Yep, I said it. I really enjoyed One Battle After Another yesterday, but Leo\u2019s not the one that made the film so effective (on that note, Sean Penn needs some serious awards attention). Leo’s in a lot of great films, but he\u2019s generally not the guy that\u2019s behind the greatness. That\u2019s usually the other actors doing the heavy lifting. Sorry not sorry, Leo stans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
And this a sidenote to the whole \u2018I\u2019m not dating girls over 25\u2019 shindig. \u0ca0_\u0ca0 That\u2019s creepy in itself, but it\u2019s not why I\u2019m throwin\u2019 shade on Leo. He\u2019s fine as an actor. Fine. But I don\u2019t think he\u2019s much more than that, and I don\u2019t think he\u2019s deserved all the big roles he\u2019s got. I\u2019m pretty sure Juaquin Phoenix made a friendly dig at that when he received the Best Actor award for Joker at the Oscars, but yeah, it\u2019s kind of true. You get those roles with actors where you\u2019re thinking: goddamn, you\u2019re so good in this role that I actually can\u2019t think of any actor who could play it. And with Leo, you rarely get that feeling.\u00a0 \u00af\\(\u00b0_o)\/\u00af<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Take one of my all-time favourite films\u00a0Inception<\/em>, for example. I\u2019ve watched it many, many times since its original release back in 2010 (15 years ago, yikes \u2609_\u2609 ). Leo gets the head role, obviously. But he\u2019s not the guy that makes me come back to the film over and over again. It\u2019s the bit players. It\u2019s Tom Hardy and Joseph Gordon-Levitt giving that light comedy relief. It\u2019s Cillian Murphy giving that moving turn as a son who just wants to be recognised by his father. ( \u0361\u00b0 \u0296\u032f \u0361\u00b0) It\u2019s the mind-bending visuals and kickass soundtrack. Sure, Hans Zimmer regretted bringing those much copied braams into the cinematic world, but they were absolutely amazing at the time of release. And the ending. The ending. Damn. (\u2022_\u2022) And Leo\u2019s fine. He\u2019s not terrible or anything. He\u2019s just not the lynchpin in the overall narrative. I guess he is in the wider financial scheme of things, because you need a big name to get a big audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And he\u2019s pretty good in\u00a0One Battle After Another<\/em>, too. He gives a solid performance as a frequently high revolutionary dude trying to protect his daughter. The point is, he\u2019s rarely \u2018great\u2019 in the sense of being the film\u2019s absolute highlight. In this case, that gong probably goes to Benicio Del Toro\u2019s sensei. Del Toro\u2019s always had a warm comedic place in my heart since his deftly delivered \u2018Hand me the keys cocksucker\u2019 Usual Suspects line, but he pulls off a more subtle comic role in this joint as Leo\u2019s pal and confidant. ( \u0361\u1d54 \u035c\u0296 \u0361\u1d54 ) But again, playing devil\u2019s advocate, I can see why Leo\u2019s important in the wider scheme of things. As Mark Kermode pointed out in his review, the whole production is pretty expensive, and Leo\u2019s an almost guaranteed way of ensuring that the film\u2019s going to bring all that dollar back. And the film\u2019s been quite successful so far. Go figure.\u00a0~(\u02d8\u25be\u02d8~)<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are certain genres that I\u2019m not going to like, regardless of Leo\u2019s involvement. So Titanic didn\u2019t hit me emotionally, and that\u2019s not his fault. But there\u2019s others where he\u2019s just not that good as the leading man. Gangs of New York? Meh. Daniel Day-Lewis stole the show there, even if the overall film wasn\u2019t brilliant. The Departed? Yawn. Too long, too boring. Once Leo got on board the Scorsese train, he seemed untouchable. The Departed wasn\u2019t a scratch on original film Infernal Affairs, but it still got critical acclaim with that Best Picture win. He has occasional wins with joints like Catch Me If You Can, but they\u2019re few and far between. In terms of films where Leo comes out as the strongest acting performance, well, that\u2019s pretty rare. The Great Gatsby was overrated and \u2013 super unpopular opinion incoming – The Wolf of Wall Street was hella overrated. (\u2580\u033f\u0139\u032f\u2580\u033f \u033f) Killers of the Flower Moon? Again, very overrated. But, y\u2019know, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood? Pretty Good. He puts in strong performances from time to time, it\u2019s just rare when you get those \u2018nobody else could play that character\u2019 moments with this guy. (\u00ac_\u00ac)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Yep, I said it. I really enjoyed One Battle After Another yesterday, but Leo\u2019s not the one that made the film so effective (on that note, Sean Penn needs some serious awards attention). Leo’s in a lot of great films, but he\u2019s generally not the guy that\u2019s behind the greatness. That\u2019s usually the other actors … <\/p>\n