Fact is, Brad Pitt is like the younger and less-scientology nutty Tom Cruise. When they put away their whorish passions for money, gross-points, and the media spotlight and actually act, they deliver great acting work. The problem is, with Cruise knocked off his throne as the biggest male movie-star of Hollywood, Pitt is poised to take over, for ebtter or for worse.
In a way Fame, the perfect explanation of my point with Pitt is FIGHT CLUB and TROY.
Both roles needed charismatic men with masculine qualities of the highest ideal. Brad Pitt was very believable as a fascist figure that easily sways the disgruntled men of GenX/Y to his cause, until the viewer realizes that he isn't a promised-savior...he's simply another ideological manipulator who sways desperate people to his dangerous goals (which history has way too many of unfortunately).
But Acheilles in TROY is simply a "rock star" of a warrior(Pitt's words, not mine)....Fame, you have no idea how fucking disapointed I was with Pitt. With the famed saying that a star that burns twice as fast as other stars, lasts only half as long...Pitt seemed very right to be a person that would be a hero in Greek and later Western mythology.
Instead, we get an obvious prima donna that whines, groans in angst that I would expect in a pussy-goth-punk indie movie about high school, and which Pitt never gives me a reason to give a shit about Acheilles, which I didn't think was actually possible.
(Well to be fair, I also blame the mediocre script and direction. But again, when Pitt has painfully shown that he can be one of our best charismatic actors of our era, I can't excuse him).
As for O'Toole's comments, its not just because his problems with Peterson. Hell, after the hell that David Lean made the poor guy suffer with, in legendary exploits, on LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, when Lean offered him the lead part in DOCTOR ZHIVAGO, O'Toole basically had an emotional breakdown(based from known accounts) and said he couldn't go through with it again.
But, he always talks about it, without problems, in any press junket. He's proud of that great movie, and appreciates Lean's talent. He still hated the insane production schedule.
Then again Fame, sometimes an actor's negative opinion on their movies go totally against my super-positive reviews on those films. Alec Guinness always thought STAR WARS was sillyness, and even after making alot of nice cash from it, he still refused to take it seriously in his long illustrious career.
Burt Reynolds badmouthed BOOGIE NIGHTS right through press junket interviews, until he found out that the movie got great raves, and was set to score some nominations. He turned 180 degrees, and "loved" the film. He got his supporting actor nomination, but that is why I don't respect fucking Smokey.
Hell Fame, director Alan Parker considers his PINK FLOYD THE WALL to be "the most expensive student film ever made" and quite dislikes it. Yet I seriously belief its a (pun!) wall-banging of a rock musical narrative, and absolutely crucial in the evolutionary development of the music video.
