I'll get this out swiftly, I think Jake Gyllenhaal is a likable actor so I'm not going to slate him for being a bad actor because he's quite clearly a very capable actor. But I've never felt that he was a great actor like many people think on this sub and in fact, people across movie forums in general. Many people seem to think Gyllenhaal gets snubbed by the Academy Awards for performances on an almost constant basis and I've never felt that first.
Now, let me praise his best performance which I think is quite clearly Nightcrawler. In the past (and to be honest, since that performance) I've always felt that Gyllenhaal has struggled to truly inhibit a character. I felt that way rather starkly in Prisoners for example where his character tics were very obvious and not natural. Nightcrawler was the first time I saw him convincingly dive deep into a character. For the first time he utilised his lamp like eyes that have always been a signature part of his body by losing much weight from his face and body to create a unique persona. Of course the script and direction would've helped but he seemed believably in tune with a character that I should see more often from an actor who is regarded by a lot of people as a 'great actor.
He just hasn't convinced as a leading man/character actor on a consistent basis. Take his most recent film for example, Stronger. He was back to playing a variant of himself. Oh he was solid and likable as he is but I never truly believed him in the role.
Submitted March 08, 2018 at 07:04AM by JoseMoaninho http://ift.tt/2FAMShJ
