Seeing as we're doing overrated things and people...
Marlon Brando in On The Waterfront. The "coulda been a contender" was received with great enthusiasm because it was a whole new, authentic style of acting. Well, it was new(ish), but it wasn't authentic. With all that face-contorting and so much pain, it was pure hammery.
James Dean was another exhibitor of the scenery-chewing tortured soul.
Now, to be clear, I'm not saying Brando or Dean put in bad performances. They were good in those movies, and the overacting did much to introduce more introspection into the thespian craft. So Brando in the taxi and Dean over-emoting served their purpose for the time. But today, it looks contrived and absurd -- partly because actors who drew inspiration from those performances have perfected that style. So they are overrated as acting performances, but their influence cannot be overrated.
Marlon Brando in On The Waterfront. The "coulda been a contender" was received with great enthusiasm because it was a whole new, authentic style of acting. Well, it was new(ish), but it wasn't authentic. With all that face-contorting and so much pain, it was pure hammery.
James Dean was another exhibitor of the scenery-chewing tortured soul.
Now, to be clear, I'm not saying Brando or Dean put in bad performances. They were good in those movies, and the overacting did much to introduce more introspection into the thespian craft. So Brando in the taxi and Dean over-emoting served their purpose for the time. But today, it looks contrived and absurd -- partly because actors who drew inspiration from those performances have perfected that style. So they are overrated as acting performances, but their influence cannot be overrated.
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