I offer up an apology in advance to all of those people out there who love to see Taylor Kitsch without his shirt on. While I admit that, yes, he is a perfect physical specimen, he's not a model. He's an actor, and a good one at that. But you'd never know it from his two most recent films -- John Carter and the upcoming Battleship. It's not that he doesn't have the acting chops, but rather, the material he's being given (and that he's accepting, unfortunately) just isn't good enough for him.
Anyone who's watched several of episodes of Friday Night Lights can attest that Kitsch's character Tim Riggins was one of the best, if not the best character on the show. Despite his low, gravelly mumbles and penchant for drinking, Riggins stole our hearts and attention in every episode in which he appeared. That isn't a charisma you can fake. I'll be the first to tell you that men generally hate any man in TV/movies who's better-looking and more built than him -- and Kitsch defeats most guys in that arena -- but male fans of the show genuinely liked Riggins, and rooted for him. In several episodes, he hardly spoke, but with just one expression or aptly-delivered sentiment, he brought you right into Riggins' world. After Friday Night Lights ended, some fans were even begging for a Riggins spinoff.
The Brad Pitts and the George Clooneys of Hollywood have that same unspeakable something, the dual-gender appeal and the good looks/good acting double whammy. So this is why it pains me to see Kitsch star in the likes of John Carter, where his talents aren't only wasted, they're exploited. You can pretty much cut-and-paste any actor's face onto his body, and the movie's outcome would have the same effect. John Carter takes place in the 1800s and on Mars (I know, I know, what?!), but I would so much rather watch Kitsch as a cavalryman than as a shirtless alien fighter for the two-plus hours I spent in the theatre.
With the cavalryman, at least, there was some depth of character. The alien fighter Kitsch spends the movie jumping around shirtless, and engaging in pointless dialogue with enemies and friends alike. Oh, and did I mention the excessive flexing of various muscles, even when he's not doing anything strenuous? In one particular scene, his right arm takes up about 40 percent of the frame. You can't tell me that wasn't intentional.
As a fellow Canadian, I feel an affinity to Kitsch, almost like it's my patriotic duty to warn him to stop accepting roles like this. Now. And before you all write to me telling me how he's playing the superhero character from the John Carter comic books, I'm fully aware. But there's a way to showcase physicality on screen without making it the focal point of a character -- to wit, Brad Pitt in Fight Club. Yes, he was shirtless quite a bit of the time, but it never got in the way of his fantastic acting, the plot, or the overall power of the story -- it added to it. In John Carter, it's shameless, and made even worse when you know about Kitsch's wasted talent.
I'm afraid things don't bode well for Kitsch with Battleship, either. Eerily, he starts off as a simple Navy officer, but then somehow ends up fighting aliens! Surely the directors of the two films didn't plan for such similar character arcs. At least in Battleship, it looks like he keeps his shirt on -- and Peter Berg might supply a better movie.
So please, Mr. Kitsch, don't let yourself fade into "guy with a good body" obscurity. Use your talent. We know you have it!
Be Brad Pitt, not Matthew McConaughey.
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Everybody's gotta start somewhere. Nobody knows what'll work and what won't until it's deployed. And when they asked Natalie Portman about doing Thor in the wake of doing Black Swan, she said that Black Swan's production pace was extremely hectic due to its low indie budget while Thor's massive studio budget allowed her the time to get everything right.
Wrong. He's playing the character from the Edgar Rice Burroughs novels.
And doing well in Friday Night Lights is not really much of a filmography to launch Kitsch into major film roles.
Besides, he probably took a look at the actor playing the baddie and thought it was Stanley Tucci.
And aside from his work in FNL, he was very good in The Bang-Bang Club last year.
Get Mr. Kitsch into a good, modern day western. Seems to be a resurgence these days. I'm thinking Timothy Olyphant in "Justified." Another great series, let alone "Deadwood."
Mr. Kitsch has that swagger only a few have, in my book think Yul Brynner, Richard Gere, Timothy Olyphant. It isn't made up and I'm sure they toned that down in John Carter and Battleship.
I'm happy he's going for the big hits, fame and bucks in the blockbusters and wish him only success. But trust me (and I'm no one) cast him in a great, modern day western - think Eastwood, Newman, McQueen and Dean but happier and more contemporary. His brooding, love of women - even as a womanizer - is what locked people in on FNL - isa core western trait. He's more Gosling-esque than super-hero-esque.
He's "got it" because his appeal and sexiness is woman-friendly while his rough edges appeal to the guys. There is no one else like him on the screen. Some great director needs to find that mix. His FNL acting was incredible - it's clear that many aspects of his persona informed Tim Riggins.
Well there's Savages to look forward to.
Ouch!
Don't think Matthew would agree with you sir.
And it's Burroughs, btw. Burroughs.
and John Carter is not just shirtless in the book, he's naked. Likewise everyone else, including the Green Martians (who should be six-limbed and ferocious looking and evilly titanic, not skinny escapees from the 2nd Star Wars movie). Always wondered how Hollywood was gonna handle that.....pruriently of course, with the result that the heroic passions of the book are submerged by that prurience such that the story is viewed as simply one of skin, skin, skin and subverted sex.
the characters in the book are naked, but the story is not about sex, it's about survival and dignity and honour. "I still live" is the great ethic of John Carter, who unites Mars against its own downfall because its atmosphere plants are breaking down and warfare prevents them from being repaired.......there's more to that story that could have made quite a compelling movie; instead Disney turned it into skin-cheese without any actual raw humanity.
Burroughs deserved better. If the script were up to snuff with the book, this would be a great role for ANY actor (who had the balls to show his off in public, that is)