01-02-2008, 08:07 PM
Quote:I agree with you, but is it the actor? I can think of hundreds of A list actors who fall into the same category. And then, historically, consider Dean Martin, James Cagney, or Cary Grant. Did any of them exhibit a tremendous range of character? Sometimes. Maybe when they are allowed the time and flexibility to develop another character. I can just see an impatient director yelling at Denzel to be more, well, like Denzel and quit screwing around. In contrast look at two actors who are extremely diverse, Johnny Depp, and Nicolas Cage. So, maybe, it is the system of how movies and actors are made, rather than the individuals who exhibit the symptoms. I think the current Hollywood system encourages predictable mediocrity over risking too much on quality.
Personally, I haven't experienced the 'Denzel'-syndrome with that many actors, but then again, I don't watch that many movies. I prefer television. (Currently enjoying Season 1 of Steven Bochco's "Murder One" for the umpteenth time:P)
But I see your point, and you may be right.
To speculate a bit, perhaps it's the notion in Hollywood that movies need to cater to audience expectations, because we've become so lazy, we're not willing to accept anything that's a little out of the ordinary. The process of making a movie is at this stage in history so saturated by commercialism, that the studios can't take the chance of producing a flop. Giving the audience what they expect (e.g a "Denzel movie"), might be one way of ensuring that your average movie-goer walks away happy. Betraying their pre-conceived notion by allowing Denzel his full range of emotion and characters, and thus producing something that conflicts with those notions, might be enough to jar the audience into disliking the movie.
Still, these are just thoughts...
