Who has the highest "Cuba number?"

[Bulldog]

I didn't read the whole thread, but of the guys discussed at the beginning:

Eddie Murphy - clearly no

10: Trading Places, Delirious
9: Shrek, Dreamgirls, BHC, 48 Hours, Coming to America, Raw
8: Shrek 2, Shrek 3
7: Mulan, Boomerang
6: Life, BHC 2, Another 48 Hours
5: Nutty Professor, Distinguished Gentleman
4: Daddy Day Care, Dr Doolittle
3: Haunted Mansion, I Spy, Metro, BHC 3
2: Dr Doolittle 2, Nutty Professor 2, Holy Man, Golden Child
1: Pluto Nash, Bowfinger, Harlem Nights
0: Vampire in Brooklyn, Best Defense

Cuba Gooding Jr. - a lot of stinkers but several good movies/performances: Boyz N The Hood, A Few Good Men, Losing Isaiah, Jerry Maguire

Ralph Macchio - winnar
Karate Kid = 10
Give him a few points for My Cousin Vinny
Everything else sucks royally

[Bulldog]

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Tim Robbins.

I think his role in Bull Durham was his best (give it a 9.5).

Shawshank was an easy 8

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There are a lot of stupid things in this thread (including me categorizing about a dozen Eddie Murphy movies I never saw, and apparently missing badly on Bowfinger and Golden Child), but Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne as only an 8 is colossally incorrect. If this isn't a ten, what is?

[coolhandkuhn]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Tim Robbins.

I think his role in Bull Durham was his best (give it a 9.5).

Shawshank was an easy 8

[/ QUOTE ]

There are a lot of stupid things in this thread (including me categorizing about a dozen Eddie Murphy movies I never saw, and apparently missing badly on Bowfinger and Golden Child), but Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne as only an 8 is colossally incorrect. If this isn't a ten, what is?

[/ QUOTE ]

While the movie may be a 10 (or relatively close), I don't think that necessarily means that Robbins acting was a 10 -- in fact, I think the 8 is generous, riding on the coattails of the overall quality of the movie. Obviously this is personal preference, but I like the acting to feel less forced, and I didn't think Robbins nailed his character the way others could have. IMO, Morgan Freeman was a 10 in this movie; Robbins was not.

[Dids]

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I figured The Usual Suspects out near the beginning

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No you didn't, and if you did, it was a lucky guess. If I'm wrong, I apologize.


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Go ahead and apologize.

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My mom, who while not a dumb lady, didn't get into no fancy pants school like DaveR here, did the same. It's not like it's terribly hard, especially if you're watching it knowing there's a "twist".

[MicroBob]

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Cuba Gooding Jr. - a lot of stinkers but several good movies/performances: Boyz N The Hood, A Few Good Men, Losing Isaiah, Jerry Maguire

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Does he also deserve recognition for Radio also?
I've only seen it in parts and wasn't really paying a lot of attention to his performance so I'm not sure.

[MicroBob]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Tim Robbins.

I think his role in Bull Durham was his best (give it a 9.5).

Shawshank was an easy 8

[/ QUOTE ]

There are a lot of stupid things in this thread (including me categorizing about a dozen Eddie Murphy movies I never saw, and apparently missing badly on Bowfinger and Golden Child), but Tim Robbins as Andy Dufresne as only an 8 is colossally incorrect. If this isn't a ten, what is?

[/ QUOTE ]

While the movie may be a 10 (or relatively close), I don't think that necessarily means that Robbins acting was a 10 -- in fact, I think the 8 is generous, riding on the coattails of the overall quality of the movie. Obviously this is personal preference, but I like the acting to feel less forced, and I didn't think Robbins nailed his character the way others could have. IMO, Morgan Freeman was a 10 in this movie; Robbins was not.

[/ QUOTE ]


That's an interesting perspective and I suspect you aren't the only one who feels that way.
Hadn't quite considered what that role/film would have been like with a different actor in that role such as a Tom Hanks or Kevin Spacey or whoever else.

My feeling the first couple times I saw it was that Robbins nailed it. Even moreso perhaps than Freeman nailed his role.
I think people may have been more affected by the times Freeman's voice was narrating over the video. But really I didn't think there was very much acting involved in that. It was pretty much his regular reading/speaking/narrating voice.

Seeing it now I can kind of see a bit more of the over-the-topness of Robbins performance. But I still think he added far more to the film than he detracted from it.

[DrewDevil]

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I think people may have been more affected by the times Freeman's voice was narrating over the video. But really I didn't think there was very much acting involved in that. It was pretty much his regular reading/speaking/narrating voice.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmmm, I disagree with that part. I think Freeman's acting brilliance really shone through in those voice-overs.

Red: [narrating] And that's how it came to pass that on the second-to-last day of the job, the convict crew that tarred the plate factory roof in the spring of forty-nine wound up sitting in a row at ten o'clock in the morning drinking icy cold, Bohemia-style beer, courtesy of the hardest screw that ever walked a turn at Shawshank State Prison.
Captain Hadley: Drink up while it's cold, ladies.
Red: [narrating] The colossal prick even managed to sound magnanimous. We sat and drank with the sun on our shoulders and felt like free men. Hell, we could have been tarring the roof of one of our own houses. We were the lords of all creation. As for Andy - he spent that break hunkered in the shade, a strange little smile on his face, watching us drink his beer.

Great words, to be sure, but Freeman really made them come alive with his voice.

[MicroBob]

The writing itself is awesome.

But to me it just sounded like Morgan Freeman reading some really good lines.
He has an awesome voice.

[kidcolin]

Freeman's acting is phenomenal in that movie. At no point in that movie does any word he say or any interaction with the guys seem forced or out of place. Whereas I can see how Robbins at times takes it a bit over the top. But it's not like he bombed the roll. An 8 is still good.

[Bubbagump]

I'm going to nominate Eric Roberts.

I think he peaked in 'Best of the Best'. Theare a handful of other good performances but the man has been in over 150 movies most of which are unwatchable. He has made so much garbage that no amount of good performances will salvage his rating at this point.