GREAT LIVING ACTOR CRITERIA

Some things I think the greatest living actor should have:

- A pulse. The Laird is correct, that does exclude Gielgud.

- Range. The ability to play a wide range of roles is evidence of great skill. DeNiro appears to be the master of this, but I'd argue Michael Caine has also shown impressive range. Let's see Brando play this role.

- Willingness to take risks (and, implicitly, the ability to not have them turn into Myra Breckinridge or Heaven's Gate in the process). The Laird's writeup convinced me that Pacino, not DeNiro, gets the honors here.

- Humanity. The ability to gain the empathy of the audience (as opposed to fascination with extreme behavior, which is more a DeNiro/Pacino thing). For my money Michael Caine is the person who has best demonstrated the ability to play people.

[Consumed with guilt, I must admit in all fairness that Pacino does an impressive job in The Godfather of playing a human being, especially in the hospital scene. And his progressive dehumanization is brilliantly played through the final shot of the sequel. Compare and contrast: Macbeth starts out an impassive killing machine, and ends up a flawed and confused human being (and does not survive). Michael Corleone starts out a flawed and confused human being, and ends up an impassive killing machine (and survives)... - Dr X.]

- Longevity. Everyone here has it, though Brando is probably the one who has the most to answer for in this department.

- Peak performances. Two or three immortal performances. I don't care for Nicholson, but I don't think you can dismiss him out of hand. His career has had one or two stellar performances in each of the last four decades. I'm not sure you can just set that aside.

- I was going to say commitment, but I'm not sure it's really the mark of great actors. Cary Elwes and Mandy Patinkin spent months working on their duel in The Princess Bride, and got so wound up they often kept fighting after the director called 'cut'. Total commitment. But so what? That makes them maniacs, not great actors.


I don't know what to do with Russell Crowe, but I think he should be in the hunt. He rates high on everything above except longevity, but he's 40 so can hardly help that. I think he's great. He transformed Gladiator from a straight-to-video piece of crap to something worth watching, and I don't think Master and Commander could have been made without him.

Thought Norton was brilliant in Fight Club, and have missed all subsequent work. Is 25th Hour worth the time?

[I didn't see 25th Hour but I can recommend American History X. --CSG]