Michael Keaton. Star of Beetlejuice, Tim Burton's Batman, Batman Returns, Pacific Heights, Desperate Measures, Porco Rosso (english version), and Mr. Mom. Had supporting roles in Jackie Brown, Out of Sight, and just recently Toy Story 3 and The Other Guys. The first true, and in my opinion best, Batman. He is a charming, likable, and very effective actor. With all of that in mind, I have only one question: why the hell is he on my underrated list?
Seriously, Keaton is just one of those actors who was big a long time ago but only seems to be getting very small roles these days. It's a shame because he's mentioned all the time by every reviewer I keep up with, people who wish he'd come back to really good acting. At some points I think maybe he and actors like him are taking smaller roles because their hearts not fully into it anymore, or maybe they've gotten older and just don't want really big roles. I don't think that's quite true about Keaton though, in 2009 he made what was as close to a true starring role as he could in The Merry Gentleman. That was a pretty good movie, and he was terrific in it. The Merry Gentleman was also his directorial debut, proving not only is Keaton still a great actor he is a great director too.
Perhaps The Merry Gentleman was a project he just wanted to do for a long time. I think I heard in a movie once that everybody interested in film wants to be a director at some point, so maybe it was something like that. Still a good movie though. Something I thought was funny was that Keaton was actually cast in the role of Jack on Lost before the show aired because back then Jack was supposed to have died in the first episode. But once Jack became a main character Keaton dropped out. Understandable, but still Keaton on Lost would have been awesome (Lost was a show full of great actors who aren't given enough credit and were allowed to really shine). I mean Lost certainly would have been a step up from White Noise and First Daughter.
Looking back at his roles, whether it was the totally insane Beetlejuice, the deranged mastermind in Desperate Measures, the zany cop in Jackie Brown, or of course the menacing and somber role of Batman, it just seems kinda sad. I don't know. Maybe Michael Keaton will make a big acting come back someday like Robert Downey, Jr. or Mickey Rourke. Either way it's still good to see him whenever he's in a movie. I'm actually really liking the voice acting he does these days as the shifty doll Ken in Toy Story 3, the cocky Chick Hicks in Cars, or of course as the soft spoken cursed pilot in Hayao Myazaki's Porco Rosso. While Michael Keaton may or may not be held in high regard in Hollywood, he is rated very high by us lovers of film.
This has been an issue of The Underrated from Your Modest Guru. Thanks for reading.
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