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Someone explain to me why Paul Giamatti is considered a great actor, if indeed he is.

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Orrex Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 05:01 PM
Original message
Someone explain to me why Paul Giamatti is considered a great actor, if indeed he is.
Edited on Sun May-31-09 05:05 PM by Orrex
I've only seen one performance in which he vanished into the role, as the expression goes.

Every other time, he's been Paul Giamatti playing this everyman or that everyman. And that goes for John Adams, too. And it goes double for Sideways.


Help me out here. What's the appeal?
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Moondog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 05:04 PM
Response to Original message
1. Who is this Paul Giamatti of whom you speak?
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AlCzervik Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 05:05 PM
Response to Original message
2. He was awesome as Pig Vomit and John Adams.
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Tangerine LaBamba Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 05:07 PM
Response to Original message
3. I give up .........
He's never impressed me at all ......................
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Amerigo Vespucci Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 05:07 PM
Response to Original message
4. Giamatti's kind of like Philip Seymour Hoffman...he just ended up on the critics' "Darling List."
You're right...he plays "everyman," and the unwashed masses are supposed to swoon over a story that's about "them." The movie "Duets" was "Sideways" with karaoke. "Sideways" was "Duets" WITHOUT karaoke.

:rofl:

I'm assuming "American Splendor" is the film in which he "vanished into the role," right?

:toast:
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AlCzervik Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 05:08 PM
Response to Reply #4
6. Philip Seymour Hoffman, did you not see Capote?
He was excellent in that.
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Amerigo Vespucci Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 05:11 PM
Response to Reply #6
8. That was his big film, and in every other movie, he played "Quirky Guy."
Giamatti played Pekar, Hoffman played Capote, and between them, in all of their other films, they filled a much-needed void for movies about quirky dweeby outcast guys.
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AlCzervik Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 05:16 PM
Response to Reply #8
9. Hoffman was also good in The Savages.
Giamatti was Pig Vomit, when i read that book and then saw the movie he was exactly how i pictured Kenny.
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JVS Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 08:51 PM
Response to Reply #8
28. He was a source of inspiration in Lebowski
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LostinVA Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 07:24 PM
Response to Reply #6
17. Doubt, Almost Famous, Scent of A Woman
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AlCzervik Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 07:29 PM
Response to Reply #17
19. I haven't seen Doubt yet but it's on my list.
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LostinVA Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 07:41 PM
Response to Reply #19
20. EVERYONE is great in that movie -- him, Streep, Amy Adams, etal
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tigereye Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 08:17 PM
Response to Reply #20
24. Doubt is amazing
I've never seen someone hit all those RC issues right on the head the way that Shanley did.
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Iggo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 08:54 PM
Response to Reply #17
29. Re: Scent Of A Woman.
That was painful. I really felt bad for his character, even though he asked for it and got what was coming to him. But god that was painful. Poor kid.
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LostinVA Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 09:32 PM
Response to Reply #29
31. Ans he played all that so well (imo)
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Iggo Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 10:01 PM
Response to Reply #31
33. Exactly.
I think it hit me that hard because he played it that hard.

That was some acting right there.
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tigereye Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 08:16 PM
Response to Reply #4
23. I think Hoffman was better - he's amazing.
He was stellar in Doubt, in Almost Famous, in Capote...
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Orrex Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 09:25 PM
Response to Reply #23
30. Hoffman's great even in movies that aren't
I just saw him again tonight in Twister. Granted, it wasn't exactly an Academy role, but he appeared to be having fun with it.

Quite a move to go from that to Punch-drunk Love or Capote!
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Shell Beau Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 09:32 PM
Response to Reply #30
32. Along Came Polly! I didn't like the movie, but damn he
is just good!
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tigereye Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-01-09 12:40 PM
Response to Reply #30
38. that's so funny - I was looking at Twister last night -it's always on


I had forgotten he was in that.
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unpossibles Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 11:33 PM
Response to Reply #4
37. He's like Philip Seymour Hoffman but without the talent, imo. nt
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Raine1967 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 05:08 PM
Response to Original message
5. American Splendor
It's an Indie thing.



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960 Donating Member (676 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 05:09 PM
Response to Original message
7. can't stand him at all.
smug and smarmy little fellow who can't act worth a darn.
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lunatica Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 05:16 PM
Response to Original message
10. He played an evil hit man in Shoot 'Em Up with Clive Owen
He was very good. It was one of those dark campy movies that's probably taken from a graphic novel.
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baldguy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 05:24 PM
Response to Original message
11. He is. Deal with it.
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Orrex Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 05:28 PM
Response to Reply #11
12. Cogent!
:rofl:
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Call Me Wesley Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 05:36 PM
Response to Original message
13. He is a great actor.
Very natural, very believable, without the over-acting from old school you might probably like; playing this or that everyman really, really needs a great deal of professionalism. There's the appeal - he's the everyman. That's acting.
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Orrex Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 07:19 PM
Response to Reply #13
15. You misunderstand my criticism
Giamatti playing an everyman never comes across as anything but Giamatti playing an everyman. The actor is foregrounded in (nearly) every role, and it's impossible to overlook the fact that it's him.

And I don't know what kind of "over-acting from old school" you might be talking about. :shrug:
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tigereye Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 08:18 PM
Response to Reply #13
25. Hi CMW!


:hi: How are ya?
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mitchum Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 07:10 PM
Response to Original message
14. He benefits from the "if not this/then this syndrome"...he's not "good looking"...
so therefore he must be talented
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LostinVA Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 07:23 PM
Response to Original message
16. John Adams, Cinderella Man
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Mike 03 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 07:27 PM
Response to Original message
18. I thought SIDEWAYS was very over-rated, but that had nothing to do with Paul
Edited on Sun May-31-09 07:28 PM by Mike 03
Giamatti's performance.

He was fine, IMHO. But I don't know that he was "Great."

I think he's a good or passable actor.

And Al Franken likes him, which is a plus.

Who said he was a great actor?
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Aristus Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 08:09 PM
Response to Original message
21. He played the most believable character in "Saving Private Ryan."
It was just a small role, but one not burdened with the need to fulfill stereotypical war movie paradigms. Tom Hanks was the Noble Leader, Tom Sizemore was the Gruff But Loyal Sergeant, Edward Burns was the Wisecracker From Brooklyn, and so on. Giamatti's character was the one most like the guys I knew in the Army, and behaved the way guys behaved in the field or under stressful conditions. He wasn't noble; he was just a guy who was tired, wet, cold, miserable, frustrated, stressed-out, and just wanting to get the job done and go home. I really liked his performance.
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tigereye Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 08:19 PM
Response to Reply #21
26. I think Giamatti is a good character actor- that takes a certain amount of
skill.
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Swede Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 11:02 PM
Response to Reply #21
35. I liked how he griped constantly about his sore back.
Never saw that in a war movie before.
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tigereye Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 08:15 PM
Response to Original message
22. oh, didn't you see him play the cartoonist Harvey Pekar from Cleveland?
Great performance.
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kwassa Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 08:43 PM
Response to Original message
27. I like Giamatti and thought he was terrible as John Adams.
A very bad piece of casting. It was so hard to watch that I stopped watching the show, and I love historical shows like this.

I liked "Sideways" and thought he deserved Best Actor Oscar for it. He was stiffed on that one, though many have been through the history of the Oscars.

I think he was very good in a couple of the other movies mentioned here.

Like almost all actors, he has his range of capabilities, and sometimes acts outside that range.

Phillip Seymour Hoffman has much greater range, and is good in virtually everything he does.
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blogslut Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 10:32 PM
Response to Original message
34. I like him
It's probably just a preference thing.
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hibbing Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun May-31-09 11:22 PM
Response to Original message
36. I like him..shrug
Edited on Sun May-31-09 11:23 PM by hibbing
Hi,
I liked sideways, but okay. If you like Philip Seymour Hoffman, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead was good I thought. Then he was in a little known movie which was really twisted and weird in which he plays someone with a messed up like who escapes his reality by sniffing gasoline, Love Liza.

Peace
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grace0418 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Jun-01-09 12:44 PM
Response to Original message
39. I've liked him in everything I've seen him in. I've seen actors where you never get
past the fact that it's "So-and-so playing X", even if they do a good job with it. But I don't get that with Paul. Maybe you just notice it because you don't care for him. I think he's pretty great.

I enjoyed Sideways, didn't see John Adams.
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