteem than any other actor that I like. I am a big DeNiro fan, I like a lot of his movies. Again, like Costner, they tend to be the earlier ones. I haven't seem much of either of their recent movies, not because I think it's bad, but because I have a lot of other things to watch and their recent movies just haven't appealed to me in a way that their earlier works did. I don't really have an explanation as to why they don't appeal except that it's the way I feel about them. Doesn't mean they are bad movies.
Your comment that DeNiro, Streep, Byrne and Spacey have made dud films (and they have, every actor has or will) but don't seem to accept that I think Costner has made some duds. My comments aren't about Costner flicks in general or even really Costner himself. They are about those particular three films, and Costner in them, that you singled out for me to explain myself further.
To me, you seemed to have generalised my comments about three of his movies to mean all of his work. If I'm wrong on this I apologise.
To sum up I like Costner and I really like some of his movies. As I said above Field Of Dreams is one of my all time faves and a style of film that I find myself drawn to.
But he has made some very poor movies in my opinion.
JSF: you haven't really commented yourself about which ones you like/dislike, barring a couple of them in your replies. You asked us what we think but what do you think?
"I don't believe in suicide, but if you'd like to try it it might cheer me up to watch."
I asked because so frequently somebody posts that those flicks are so bad, as if it is a given or understood universally, yet no reason or particular is given. Thus I didn't get an answer from you I could categorize. perhaps you are not one of those people, explaining why your response was not one I was seeking, but no reason for me to detract from all replies in the thread.
I own Waterworld, and enjoy it repeatedly. I agree Hopper was over the top, but I normally don't care for him, other than Blue Velvet. Even Speed didn't do much for me. Hot Spot keeps me interested in what he does.
I own Postman, and enjoy it repeatedly. I really like the casting.
I own Dances With Wolves, and enjoy it repeatedly, likely more than the others.
I might own Field of Dreams, and have enjoyed it many times, largely due to the cast. Not that big a baseball fan.
JFK was an Oliver Stone piece, Costner was one of a massive cast.
I
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Quote:If ya like it, that's fine. I just can't get past the laffable 'science.'
Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
I own Waterworld, and enjoy it repeatedly.
Quote:I own that one, I think it's really good- I find the patriotic thing strangely appealing, and the post-apocalyptic vibe is a subtle thing, more realistic because it's not in your face like in a Mad Max movie (not better btw, just more eerie for it's understatement IMO).
I own Postman, and enjoy it repeatedly.
The laughing Chrisisall
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Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:Quote:If ya like it, that's fine. I just can't get past the laffable 'science.'
Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
I own Waterworld, and enjoy it repeatedly.Quote:I own that one, I think it's really good- I find the patriotic thing strangely appealing, and the post-apocalyptic vibe is a subtle thing, more realistic because it's not in your face like in a Mad Max movie (not better btw, just more eerie for it's understatement IMO).
I own Postman, and enjoy it repeatedly.
The laughing Chrisisall
I also forgot to mention that I've noticed some people do not think there is any character development unless words are spoken, running dialogue. For those who feel words speak louder than actions, these flicks will not appeal. For those who realize actions speak louder than words, the character devlopment or revelations do not make the film seem slow or plodding. Plodding is Rob Reiner film.
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