I think he's awesome. One of my favorite scenes from him is in "A Few Good Men" when he gave the opening statement as a prosecutor. "These are the facts of the case, and they are undisupted." He was great in "Sleepers" too as the guard who was sexually abusing the kids. Came off so evil and believable.
EXCELLENT Character Actor, which is what it's ALL about in REED's Opinion...Bacon is like a Poor Man's Gary Oldman, in REED's Opinion, Meaning he GETS LOST in an Array of VARYING Characters, to the Point that you FORGET you're Watching Kevin Bacon... Underrated for Sure... REED:num:
He was absolutely great in Murder in The First and The Woodsman. Too bad he doesn't get many meaty roles like those. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-fIFa9RcCmI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I agree completely with your point and your comparative analogy, however, even though Bacon does immerse himself into roles very well like Oldman, I think it's important to mention he isn't on Oldman's level as an actor. What seperates Bacon from your average actors like Ryan Renolds for instance is Bacon's charisma is on a near superstars level. It's why he stands out like an A lister even though he's technically a B lister. I mean the guy made mediocre films like Footloose and Hollow Man seem almost good. I also think he carried Tremors which was a good film regardless, but try imagining a less charasmatic actor like Reynolds or Wahlberg in that role and tell me you'd enjoy it the same. I love the guy but will say one of the few times he didn't impress me and actually felt wrong for the role was the last X-Men film.
Well he did say he was a "poor man's" Gary O, just like you might be considered a poor man's ArturoGatti by some on this site.
Funny that Bacon outshined Oldman in the two movies I'm aware of they starred in together. "Murder In The First" and "Criminal Law". Maybe it's just that Bacon got the meatier roles or that Oldman was going against type both times.
I remember reading a quote from Harvey Keitel (excellent actor but offered limited roles) and he said if they made a movie about Harvey Keitel, Robert DeNiro would get the part... Bacon is in the same boat in that others guys are more popular and seem to get the parts instead of him.
Easy: Burt Lancaster co-starred with Kevin Costner in Field of Dreams who starred in JFK with co-star Kevin Bacon.
I always felt DeNiro and Keitel were similar. I figure people hire Keitel when they want to spend less.
Admittedly, REED Didn't Like the IDEA of Kevin Bacon Being in "X-Men: First Class", but his Performance WASN'T Bad @ All, in REED's Opinion...Clearly, That was ASSbender's Flick, but Bacon Played Off of him VERY Well.... REED:mj: