What the Hell Happened to Tom Berenger?
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Archived from the IMDb Discussion Forums — Tom Berenger
TMC-4 — 12 years ago(November 04, 2013 08:43 PM)
http://lebeauleblog.com/2013/11/04/what-the-hell-happened-to-tom-beren ger/
Tom Berenger is an Oscar nominee and a Golden Globe winner. Hes done action, drama and comedy. Hes been the leading man and a supporting actor. Hes worked with directors like Christopher Nolan, Oliver Stone and Ridley Scott. And yet, after nearly four decades in Hollywood, Berenger has never been a major movie star.
What the hell happened? -
prodigiousone — 10 years ago(November 29, 2015 09:21 PM)
He actually DID have a very brief period of stardom in the late 80s, after "Platoon".
He'd been around before that: In soaps, in "Looking for Mr. Goodbar", in "Dogs of War", and especially once he was in "Eddie and the Cruisers" and "The Big Chill".
He was a familiar face.
Then, he did "Platoon", and he and Willem Dafoe and Charlie Sheen all three became highly in demand after that. Berenger, in particular, got a LOT of attention for it. He was very acclaimed, it was a smash hit, he was top billed, and he won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Oscar for it.
Shortly after, he was on magazine covers and the scripts were pouring in.
His next big lead was in Ridley Scott's "Someone to watch Over Me". Unfortunately, the film got lukewarm reviews, and was sluggish at the box office. His next big film was a buddy actioner called, "Shoot to Kill", with Sidney Poitier, followed closely after by a drama with Debra Winger, called "Betrayed". Both were critical and commercial flops. He had one big hit, that reteamed him with Charlie Sheen, "Major League". That one was loathed by critics, but was a solid commercial hit. He appeared that same year in Oliver Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July". It too was a commercial hit, as well as an awards and critical darling. A couple more bombs fb68ollowed, however, and his big shot at headlining a huge, stately awards picture, "At Play in the Fields of the Lord", was one of the biggest flops ever. By the early 90s, he was sharply on the decline. His last few leads in that period failed to ever find an audience. After around "The Substitute" in 1996, he was pretty well washed up, and began to appear in small parts and direct-to-video fare. He had a meaningless bit part in "Training Day", and spent most of the next decade in total obscurity. He finally got noticed again with a character role in Nolan's "Inception". An Emmy winning role in TV's "Hatfields and Mccoys" followed.
Unfortunately, he seems to be fading back out fast, again.
Kind of like Mickey Rourke.
I think Berenger's biggest problem has been simply making bad choices in scripts at times when his career is hot. He's obviously picked a few winners, but unfortunately, more often than not, he has chosen mediocrity.