Where Have You Gone, Mark Ruffalo?
Published August 03, 2005
Oh, well, another actor sells his soul. Remember when Mark Ruffalo came out in You Can Count on Me (yes, a horrible title, but a great film--because of Mark Ruffalo). His performance was exciting; it felt unpremeditated and raw and real. Well, I recently saw this ad for Just Like Heaven plastered on a subway entrance, and my heart sank.
My distaste for this ad is right up there with Must Love Dogs. There's little Mark Ruffalo staring longingly up at box office jackpot Reese Witherspoon. Mark Ruffalo wants to be a big, big star. And it seems that he's chosen films based on whose name is on the marquee. Unfortunately, most of them have tanked. Here are some of his recent bombs: The Last Castle, Windtalkers, View from the Top, all starring big stars with whom he hoped to align himself. (Robert Redford, Nicolas Cage, and Gweneth Paltrow, respectively.) I do admit that he was the saving grace in In the Cut, but he had to share the screen with Meg Ryan. No thanks. And, yes, he made The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with Jim Carrey, but do you really remember his even being in it?
His last movie 13 going on 30, I think, did pretty good box office, so maybe he is counting on that. Besides both flicks being supposedly "romantic comedies," I see one very distinct similarity: his picture in both ads is teeny tiny. That's the price of fame, I guess.
You can check out my other reviews at Amppower
- Where Have You Gone, Mark Ruffalo?
- Published: August 03, 2005
- Type: Opinion
- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: Film and TV Business, Video: Romantic Comedies
- Writer: Alicatte Amp
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- Alicatte Amp's personal site
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Comments on this articleComments
I agree here, the parts in the latest three movies he is doing are not 'star' quality. He is much better than this. I do not like the poster for Just Like Heaven, his picture size is an insult. Without him the movie would stink. Someone must step up to the plate and give him a starring role, he would show everyone.
Robin
This one and "Rumor Has It" with Jennifer Aniston are not good enough for him. He's so much better than that. Perhaps he will redeem himself in "All The King's Men" (which he was most excited about)and then the starring role in "Zodiac".
I think that's exactly how he sees acting. For a guy like Mark Ruffalo acting is a life in itself. So unpredictable and a planned trap as well. So it will be an overstatement if we say that he just wants to have a share of bright lights with those big stars. Qouting his interview with the THE GUARDIAN, on being compared with MArlon Brando, he said: "Man, I appreciate him, in a way he's ideal, but the opposite end of that spectrum is Marcello Mastroianni, who had a lightness of being, and a joy in his acting, and wasn't too precious about it. He did good movies and bad movies. He was bad in some bad movies, he was great in some good movies, he had a sense of humour, he really loved life, people had a good time around him. I kind of like his career better. My style would be one foot in the grave and the other on a banana peel."
I did not like him much in his ROMCOMS (and his feet on these films are really in the grave) but you can really feel how this guy loves acting that he treats it like his own life with set traps and trial and errors. You can say what you want but Mark Ruffalo is having a banana peeeeeel slippery heck of a time!
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Windtalkers was horrible. But it didn't ruin Nic Cage's career.