So your friends adore him and think he is a terrific actor.You have seen him in Leon and saw that in deed he can pull “psycho” off very well.You see him in a bunch of other movies and realize he is talented. But you also tend to” forget his face”. What I mean is, Gary in JFK looks nothing like the Gary in Murder in the First.Is he really in The Contender too? And you appreciate his acting more. His voice differs,his expressions change.Why am I talking about him like I have never seen any other actor do it? Well,frankly I have never seen an actor to transform so utterly without the help of the renowned make-up artist Rick Baker! Wanna challenge me on that? Cool. Let’s take Robert De Niro. He is an amazing actor. But I don’t think I’m the only one who finds his roles a little too familiar? How many times have we seen him as the ex- macho/horribly dangerous who will destroy you in a second guy ending up in a funny situation? (Meet the Parents, Meet the Fockers, Analyze This, Analyze That, Showtime…) or the mobster? Yes, I respect him. I have seen Cape Fear and all that. But he tends to repeat himself. All actors do at some point, I guess. Frankly,recently he has only pleasantly surprised me was in Stardust. I have seen so many of his movies,spread out in over 4 decades but I hadn’t seen the facial expressions and physical comedy he performs in Stardust. Totally different role,totally different guy. Kudos to De Niro.

Let’s get back to Oldman though.He is barely recognizable- all the time!

Actors get into a variety of styles. Brad Pitt plays in Fight Club and Meet Joe Black. Have you seen him in Legends of the Fall? But it is so obviously Brad Pitt. Di Caprio can play the pretty Romeo and then a CIA agent under cover in Middle East, perfectly mixed with the locals. His accents change, not his voice. His clothes change, not exactly his mannerisms. And this is not exactly a bad thing…I am just stating an observation.

Al Pacino was unrecognizable in what movie exactly?Maybe I should post pictures of him in particular roles for the sake of visualization. Think Scarface. Think the Godfather. Think Frankie and Johnny. Think The Devil’s advocate. He is terrific but he is obviously Al.