I'd argue is one of the most underrated actors in history. His performance in Shawshank is probably a top 10-15 all time performance. He also brilliant in Arlington Road, and was excellent in Mystic River, and Jacob's Ladder.
Agreed. Very good actor. I thought his performance in Shawshank was good, but not as good as you are suggesting. He was better in Mystic River IMO. You know who's even more underrated than he is? Woody Harrelson Harrelson's performance in "Indecent Proposal" is the stuff of legends. Incredible.
Green lantern was surprisingly enjoyable. Now... I'm not familiar with the source material and so from that perspective the purists may hate it...but I quite enjoyed it.
He has a lot of range actually. He plays a bad guy well as seen in Green Lantern. He plays the victim well as in Shawshank and Mystic River and he can also play a comical role like in High Fidelity or Anchorman.
word. "Range" is overrated though...when judging acting talent. Cuba Gooding Jnr for example: I've seen him play a RETARD. Then he was a conflicted young punk in Boyz in da hood. I've seen him play an Army Psychologist and then I've seen him in Jerry Maguire. All very different roles. Far more "range" when you compare him with Denzel who's typically a cop or a lawyer. But is Cuba a better actor than Denzel? HHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL NO!
"You never go full retard" Cuba Gooding and Tim Robbins are both supporting actors. They aren't lead material like Denzel so it's not really a fair comparison. EDIT: After I typed that I realized Tim Robbins is the lead in Shawshank so maybe not so accurate of a statement :\