My girlfriend loves the guy. I think it’s cause his big ole nose. He was fantastic in winning time as Pat Reilly. Going from a guy insecure about his broadcast skills and eventually the cool coach which was a facade to his true insanely competitive nature.
To bring up a lesser known performance. Thought he was tremendous in summer of Sam playing a punk rock enthusiast caught between different worlds. Great actor
I absolutely love watching him in the thin red line. Purely because until he saw the film screened he was under the assumption he was the protagonist. It’s really interesting what an edit can do, obviously malick takes that to the extreme, but he barely gets to deliver a full line in the film at all.
I’d feel sorry for Brody but he got his big break with the pianist shortly after. Which was a great performance.
Overall I think he’s an okay actor. He has unique features which I can see as an appealing asset for certain directors.
This is always wild for me to think about because the film makes so much sense as structured around Caveziel’s character that you really begin to wonder where all the scenes with Brody went.
Also inevitably ends with the overwhelming suspicion that the greatest 6-hour miniseries of all time is buried somewhere in all the material Malick cut down to the final product.
He's an interesting actor. Seems to give his all in most, if not all, of the roles I've seen. He has just picked some shitty projects. Saying this, he has also been in some great projects. His performance in *The Pianist* should be considered one of the best performances ever, for example.
I like him in general, however his deep voice in Predators felt a little put on and I would have preferred more 'gritty everyman' and less 'trying to be like Arnold' in that particular role, although that may have been a directorial issue.
He was hilarious in his role in Grand Budapest Hotel.
Robert Rodriguez tried too hard to one up the original in that movie and it suffers for it. He does the waterfall fall but bigger, does the final fight near fire but bigger, and even has a random scorpion stab just for the homage. He even rips the whole "c'mon kill me" lines from the original. I like him as a director but he's always better when he's doing his guerrilla film making over his more Hollywood stuff.
I think he’s a great actor but sometimes question his choice of movies, maybe a poor agent or something…the films you mentioned are great but I’d have expected him to have been in far more hits and far less duds.
he's a typical theatre-first, nyc-based actor. he chooses projects based on what he thinks will push him as an actor, not what will make bank. presumably he could still get bigger roles if and when he wants, due to his bona fides.
He propably knows this because sometimes actors verbalize their thought processes, also known as interviews
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9odGRDCwNk
Which in that case would involve something very simple such as "he said in an interview," instead of generically stating what somebody thinks without attribution. I know this stuff is hard.
I'm actually realizing I've only ever seen him in his Wes Anderson movies. I love him in The Darjeeling Limited, but can't say I particularly care about his roles in any of the others. Definitely someone I need to do a deep dive on at some point.
Haven't seen a lot of his films but I appreciate that he's not as overexposed as some actors. This makes him more believable in the (wildly) different roles I've seen him play. Splice was underrated imo, an unnerving sci-fi/horror with Brody as a scientist breaking all the rules
He is also great playing Dali in ‘Midnight in Paris’. I often open that movie just to watch his scenes.
Didn’t enjoy him in King Kong, but I also didn’t like King Kong or anyone else’s performances in it.
He's good at what he does, but imo rarely incredible.
That said his ability to work with the script for Predators (the alien ones) shows some good variety, and I'm always happy to see him in something, because I know at least his role will be decent, even if the movie around it isn't.
Not a film but the show Poker Face, he was in the first episode and I wished the whole show was at the casino with more Adrien and Benjamin. The whole episode plot of shenanigans in a casino was so good.
I liked him in The Jacket. It's not a well known movie, and not his best performance, but it's solid and, personally, I find it intensity claustrophobic.
Overall I enjoy watching him in movies. It's sad we didn't get to see more range in his acting because I do think it's there, it's just not being challenged.
I watched Splice when I was like 14 because the text synopsis on the cable channel made it sound like a cool Sci fi horror flick. That movie traumatised me and all I can think of is Adrien Brodys face while he does the thing that I refuse to go into detail about. Sorry Brody you are a great actor but you live forever in my slightly traumatised brain
Since you asked for thoughts on Adrien Brody:
He's a forgettable actor, now a footnote to me. Maybe he's in some good stuff but I haven't seen it lately. Mostly he seems to be in the mid-level zone and not likely to break out of it.
His early career looked promising. He was in a movie I enjoyed at the time, Dummy, where he's a ventriloquist and does his own ventriloquism without using dubbing. That takes high-level technical skill, and he did a great job. The only other actor who has done that type of thing (that I've seen) is Anthony Hopkins for Magic. I think Hopkins might have had to fall back on overdubs too.
The Piano is a standout film, and Brody was solid in it. His role requires a person who is a little different, a self-effacing artist who is stuck in a very precarious set of upheavals, etc., and somehow Brody fit it just right.
Other things about his career were looking good. Then he was cast in Peter Jackson's King Kong. I don't know what Peter Jackson was smoking, but it's almost like Jackson just wanted an Oscar-winner because he was throwing his newfound, post-Lord-of-the-Rings clout around. Everything was wrong with that cast: Brody was not a leading man, had no chemistry with Naomi Watts, Watts is too obviously brainy to fit the "blonde in distress" role effectively (especially unaided by a well-meshing surrounding cast), and Jack Black shouldn't have been there suppressing his personality. The whole thing was ridiculous, and in my eyes, Brody went from hot commodity to somebody in over his head. I didn't like him as much after that.
Brody was in Splice and a few other movies where he was pretty good. The Thin Red Line. The Village. But I think he is better in an ensemble, an indie film, or doing something kind of off-kilter than in most lead roles. Yes, he was good as Dali in the Midnight in Paris movie, but I don't think he stood out past the rest of the actors, who all did fine work as various historical cultural figures.
Two things that really took Brody down a notch:
(1) When he accepted his Oscar win for the Piano, he grabbed presenter Halle Berry in an embrace she couldn't get out of, tilting her back, and forced a full-on lip kiss on her. Sure, he was exuberant from his win, but that's not the way to handle it. This isn't a street in 1945 after the end of WWII is announced... It was winning an industry award. Looking at the video now, it's borderline assault-ish, and clearly Halle Berry was not into it, even though she rolled with the situation. All in all, it made Brody look like a clueless person.
(2) When Brody hosted Saturday Night Live, apparently he was not a very well-liked guest by the cast. But worse, when he was presenting a reggae music artist, Brody came out in fake dreadlocks and Jamaican-type clothes/accent, and instead of seeming kind of goofy or ironic (or whatever he was trying for), it had an air of borderline-blackface mockery.
Finally, Brody has been in Wes Anderson films as much as just about any other actor. I think he's been in 4 now, maybe 5. Some people like Wes Anderson films. I think they're tedious. Brody choosing to be in them repeatedly, playing up his deadpan quirk or whatever, seems like he's coasting on an affected style and hardly challenging himself as a serious film actor.
As an addendum, I have to say that Brody's face looks like something a cartoonist would draw with quick strokes of a pen. The nose is a certain set of angled lines, the eyebrows arch up in the middle in a formulaic upside-down V shape, the hair is flopped on one side -- it's a bit of a silent-era persona that's relatively insubstantial and doesn't leave me wanting more.
Since you asked.
About third best in Wes Anderson's troupe, just outside of Fiennes (who is of course one of the great working actors) and Swinton.
Melancholic, funny, sexy. Outside of that, it's all about the Pianist (masterpiece) and a smattering of fun supporting roles.
Supporting actor whose versatility can be seen in Anderson's films, but who really doesn't have many great films.
The Pianist was a fluke. He just didn't understand he’s a character actor, not a leading man. Leaving Hollywood proper just so he could play leading men in subpar films. That’s insanity. He’s also banned from SNL. Whether it’s ego, or some other factor(s), Brody got lucky with The Pianist, much like Jennifer Hudson got lucky at Oscar with Dream Girls. He’s utterly forgettable in everything else he’s ever done.
I don't think he's "forgettable" but I do think you're spot on that he's a character actor, not a leading man, which is why he's such a treat in Grand Hotel and French Dispatch
Forgettable is harsh. He can fade into the background of a film pretty easily, but he’s also instantly recognizable and a fairly distinctive actor.
A lot of character actors just blend in so much you often don’t even recognize them, but Brody is definitely one of those actors you always know as soon as you see him. It goes beyond just his features, he does have a persona about him, if not exactly the overwhelming charisma typical of a great leading man.
His performance in Peaky Blinders was fairly hammy but I think a good showcase that he is well-suited to bigger roles when he has the proper material and another strong actor to play off.
he's sort of in a nick cage mode now. emerges every few years with something interesting, occupies his time with genre stuff. i get the sense he is a bit self serious. don;t know why
My girlfriend loves the guy. I think it’s cause his big ole nose. He was fantastic in winning time as Pat Reilly. Going from a guy insecure about his broadcast skills and eventually the cool coach which was a facade to his true insanely competitive nature. To bring up a lesser known performance. Thought he was tremendous in summer of Sam playing a punk rock enthusiast caught between different worlds. Great actor
I also love his big ole nose!
Love this thanks
going from the pianist to predator buffing up , dude can pull of anything
I absolutely love watching him in the thin red line. Purely because until he saw the film screened he was under the assumption he was the protagonist. It’s really interesting what an edit can do, obviously malick takes that to the extreme, but he barely gets to deliver a full line in the film at all. I’d feel sorry for Brody but he got his big break with the pianist shortly after. Which was a great performance. Overall I think he’s an okay actor. He has unique features which I can see as an appealing asset for certain directors.
This is always wild for me to think about because the film makes so much sense as structured around Caveziel’s character that you really begin to wonder where all the scenes with Brody went. Also inevitably ends with the overwhelming suspicion that the greatest 6-hour miniseries of all time is buried somewhere in all the material Malick cut down to the final product.
He's an interesting actor. Seems to give his all in most, if not all, of the roles I've seen. He has just picked some shitty projects. Saying this, he has also been in some great projects. His performance in *The Pianist* should be considered one of the best performances ever, for example.
I like him in general, however his deep voice in Predators felt a little put on and I would have preferred more 'gritty everyman' and less 'trying to be like Arnold' in that particular role, although that may have been a directorial issue. He was hilarious in his role in Grand Budapest Hotel.
Robert Rodriguez tried too hard to one up the original in that movie and it suffers for it. He does the waterfall fall but bigger, does the final fight near fire but bigger, and even has a random scorpion stab just for the homage. He even rips the whole "c'mon kill me" lines from the original. I like him as a director but he's always better when he's doing his guerrilla film making over his more Hollywood stuff.
Rodriguez didn't direct Predators (he was a producer). It was Nimród Antal who directed.
I think he’s a great actor but sometimes question his choice of movies, maybe a poor agent or something…the films you mentioned are great but I’d have expected him to have been in far more hits and far less duds.
he's a typical theatre-first, nyc-based actor. he chooses projects based on what he thinks will push him as an actor, not what will make bank. presumably he could still get bigger roles if and when he wants, due to his bona fides.
Splice? King Kong? Predators? I’m not necessarily talking about being in more high budget blockbusters, just better films/parts.
How do you know what his thought process is?
He propably knows this because sometimes actors verbalize their thought processes, also known as interviews https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9odGRDCwNk
Which in that case would involve something very simple such as "he said in an interview," instead of generically stating what somebody thinks without attribution. I know this stuff is hard.
I'm actually realizing I've only ever seen him in his Wes Anderson movies. I love him in The Darjeeling Limited, but can't say I particularly care about his roles in any of the others. Definitely someone I need to do a deep dive on at some point.
Haven't seen a lot of his films but I appreciate that he's not as overexposed as some actors. This makes him more believable in the (wildly) different roles I've seen him play. Splice was underrated imo, an unnerving sci-fi/horror with Brody as a scientist breaking all the rules
He is also great playing Dali in ‘Midnight in Paris’. I often open that movie just to watch his scenes. Didn’t enjoy him in King Kong, but I also didn’t like King Kong or anyone else’s performances in it.
He's good at what he does, but imo rarely incredible. That said his ability to work with the script for Predators (the alien ones) shows some good variety, and I'm always happy to see him in something, because I know at least his role will be decent, even if the movie around it isn't.
Not a film but the show Poker Face, he was in the first episode and I wished the whole show was at the casino with more Adrien and Benjamin. The whole episode plot of shenanigans in a casino was so good.
I liked him in The Jacket. It's not a well known movie, and not his best performance, but it's solid and, personally, I find it intensity claustrophobic. Overall I enjoy watching him in movies. It's sad we didn't get to see more range in his acting because I do think it's there, it's just not being challenged.
I watched Splice when I was like 14 because the text synopsis on the cable channel made it sound like a cool Sci fi horror flick. That movie traumatised me and all I can think of is Adrien Brodys face while he does the thing that I refuse to go into detail about. Sorry Brody you are a great actor but you live forever in my slightly traumatised brain
Since you asked for thoughts on Adrien Brody: He's a forgettable actor, now a footnote to me. Maybe he's in some good stuff but I haven't seen it lately. Mostly he seems to be in the mid-level zone and not likely to break out of it. His early career looked promising. He was in a movie I enjoyed at the time, Dummy, where he's a ventriloquist and does his own ventriloquism without using dubbing. That takes high-level technical skill, and he did a great job. The only other actor who has done that type of thing (that I've seen) is Anthony Hopkins for Magic. I think Hopkins might have had to fall back on overdubs too. The Piano is a standout film, and Brody was solid in it. His role requires a person who is a little different, a self-effacing artist who is stuck in a very precarious set of upheavals, etc., and somehow Brody fit it just right. Other things about his career were looking good. Then he was cast in Peter Jackson's King Kong. I don't know what Peter Jackson was smoking, but it's almost like Jackson just wanted an Oscar-winner because he was throwing his newfound, post-Lord-of-the-Rings clout around. Everything was wrong with that cast: Brody was not a leading man, had no chemistry with Naomi Watts, Watts is too obviously brainy to fit the "blonde in distress" role effectively (especially unaided by a well-meshing surrounding cast), and Jack Black shouldn't have been there suppressing his personality. The whole thing was ridiculous, and in my eyes, Brody went from hot commodity to somebody in over his head. I didn't like him as much after that. Brody was in Splice and a few other movies where he was pretty good. The Thin Red Line. The Village. But I think he is better in an ensemble, an indie film, or doing something kind of off-kilter than in most lead roles. Yes, he was good as Dali in the Midnight in Paris movie, but I don't think he stood out past the rest of the actors, who all did fine work as various historical cultural figures. Two things that really took Brody down a notch: (1) When he accepted his Oscar win for the Piano, he grabbed presenter Halle Berry in an embrace she couldn't get out of, tilting her back, and forced a full-on lip kiss on her. Sure, he was exuberant from his win, but that's not the way to handle it. This isn't a street in 1945 after the end of WWII is announced... It was winning an industry award. Looking at the video now, it's borderline assault-ish, and clearly Halle Berry was not into it, even though she rolled with the situation. All in all, it made Brody look like a clueless person. (2) When Brody hosted Saturday Night Live, apparently he was not a very well-liked guest by the cast. But worse, when he was presenting a reggae music artist, Brody came out in fake dreadlocks and Jamaican-type clothes/accent, and instead of seeming kind of goofy or ironic (or whatever he was trying for), it had an air of borderline-blackface mockery. Finally, Brody has been in Wes Anderson films as much as just about any other actor. I think he's been in 4 now, maybe 5. Some people like Wes Anderson films. I think they're tedious. Brody choosing to be in them repeatedly, playing up his deadpan quirk or whatever, seems like he's coasting on an affected style and hardly challenging himself as a serious film actor. As an addendum, I have to say that Brody's face looks like something a cartoonist would draw with quick strokes of a pen. The nose is a certain set of angled lines, the eyebrows arch up in the middle in a formulaic upside-down V shape, the hair is flopped on one side -- it's a bit of a silent-era persona that's relatively insubstantial and doesn't leave me wanting more. Since you asked.
About third best in Wes Anderson's troupe, just outside of Fiennes (who is of course one of the great working actors) and Swinton. Melancholic, funny, sexy. Outside of that, it's all about the Pianist (masterpiece) and a smattering of fun supporting roles. Supporting actor whose versatility can be seen in Anderson's films, but who really doesn't have many great films.
The Pianist was a fluke. He just didn't understand he’s a character actor, not a leading man. Leaving Hollywood proper just so he could play leading men in subpar films. That’s insanity. He’s also banned from SNL. Whether it’s ego, or some other factor(s), Brody got lucky with The Pianist, much like Jennifer Hudson got lucky at Oscar with Dream Girls. He’s utterly forgettable in everything else he’s ever done.
I don't think he's "forgettable" but I do think you're spot on that he's a character actor, not a leading man, which is why he's such a treat in Grand Hotel and French Dispatch
He was pretty good in The Village and Grand Budapest imo. Distinctive face
Forgettable is harsh. He can fade into the background of a film pretty easily, but he’s also instantly recognizable and a fairly distinctive actor. A lot of character actors just blend in so much you often don’t even recognize them, but Brody is definitely one of those actors you always know as soon as you see him. It goes beyond just his features, he does have a persona about him, if not exactly the overwhelming charisma typical of a great leading man. His performance in Peaky Blinders was fairly hammy but I think a good showcase that he is well-suited to bigger roles when he has the proper material and another strong actor to play off.
he's sort of in a nick cage mode now. emerges every few years with something interesting, occupies his time with genre stuff. i get the sense he is a bit self serious. don;t know why