John Cusack, his ten best?

Why do so many people seem to think Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is not a good film? I'm not asking to be an arse, I'm truly curious and figured if anyone could explain it, it'd be you...

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John Cusak is just a mediocre actor that hasn't had any great performances. His best film was Being John Malcovich.

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"Certainly there is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and like it, never really care for anything else thereafter." - Ernest Hemingway

I think he does a very good job playing rather quirky characters... and I'm really looking forward to seeing him as Poe in The Raven... I probably would not have picked him first for that part, but after I thought about it, he's really kind of perfect for it...

I didn't know they were doing a movie based on the poem. The Raven is my favorite poem of all-time. Edgar Allen Poe was a genius.

Oh. my god. Cannot wait for that.

I thought it was very well done. Good flick.

Anywho, just watched High Fidelity again the other day...

High Fidelity (2000, Steven Frears)



Anyone who is an aficionado or snob about anything, whether it is wine, films, cars, literature, music… whatever, should be able to in part identify with this movie about a hipster record store owner (John Cusack) who deals with his two slacker employees, life philosophy and a “what does it all mean” inducing breakup with his long time live-in girlfriend Laura (Iben Hjejle). John Cusack is the center of the film, and if you don’t enjoy his work as an actor, it’s likely you won’t enjoy this movie. High Fidelity plays out largely like a Woody Allen style comedy with the lead actor constantly breaking the fourth wall and talking directly to the audience. We become Cusack’s partner in breakup pain, because most everyone in the audience can indentify in part with the protagonist. High Fidelity is part indie-flick, part chick-flick, and part male youth comedy – and what’s great about it is it succeeds on many of these levels.
Jack Black is excellent as the wannabe rocker music snob who has a comment for everything. Not only does the viewer identify with the protagonist, but it is easy to recognize and identify with many of the supporting characters. Black adds comic relief to the film to play directly against Cusack’s “straight man” – this balance is done to perfection, so much so that it would have been nice to see Black’s role expanded a bit.
The movie really shines in its commentary on relationships and it one of the few films that concentrates on a relationship after the lust, newness,, and shine have long been vanished. The film is almost an anti-chick film in that it glorifies the old over the new. So many chick flicks are about falling in love, whereas High Fidelity is about recognizing and appreciating what made you fall in love in the first place. One of the best lines from the film occurs when Cusack asks his girlfriend Laura to marry him and she is uncertain about his commitment. He responds by talking about what people see on the surface is an illusion to hide the less glamorous stuff and too many people fall for the illusion – something like that. At first the character of Laura seems very bland, but as the film goes on she becomes more revealed and realized and becomes a fascinating role. This is likely the director putting us in the shoes of Cusack as he learns to appreciate her and discover why he wants her back so badly.
Another scene, while it doesn’t quite match the “Why is life worth living” speech by Woody Allen in Manhattan it comes close and its when Cusack is walking along a bridge over the Chicago River talking to the audience about the “Top five things he misses about Laura.”

Grade: A

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I liked Grosse Point Blank primarily because it was a different sort of plot and well-told story and had a great cast including Cusak and his sis. It was fun.

Cusak contributed some to Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, but it seemed someone else stole every scene he was in, even the voodoo lady.

Eight Men Out wasn't a bad move but when a story focuses on a whole baseball team, it's hard for anyone to stand out with so little character development (as opposed to The Natural, Bull Durham, or even A League of Their Own). Like his character who kept asking in vain for a separate trial, Cusak just got lumped in with the other actors portraying ball players.

From those, his films go downhill, as far as I'm concerned. The Grifters was like watching paint dry. There wasn't a likeable character in the whole film, so I couldn't have cared less about their problems. Con Air was atrocious--an investment and cast looking for a real story with a plot. A waste of time and film.

But I did like Grosse Point Blank enough to watch it again.

What else have you seen of his?

His top 10 movies for me (random order):

Con Air
Better off Dead
1408
Runaway Jury
Identity
High Fidelity
Being John Malkovich
Grosse Pointe Blank
2012
Saying Anything...

Bullets Over Broadway, which Chazz Palmintieri dominated. Even Rob Reiner was more memorable in a much smaller role. Must Love Dogs, a good little piece of fluff; The Jack Bull, a bad western; Cradle Will Rock, delightful film with off-the-wall characters in which Cusak had the misfortune to be cast as a very dull Rockefeller. Grosse Point Blank is the only one in which he really stood out IMHO.

americas sweethearts had me loving him
maritan child love
war INC is prob a close fav
con air he just looks so young
1408 was a good movie, and a family fav


this is in no order...just a list that came to mind when i was reading the thread..
couldnt watch grace is gone...to sad
looking for ice harvest..

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Im tired of being caught in the tangle of these peoples lives.....