If he were alive today….
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dcw-12 — 15 years ago(May 30, 2010 09:59 AM)
He was a better actor than these people without question. It takes real skill to play someone intensely flawed and stupid and still bring the audience in to the character. To not have the audience write off the character as stupid or worthless but to have everyone accept the character as a whole and in doing so grant the audience a catharsis on those weak parts of themselves. Thats the white hat power of acting and this actor embodied that 100%.
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mikefedyo — 13 years ago(April 20, 2012 09:46 PM)
I think you might be right..
I mean I consider him to be right next to Dinero and Pacino in that generation.. Without a doubt.
But yeah a comparison to Sam Rockwell is good.. John Cazale is one of my favorite actors and he has only been in a few movies..
In modern times..
The funny thing is.. Sam Rockwell is probably in my top 3 actors of today.
So I like the comparison..
But yeah, in my opinion.. John Cazale is one of the best actors of all time.. Even if it was just supporting roles.. But that makes even more of a point IMO..
I have never seen, to this day, a actor commit so well and amazing to a supporting role compared to John Cazale..
I mean no one.. He was incredible -
proteus6847 — 15 years ago(June 01, 2010 03:02 PM)
I just did and they're 20/20. Cazale's slender body of filmwork does not display the protean talent that everyone is trying to convince us he possessed. Maybe he did, but all we have to go on are the films, and they show an actor of limited range whose characters are all (as Michael said about Fredo) "weak and stupid."
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whenry-1 — 15 years ago(June 09, 2010 01:51 PM)
@ Proteus6847: There's alot we'll never know but one thing is for certain the little amount of work he did do was nothing short of amazing. Do you think playing weak characters and pulling the viewer in and keeping him in is an easy job? If it was easy everyone would do it and do it as well.
It almost sounds like your knocking him for dying too soon, i'm sure you're not but it does sound that way.
People act like Heath Ledger is some tremendous actor because of Batman, so not the case. He was great in it but it's the only one he's bene great in and had he not dies i'm sure he wouldn't have gotten all the admiration of people.
Could any actor make this scene so great and so important to the film?
Fredo Corleone: I'm your older brother, Mike, and I was stepped over!
Michael Corleone: That's the way Pop wanted it.
Fredo Corleone: It ain't the way I wanted it! I can handle things! I'm smart! Not like everybody says like dumb I'm smart and I want respect! -
harborwolf — 15 years ago(November 16, 2010 01:33 PM)
Fredo Corleone: I'm your older brother, Mike, and I was stepped over!
Michael Corleone: That's the way Pop wanted it.
Fredo Corleone: It ain't the way I wanted it! I can handle things! I'm smart! Not like everybody says like dumb I'm smart and I want respect!
Not to sound wierd, but just READING that exchange gave me chills. Cazale was incredible -
fugazi-grrl — 15 years ago(June 13, 2010 10:54 AM)
From what I can see, he was a one-note actor who specialized in weasels and worms.
One of the most popular Jazz songs of the second half of the 20th century is called the One Note Samba. Played on one note, up and down the scale, this song is more engaging than many more complicated compositions of it's era.
Having said that, I must disagree about your assumption of John Cazale's "limitations" as an actor. Cazale chose the roles he did because he felt he could bring more to these characters. He was an actor first and foremost, not concerned with star status, or even with the variety of the roles he played in as much as he was concerned with finding the roles in which he could use all of the talent available to him to convey a moving performance.
There is a lot more emotion, and thus emoting on the part of the actor, in those weaselly Fredo-type characters than offered to an actor in a lot of other types of roles.
I have no doubt that if Cazale had lived, he would have shown his range in a wide variety of film and television roles, and he would easily be considered an actor on the caliber of Pacino & DeNiro. The star level of Pacino, or DeNiro would probably always allude Cazale. But, in the end, like the previously mentioned Steve Buschemi, or other great character actors and second leads (Sam Rockwell, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Gary Oldman) it would be Cazale's performances that would remain in the memory. -
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clswells — 15 years ago(July 15, 2010 08:24 PM)
Al Pacino stated in " I knew it was you " a documentary on John Cazale's life, that "I learned more about acting from John than anyone else". John's long-time girlfriend Meryl Streep called him possibly the greatest actor of their generation. Every movie he was in was either nominated or won an Academy Award. Every renowned actor of their generation revered John and worshiped his abilities to this day. Not bad for a worm and a weasel. So if Pacino, Deniro, Streep, Walken, etc; don't convince you, you are unworthy of any such attempts.
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clswells — 15 years ago(July 22, 2010 03:52 PM)
i.e.; box office success does not equal acting ability. Tom Cruise is not even in the same game, ballpark,league as John Cazale although he made a million times more money. Bottom line is that any well-respected actor would laugh at your assertions. But if that's your opinion of his ability, so be it. You just need to acquire better taste and a keener eye for quality.
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bigbolo88 — 15 years ago(March 05, 2011 08:32 PM)
Yeah, we should take your opinion on Cazale over Pacino, DeNiro and Streep? Why are people even arguing with Proteus? He obviously doesnt have a very perceptive eye for film and I would trust Pacino and DeNiro and Streep on the matter.
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shanayneigh — 10 years ago(October 22, 2015 01:17 AM)
One of the most popular Jazz songs of the second half of the 20th century is called the One Note Samba.
Great. Now I'm gonna have that song stuck in my head for the rest of the d5b4ay. Thanks a lot.
Working in the movie business since -92