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Brad Pitt is a bad actor right?

Is Brad Pitt a bad actor? Did he just get by on looks and taking easy roles?

  • Brad Pitt is a bad actor.

    Votes: 23 12.3%
  • Brad Pitt is a good actor.

    Votes: 164 87.7%

  • Total voters
    187

Vagswarm

Member
Ugh. Feels like I worded the OP wrong.

I like Brad Pitt in just about everything pre Jesse James. He had great presence in his younger days.

I just think old Brad Pitt has essentially zero charisma and doesn't know how to act.
Maybe he's not as good when it comes to being an older, more serious actor, yeah. I feel the same way about Will Smith and probably others I can't think of atm.

This doesn't mean they're necessarily bad. Every standard seems to be judged by the best of the best, like there's no middle area.
 

eddie4

Genuinely Generous
brad pitt dogs GIF
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
OP you haven't convinced me. I like him in almost every movie he's in.

I like Keanu Reeves in almost every movie he's in. Doesn't make him a good actor.

Go watch The Professor and The Madman. Mel Gibson (62 years old) is phenomenal in it. Old Brad Pitt has become a Make a Wish kid who keeps being allowed to be in movies because his cancer isn't aggressive enough. I mean, that 12 Years a Slave scene is John Frusciante (Chiwitel Ejiofor) and Anthony Keidis (Brad Pitt). He absolutely kills scenes now.
 

BigBooper

Member
He was pretty good in the 90s when he played a country bumpkin. Legend of the Fall and A River Runs Through It were great movies that he acted well in because he wasn't the main star. Overall, I agree with you.

You should watch Meet Joe Black. 95% of the movie it's like he's walking around puckered up like a mannequin.

I don't get the comparison to Tom Cruise. True, recently Cruise is pretty much staying in his lane, but he's had some tougher parts showing some real breadth and depth. Vanilla Sky, Tropic Thunder, Magnolia, The Last Samurai, Edge of Tomorrow, Collateral, A Few Good Men, all show his good acting abilities.
 
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MastaKiiLA

Member
Good actor. He's had some outstanding performances, and also some he's mailed in. More importantly, he's fairly reliable, in that you don't worry about his role when going into a movie. You can expect that he'll put in a solid to great performance in whatever he's in. I love that someone mentioned True Romance.
 

DanteFox

Member
He plays the same character in every movie, but that's actually ok because it usually plays to his strengths: cool, stoic, masculine alpha male who's above it all and just does things and delivers lines while looking cool and attractive.
 

Little Mac

Gold Member
People saying he always plays the same character? How are Tyler Durden from Fight Club, Mickey O'neil from Snatch, Achillies from Troy, David Mills from Se7en, Rusty Ryan from Ocean's 11, etc ......... how are these the same character? He's a good actor. Not the best but his charm and charisma usually wins people over.
 

UncleMeat

Member
I think he's good not great. Recently I thought he was really good in Once upon a time in Hollywood and even Legends of the Fall is a guilty pleasure.

I want to watch War Machine now, I don't think I've even heard of it so thanks, OP.
 

DanteFox

Member
People saying he always plays the same character? How are Tyler Durden from Fight Club, Mickey O'neil from Snatch, Achillies from Troy, David Mills from Se7en, Rusty Ryan from Ocean's 11, etc ......... how are these the same character? He's a good actor. Not the best but his charm and charisma usually wins people over.
I would say his characters in Ocean's 11, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and Moneyball are very similar. Inglorious Basterds he essentially just becomes a bit more over the top with his accent. By the way I love all those movies and I'll watch Ocean's 11 and Moneyball over and over again without fail.
 

rofif

Can’t Git Gud
He is great. I actually even liked Ad Astra.
And he looks so fucking good the older he gets. I am a man but holy hell
 
I'm confused by the OP. Do you really think that 2021 Brad Pitt isn't extremely handsome? The guy has clearly incredible facial genetics. He'll probably be handsome when he's 80.
 

mcjmetroid

Member
You put bad in the poll first ha. I selected that by accident first. It's good/bad not bad/good.

And anyway cmon he's a good actor. Fight club!
 

thefool

Member
He isn't versatile but he's incredibly charismatic. As long as he plays a certain range, he's good.
 
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Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
I'm confused by the OP. Do you really think that 2021 Brad Pitt isn't extremely handsome? The guy has clearly incredible facial genetics. He'll probably be handsome when he's 80.

Brad Pitt has the face of a Zoloft commercial actor now.

Smaller, skinnier, white men dont age as well as bigger, more burley, masculine men.

Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Keith Urban all dropped off a cliff sometime I their mid to late 40s.

Tom Selleck, George Clooney, John Wayne all aged well in their 50s.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
You put bad in the poll first ha. I selected that by accident first. It's good/bad not bad/good.

And anyway cmon he's a good actor. Fight club!

Again, I agree with you. Brad Pitt was awesome in a bunch of movies during his younger years. He stole scenes back in the day. Now he ruins movies like he did in 12 Years a Slave. He should be earning Razzie Awards at this point in his career.
 
Brad Pitt has the face of a Zoloft commercial actor now.

Smaller, skinnier, white men dont age as well as bigger, more burley, masculine men.

Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Keith Urban all dropped off a cliff sometime I their mid to late 40s.

Tom Selleck, George Clooney, John Wayne all aged well in their 50s.

How is Clooney big and burley?
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
How is Clooney big and burley?

Brad Pitt, Johny Depp, Keith Urban are all Final Fantasy protagonists.

They were attractive, smaller, somewhat feminine men. George Clooney has a more masculine, authoritative, gravitas about him that those three don't.

Edit: Sean Connery is the oldest sexiest man of the year winner (People Magazine) at age 59.

He's definitely more boxer, football player, war general type than he is the other kind.
 
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Brad Pitt has the face of a Zoloft commercial actor now.

Smaller, skinnier, white men dont age as well as bigger, more burley, masculine men.

Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Keith Urban all dropped off a cliff sometime I their mid to late 40s.

Tom Selleck, George Clooney, John Wayne all aged well in their 50s.
Is this a widely shared opinion of heterosexual women?
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
I was talking about Brad Pitt specifically.

I've used Brad Pitt as an example in the majority of these discussions and the response I get from women is largely "Yeah, I guess you're kinda right." As in they half understand what I'm talking about.

My interpretation is that women are still attracted to Brad Pitt because he's been in their lives for the last 30 years, is somewhat likeable, and rich as ****.

If you did that Men in Black mind wipe thing to women, and told them Brad Pitt was a high school gym teacher, I have a strong feeling "Yeah, I guess you're kinda right" would turn into "He has the look of a pedophile".

20200825-dick.jpg


If black don't crack, white cracks a **** ton.
 
I've used Brad Pitt as an example in the majority of these discussions and the response I get from women is largely "Yeah, I guess you're kinda right." As in they half understand what I'm talking about.

My interpretation is that women are still attracted to Brad Pitt because he's been in their lives for the last 30 years, is somewhat likeable, and rich as ****.

If you did that Men in Black mind wipe thing to women, and told them Brad Pitt was a high school gym teacher, I have a strong feeling "Yeah, I guess you're kinda right" would turn into "He has the look of a pedophile".

20200825-dick.jpg


If black don't crack, white cracks a **** ton.
And now it's become racial. Super.
 

T8SC

Gold Member
Good directors get the most out of their cast.

Put a good actor in a shitty movie, with shitty dialogue ... expect a shitty performance.

Brad Pitt has proved himself to be a good actor in movies such as Seven and 12 Monkeys, he's very capable.

Is Ben Kingsley a rubbish actor because of his performances in the likes of The Love Guru or IronMan 3? No, because he had already proved his acting prowess in movies like Gandhi & Schindler's List.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
Good directors get the most out of their cast.

Put a good actor in a shitty movie, with shitty dialogue ... expect a shitty performance.

Brad Pitt has proved himself to be a good actor in movies such as Seven and 12 Monkeys, he's very capable.

Is Ben Kingsley a rubbish actor because of his performances in the likes of The Love Guru or IronMan 3? No, because he had already proved his acting prowess in movies like Gandhi & Schindler's List.

Ben Afleck recently starred in a movie called The Way Back. In it he plays an ex star basketball player, who struggles with alcoholism due to a regretful past. I don't particularly like Ben Affleck as an actor but that was the perfect role for him because that's the vibe I get from him in real life.

Young Brad Pitt was awesome in his movies because he always played that mysterious mythological deity type character. Descended from the Gods to stir up the lives of human characters. He was perfect for these types of roles because...well...look at young Brad Pitt.

My question is...he can no longer play those types of roles anymore because he no longer looks like a Greek God. He looks like a relatively normal dude in his 50's.

So now his acting is comparable to a wide range of actors. Plenty of actors can play normal guys in their 50s. Maybe he still has a bit of likability about him but Tom Hanks simply outclasses him in every way today. Tom Hanks couldn't play Tyler Durden. He couldn't play Achilles. He couldn't play Mickey O'Neil.

But Tom Hanks, and a litany of other actors can play Billy Bean. How many other actors could have saved Brad Pitts scene from 12 Years a Slave?

I think that's my point. I'm seeing a lot of responses here saying "He was great in 12 Monkeys therefore he's a great actor". That misses the entire point of the thread.
 
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T8SC

Gold Member
Ben Afleck recently starred in a movie called The Way Back. In it he plays an ex star basketball player, who struggles with alcoholism due to a regretful past. I don't particularly like Ben Affleck as an actor but that was the perfect role for him because that's the vibe I get from him in real life.

Young Brad Pitt was awesome in his movies because he always played that mysterious mythological deity type character. Descended from the Gods to stir up the lives of human characters. He was perfect for these types of roles because...well...look at young Brad Pitt.

My question is...he can no longer play those types of roles anymore because he no longer looks like a Greek God. He looks like a relatively normal dude in his 50's.

So now his acting is comparable to a wide range of actors. Plenty of actors can play normal guys in their 50s. Maybe he still has a bit of likability about him but Tom Hanks simply outclasses him in every way today. Tom Hanks couldn't play Tyler Durden. He couldn't play Achilles. He couldn't play Mickey O'Neil.

But Tom Hanks, and a litany of other actors can play Billy Bean. How many other actors could have saved Brad Pitts scene from 12 Years a Slave?

I think that's my point. I'm seeing a lot of responses here saying "He was great in 12 Monkeys therefore he's a great actor". That misses the entire point of the thread.

As I said, good directors will get good performances out of competent actors. Brad Pitt is a competent actor.
 
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