Gene Hackman - underrated?

He’s rated appropriately.

Just watched him in "I Never Sang for My Father" when he was very young and was impressed at his quiet power (then). But never ever understood that second Oscar for "Unforgiven" -- when Jaye Davidson had given such an iconic performance. Total bullshit. Hackman was phoning it in by that point.

He's always been highly rated. The reason he's not up there with DeNiro or Pacino is because he's rarely a romantic lead (thank God).

R2, Hackman was almost 40 when he made that movie, he wasn't "very young."

Was he the serial killer in Dexter? He was so good, I stopped watching Dexter.

He's rated appropriately. I like him a lot. He's watchable in anything.

An all time great, which I think that's how he's regarded.

Has he been outed as a sexual predator yet?

And I had a big crush on him in “The Poseidon Adventure”. I saw a funny parody of that but forgot what it was. Does anyone remember? Like when this girl has to take off her skirt for no reason and has hot pants underneath?

I love him.

Oh fuck he wasn’t in Dexter!!! I had a senior moment. Sorry guys. Whoever that killer was smiled at me on Broadway 15 years ago.

John Lithgow was the serial killer in Dexter. He was amazing.

He's been retired from acting for 14 years. If only Pacino and De Niro had done the same...

[quote]If only Pacino and De Niro had done the same...

DeNiro needs the money, I hear. Not sure about Pacino, although he can be good at times. DeNiro always sort of stinks, imo.

Definitely an all time great. Just look at his filmography. I agree his performance in The Unforgiven was overrated. I think he should have won his second Oscar for Mississippi Burning. He was so very good in that movie.

Hackman was notoriously difficult to get along with, though. Despite this, he worked steadily from the 1970s until the early 200s. That's a pretty long career by anyone's standards. The quality of his acting overcame how difficult he was. He's now happily retired from the business since 2004 and said he won't do any more roles.

It's funny. Hackman is 88 years old and retired almost 14 years ago. Christopher Plummer is 88 years old and shows no signs of slowing down.

His performances can vary but lawd, he's had some great ones. Maybe didn't get that Pacino-DeNiro style hype cause he's less ethnic, more WASPY everyman. How great was he in Bonnie and Clyde? !

His performance in “The Conversation” is truly one for the ages (and he is in almost every scene and has minimal dialogue).

I have never seen a better performance by an actor in a film.

He was very good, and we all knew it.

In fact I'd venture to say that he's better in "Bonnie and Clyde" than wunderkind Warren Beatty was, and for that matter Estelle Parsons was better than Faye was, and in a thankless role no less.

One of the worlds finest actors.

He's a badass, remember when he got in a fistfight awhile back? He got road rage and kicked ass!

Wouldn't be surprised to learn he's a Trump supporter, but what do I care? I don't even live in this country.

r22 Given he's played a lot of right wing types over the years, I assumed he was a conservative but apparently he's a liberal, he just never talked about politics in interviews.

Gene Hackman is as liberal as they come. He was a big supporter of George McGovern.

De Niro got swindled by Larry Salander so he probably does need the money.

R14 DeNiro always sort of stinks, imo.

He's stinking since 1990s

DeNiro was good or great while working with Scorsese. Scorsese knew DeNiro, he was Scorsese's thuggish alter ego in a way. He did good work in Godfather Part 2 as well, but not AS good as his Scorsese work.

That shine that working with the perfect director put on DeNiro hasn't really transferred to his work with other people. He's good -- I don't think he "stinks" -- but people seem to assume he's Laurence Olivier because of his amazing earlier work, and as a result he's frequently woefully miscast.

Is it true Hackman was getting dementia and had trouble memorizing lines? Hence, retirement?

Nah that was Jack Nicholson. Hackman was just tired of being away from home for so long while filming. Basically placed himself into retirement.

Yeah, Hackman was just done with traveling. He's even said that the only way he'd ever do another role would be if they came to his house to film it and he didn't have to leave.

Interesting tidbit about Hackman. He was offered the role of Mike Brady in the Brady Bunch, but his agent convinced him to turn it down. Imagine Popeye Doyle as Mr. Brady?!?!?!?!

I hope he gave that agent a big bonus! That would have killed off his film career.

I liked his face. The face of a grown up, weatherbeaten, life breathing. adult man.

"Maybe didn't get that Pacino-DeNiro style hype cause he's less ethnic, more WASPY everyman."

Hackman didn't get hyped because compared to the others - all the others - he was a fat fug.

I always wanted to see him get his day with lifetime achievement awards, and was so happy for him when he did. Love, love, love Gene Hackman.

More of a traditional charcater player than a leading man or over the top "Actor". He has always made it look easy, but he's also rarely made the mistake of playing someone who was a bad fit. He did a lot of tv (guest star on filmed dramas), but "Brady Bunch" would have been a bit of a strech. He was better playing against planks of wood like Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.

Gene Hackman is rated appropriately. He's a great actor but really never had a movie that became a pop culture phenomenon (like Pacino or DeNiro).

I was shocked by R33! He looks much slimmer than I expected.

It's an image where, compared to how stocky he's always seened carrying a bit of a dad bod more or less through his later films, it seems at odds somehow?

It's either, he'sin great shape, fit and elder E-bike exercising regularly OR, because it jars expectations a little, he's elder guy wasting and a bit too emaciated?

Anyway, rocking the fitness at 88yo is not bad and inspiring enough too.

R38, when an elder gets "all slim" it usually means he's going out - old and dying, a bag of bones. I expect to read his obit within the next 18 months.

Gene Hackman is a great actor, who could even do comedy. That's pretty rare.

I wanted to add that my clip at R40 actually had some kindness and pathos. Something I never expected from Mel Brooks.

He looks fine and has been that thin for sometime.

Alexander Payne tried for years to get Hackman to star in Nebraska but to no avail.

Great actor. I just wish he would come out already.

5 nominations 2 wins.

that is a respectable run.

I love him. He's my favourite actor. Have also heard he's a nasty pain in the ass to work with.

He was great in The Royal Tenenbaums, it was shocking to hear about his bullying of the director Wes Anderson on set though. A few years ago at a screening of the film the cast was present talking about his behavior, Murray called him a cocksucker.

R46, that's rich. Murray is the biggest asshole on the planet this side of Sean Pean.

I always thought he was really sexy but I love a daddy.

R47 = Chevy Chase.

Maybe R43 knows something. Miss Kathy Griffin refers to him as "Miss Gene Hackman."

Honestly, I think Hackman is better than both Pacino and De Niro. Both Pacino and De Niro have been phoning it in for years (or in Pacino's case, shouts it into the phone).

He was incredibly versatile. He could do comedy (Superman, The Birdcage), drama (Mississippi Burning, The Conversation), action (Narrow Margin). I found him sexy even if he wasn't conventionally handsome.

He always gave 100%. In fact, I think his performance in French Connection II is SUPERIOR to the first one - and he won the Oscar for that. The withdrawal scenes are a masterclass in acting.

he was in every other movie in the 90s for awhile. He would always share top above the title billing with another actor but not be first, or at the right vs the left of the poster. He worked so much AND started doing commercial VOs -- I suspected he had gambling problems.

Bill Murray talking about bullying. Ha!

He played a good woman in The Birdcage with Robin Williams.

He's better than Pacino, IMO. He's well-respected.

Excellent actor, a simple and solid film icon.

Great thread, guys.

I'm off to Netflix.

I loved him in that terrible movie with that horrible actress who was fucking that over-rated director. You know, the one where everyone had an inexplicable accent?

I love it when DL generally loves someone, nearly universally, and even the detractors have well-thought-out responses for why they don't think the person is as great as everyone else does. The general love for Liz Phair surprised me a bit earlier this year. Hackman is considerably less surprising but still .

He is a force of nature in Poseidon Adventure. Really great performance.

R59, well said, and me too.

no kids?

I think he looks healthy for 88. I believe he's been doing some writing in the last few years. It's good to know that he's in good physical and mental shape.

Overrated! He got way too many rolls that should have gone to other actors. I never got Hollywood's attraction to him.

"Got way too many rolls?" At the craft service table?

He really is pretty great.

He has two Oscars. How can he be "underrated"?

62 - According to Wikipedia he has three children and has had two wives.

Love him. He has such a sexy voice. His Lowe's commercials gave me a tingle.

I love him too. I bet he has a ton of interesting stories. wasn't he roommates with someone famous ?

R70, Dustin Hoffman lived with both Hackman and Robert Duvall at different times.

I really liked what he did in Misunderstood. He and Henry Thomas worked well off each other. I looked up HT just now, he’s going to be 47 this year!

Fuck movies, somebody should come up with a TV drama that can be filmed mostly at his house.

I love Gene Hackman loved his performance in Crimson Tide. I have a lot of respect for him to retire instead signing up for absurd movies and giving ridiculous performances like Pacino and DeNiro.

Good point, R74. I wonder if part of why Hackman retired is because he got tired of all the crappy roles being offered for actors his age. His star rose in the 1970s, arguably one of the last great decades of film. Nowadays, all they have are comic book movies and space operas. However, Christopher Plummer is the same age and seems to get decent roles. Hmmm.

[quote]Gene Hackman is a great actor, who could even do comedy. That's pretty rare.

He was excellent and hilarious in Get Shorty.

Gene Hackman is the type of actor who gets roles created for him. He didn’t have a hard time finding appropriate work, he just didn’t want to go to New York and LA to film it.

I helped him have one of his bigger bombs.

Me too, though it was Mengers' fault, not mine.

R67, people always call someone they just found out about "underrated."

Trump supporter.

R43 What?

You’ve never heard the rumor that Gene Hackman is gay? I think Family Guy even did a bit on it.

I'm currently watching NARROW MARGIN, which is pretty good. He did a string of great thrillers in the 80s.

Night Moves, starring Gene and teenage Melanie Griffith’s titties, was fantastic.

NOT gay. Jesus you people are idiots.

did he have kids? he's married to an asian. That's only 1 step away from gay, according to DLers.

The only Tammy film I've ever liked was The Firm. As a kid, I had such a crush on Gene's character. Not Tom. Gene. Soon, I would realize I have a very definitive type...

He's incredible in MISSISSIPPI BURNING.

[QUOTE]did he have kids? he's married to an asian. That's only 1 step away from gay, according to DLers.

Yes he has three with his first wife, whom he married in 1956. They stayed together for 30 years. Then he married his second wife in 1991 and they’ve been together ever since.

So basically other than a five year stint between wives, Gene Hackman has been married to a woman since 1956.

R90, thanks for the info. I didn't know about his kids. I guess they didn't follow him into showbiz.

Ethan Hawke claims to have studied all of Denzel Washington's films before working on Training Day and he said that Washington blew everyone off the screen in all of his film, apart from one actor: Gene Hackman.

He definitely held his own in Crimson Tide.

"So basically other than a five year stint between wives"

You're so naive.

R87, R90, Hackman dumped his wife of thirty years for a younger woman, she happened to be Asian. That's oh so straight guy behavior.

I’m not sure I agree with R37.

The French Connection, The Poseidon Adventure, and Hoosiers all have a major pop culture reference.

Oh, yeah; and... I totally agree about Mississippi Burning bring his best performance

I actually much prefer Hackman over Pacino or DeNiro (both of whom tend to be too intense and overact for my taste). Hackman is a much more natural actor.

I've never seen him give a bad performance in BOTH comedy and drama.

^Either?

Under-rated!

SCARECROW

Underrated. One of the best living and best all time movie actors.

Before comic book movies became brooding, Hackman's Lex Luthor was the prototype for the perfect villain. Just the right combo of sinister, camp and hubris.

^ such a great summation of his Lex Luthor.

Ned Beatty and Valerie Perrine were quite funny in the first Superman movie as well.

Loved him in "No Way Out"