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Matthew Freeman is a Brooklyn based playwright with a BFA from Emerson College. His plays include THE DEATH OF KING ARTHUR, REASONS FOR MOVING, THE GREAT ESCAPE, THE AMERICANS, THE WHITE SWALLOW, AN INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHOR, THE MOST WONDERFUL LOVE, WHEN IS A CLOCK, GLEE CLUB, THAT OLD SOFT SHOE and BRANDYWINE DISTILLERY FIRE. He served as Assistant Producer and Senior Writer for the live webcast from Times Square on New Year's Eve 2010-2012. As a freelance writer, he has contributed to Gamespy, Premiere, Complex Magazine, Maxim Online, and MTV Magazine. His plays have been published by Playscripts, Inc., New York Theatre Experience, and Samuel French.

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Jeff Bridges

Is it just me, or is Jeff Bridges ENTIRELY underrated?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, absolutely, and I've been saying it for years. He just holds films together through quiet, understated presence and will.

He is willing to sit back and be the rhythm section so that everyone around him can trade off some hot solos -- but he's the one holding the whole thing together.

Zack Calhoon said...

He is an extremely underrated actor. I loved him "The Contender" and "The Big Lebowski".

Philucifer said...

I'm with you on that (all of you) and have to say that he's one of my inspirations as an actor. Just a total rock. I go back to his movies time and time again to just get the right feel. And he gave a tremendous performance in one of my favorite (and again, underrated) movies -- The Fisher King.

parabasis said...

BEst actor of his generation, hands down.

Undeniable proof: double feature of Fisher King and Lebowski. Very few people have the depth and range to do both of those parts and make them look easy

Tara Dairman said...

The Dude. Enough said.

Freeman said...

Glad to see there's so many who agree. I know my friend Dave has been a fan of his for years. I think what really made me realize just how good he is was FEARLESS. Then of course is FISHER KING. Beyond that, though, there's obviously THE BIG LEBOWSKI (which is effortless good) and THE DOOR IN THE FLOOR.

What got me thinking about it, honestly, is that i just watched TIDELAND. He spends about 80% of the movie {SPOILER ALERT} dead.

Jamespeak said...

Yeah, he's pretty amazing.

Anonymous said...

I don't know if it is touching, or a little creepy that I went to the comments section to post about how great Bridges in and that his best performance is that of the aggressively free-from-the-fear-of-death character in Fearless.... And then I saw that Matt Freeman had already posted that on my behalf.

Well, my point already being made by the blog's owner, I will use the rest of this post to remind all those reading this within the reach of Brooklyn to come see Interview With the Author either tonight or tomorrow night.

PS- I also loved Bridges in The Contender, as the outgoing, lame-duck President. Playing high status is deceptively difficult, I would say especially in modern work and perhaps particularly difficult for American actors, and you just believe him as this guy that has had the eyes of the world on him for years and years. He just carries is gracefully and you can feel how glad he is to be on the way out. A really great, underrated role.

Anonymous said...

I think he has a rare quality of what I think of as generosity in his work and maybe that's why he's underrated. The roles he's chosen have had their share of showiness, like The Dude, but I just never get a feeling from him that he's elbowing the rest of the cast out of the way. I also find Johnny Depp appealing for the same reasons -- even in his most over-the-top roles (Ed Wood comes to mind), there's something about Depp that makes him feel like a seamless part of the world of the film.

Okay, now I want Jeff Bridges and Johnny Depp to do a movie together. Somebody write something brilliant for them, quick!

Kerry Reid