When so much of what passes for Hollywood journalism these days focuses on who's partying with whom, in what club and in what state of (un)dress, acting, film, and let's face it, good 'ol glamor, fall by the wayside. I confess to sometimes wondering what it would be like to be Humphrey Bogart or Bruce Willis. But I most certainly do NOT aspire to be Zac Efron, Justin Bieber, or any of the Twilight sides of beef, talented as those gentlemen may be.
Which is why I admire stars like George Clooney and Matt Damon. Clooney did his full five years on ER as Dr. Doug Ross without complaint, because he knew who opened the door even as his star was rising. I love a guy who's willing to risk the wrath of mad genius David O. Russell by showing up late on the Arizona set of Three Kings because work on ER ran long in LA. I also love the fact that he seems able to will his extremely early work on Facts Of Life out of existence, and that he is willing to charge any paparazzo who dares to take unauthorized pictures of him and his guests at his Italian villa; the tweeny party animals just whine for tougher laws.
As to Clooney's film work, I must confess that I didn't get or appreciate the smartass persona on display from One Fine Day through O Brother, Where Art Thou?. But obviously that arc of his career was a foot in the door, allowing him to move on to much stretchier fare such as Syriana, his directorial debut in Good Night and Good Luck, and his Oscar-nominated acting turn in Up In the Air. Was his pissed-off look on the show real, or a bit? The official answer's a bit cooked up by Steve Martin, but methinks that George really dosen't give a damn about the Hollywood hoopla, and that's a beautiful thing, as is his singlehandedly-organized telethon for Haiti.
Matt Damon established cred early on by co-writing the Oscar-winning script for Good Will Hunting and turning a memorable, moving performance in the title role. He followed up with equally strong work in The Talented Mr. Ripley, Saving Private Ryan, and the Bourne trilogy. And he weathered both a "Gosh, he's so darn NICE!" spread in Entertainment Weekly early on and a rebuke from Variety editor Peter Bart a few years ago when Matt decided to concentrate on work and family rather than hoopla. Which would you rather have, Mr. Bart: Six fluffy People articles, or The Informant!? I'll take the latter, thank you very much.
True, Matt stumbled a bit with Green Zone. But he will survive. Clooney survived both a misguided Batman entry and Leatherheads!
Congrats guys, and keep up the outstanding work!
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MTMG
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