New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

Whozie and whatsit?

Kim Hollis: Why are Colin Farrell and Edward Norton, who are both considered very famous actors, not box office draws?

Brandon Scott: Probably because they are both good actors who can take on challenging roles. In Bruges was a great movie (my favorite of the year to date) and Norton has a history of great roles since his introduction to us in Primal Fear. Farrell had his run I guess, back when he was dating Britney Spears, but Norton never really quite clicked. He did date Selma Hayek, though, and that is worth a few somethings. Agree? I get the sense that neither of them really cares about stardom at this point, either, so there isn't a lot endearing them to the public, so to speak, especially in Norton's case. Too bad, because I like him a lot.

Scott Lumley: I think Brandon nails it. Both these guys have achieved so much notoriety and have achieved such financial independence that they don't have to be careful with their careers any more. At a certain point, they both went, "Screw it, I'll do what I want!" and it's hard to fault them for that. I don't know if Farrell is going to have a long-term career based on what he's done lately, but I think Norton is pretty much bulletproof.

Max Braden: Farrell was never clean enough to achieve Brad Pitt-type status and wasn't odd enough to achieve Johnny Depp status (though outside of franchises, those two haven't demonstrated draw power either...) I think the bottom line is for all their apparent talent, Farrell and Norton just haven't done anything interesting with it in a long time. I look down the recent filmographies and just see ho-hum performances in ho-hum movies. They had moments in the past, but what have they done for us lately? Taking roles in a floundering genre movie like Pride and Glory isn't helping.





Sean Collier: Miami Vice, The New World, Alexander, S.W.A.T, Daredevil. Kingdom of Heaven, 25th Hour, Death to Smoochy, The Score, Keeping the Faith. Questions?

David Mumpower: So, only SWAT and Daredevil, then?

Reagen Sulewski: I guess I don't get this tendency to make everyone either Brad Pitt or Kevin Costner (and even Brad Pitt isn't always Brad Pitt. See: The Assassination of Jesse James. You didn't? That's my point). There are worlds of room in between box office champ and box office poison, and that's OK.

Kim Hollis: I think you have a good point there, Reagen. Farrell and Norton are what they are - recognizable faces who add a little something to a movie if you cast them, even if they're not huge draws. I honestly think both are better off doing smaller-scale films with some sort of hook to them than trying to be big box office draws.

Continued:       1       2       3       4