A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a list of the most overrated and underrated athletes of all time. That was easy for me - sports are my comfort zone. Now, I’ll tackle something I don’t know that much about: the most overrated and underrated actors of all time. Starting with underrated…here is my list:
Sally Field. A two-time Oscar nominee underrated? Well, it seems people have forgotten how good an actor she is, because of what is perceived as a flaky acceptance speech (”You like me…you really really like me”). Call me nuts, but when I watched it, I just thought it was genuine and from the heart (though I did think she was a bit odd). 25 or so years later, and it’s still a joke. That, plus her gigs as Gidget and The Flying Nun tend to obscure that fact that she is amongst the better actors of her generation.
Leslie Neilsen. I know what you are saying: “Leslie Neilsen on this list. Surely you cannot be serious.” To which I say: “I am serious. And, don’t call me Shirley.” I don’t know, but the way he played Lt. Frank Drebin in the Police Squad TV Shows (If you have never seen them get them. Now. Right now. Stop reading this and get the Police Squad episodes on DVD. You’ll thank me.) and later in the Naked Gun films was brilliant. I have seen several people try to pull this off…and none of them have remotely been as funny. So, he’s a one trick pony. It’s a helluva trick. By the way, a couple of years ago on Nick at Nite or one of those stations, Leslie was playing a detective. It was a serious role, but by that point it was no longer possible to take him seriously…it was one of the most unintentionally funny performances ever.
Toni Collette. In Muriel’s wedding, she played a fat, unattractive desperate single woman. Not easy to do when you look like Toni! I literally had no idea that a really attractive woman played that role when I saw the movie, which I have seen three times (hey - it’s my wife’s choice). She was also terrific in the Sixth Sense, Dinner with Friends, and Little Miss Sunshine. I have no idea if she’s ever been nominated for any Oscars or other awards…but one day she will be.
Kevin Bacon: A good guy, who has been married to the same woman for 20 years, pretty rare in Hollywood. Putting that aside - he was great in the HBO Miniseries “Taking Chance.” I understand that he has never been nominated for an Emmy or an Oscar. If this is true - and I am too lazy to verify it - then that will certainly end with this performance. He’s also been consistently good in some of the biggest movies of my lifetime: Animal House, Diner (okay, not a hit, but a very good movie), JFK, A Few Good Men, Apollo 13, and Mystic River. He was terrific in all of them.
Robert Duvall. He has certainly won his share of awards - an Oscar and two Emmy’s - so critics appreciate him. I think he’s underrated with the viewing public. And, he may just be the best American actor alive today. Certainly top seven. His Oscar was for a little movie called “The Godfather Part II.” I know people who have seen that movie trilogy five times and don’t know he was in it! People remember Brando, Pacino, DeNiro, Shire, and Keaton. But they don’t remember him. He was great, but that was not his best role. If you ever want to see great acting - rent the Apostle. Do it soon - right after you get the Police Squad tapes.
Peter Sellers. There are very few people and characters who can make both my father and me laugh. Peter Sellers is atop that list. “Comedy is never taken seriously,” as somebody has said. Sellers’ performances as Inspector Clouseau were brilliant. Brilliant. Steve Martin - one of the great comedians ever - has tried to duplicate that role, and he is nowhere near as funny as Sellers was. But, Sellers was not a one-trick pony like Leslie Neilsen. His performance in Being There, which he completed shortly before dying, was Oscar-worthy. Perhaps most impressively, a fairly average looking guy manged to snag Britt Ekland, in what must have been the role of a lifetime. But, it is Clouseau for which Sellers will be remembered. Thank you, Peter. Thank you.