Lebouf's arrest
I respect Shia Lebouf's on-screen energy, but I haven't been a huge fan. There was no choice but to feel badly about his Transformers performance, and with his casting in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull he became known as Steven Spielberg's little protege. He has seemed too young, too obsequious, too eager to please his elders. All is forgiven, however, in the wake of his Chicago Walgreens bust a day and a half ago.
It's obviously not a good or admirable thing to get drunk and then arrested, but Lebouf has at least removed the goody two-shoes stamp from his persona. Break open the bubbly -- he's gotten in touch with his inner Marlon Brando. He's proved to the world he can be a rude lout who insults Walgreen security guards if he's pissed off enough. He has come to not only understand but embody Tom Petty's "I Won't Back Down" when some guy with a badge says, "I'm sorry, sir, but you're going to have to leave the premises."
All hail the flawed, vulnerable regular guy he's now become. No longer that smiling, well-behaved kid and no longer a beaming Spielberg puppet holding the space helmet on the cover of Vanity Fair. An hombre, a descendant of Neal Cassady...a guy you want on your side in a bar fight.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on November 5, 2007 at 3:47 PM
comment #1
PerfectTommy
says ...
Wow! He stood up to Walmart Security! Awesome! I'm really looking forward to his next film because of this! (When is the next Linsay Lohan film? She doesn't cow tow to Johnny Law either!) To be kind and respectful of others is so square!
Posted by PerfectTommy
at November 5, 2007 4:38 PM
comment #2
christian
says ...
You can act like a man!
Posted by christian
at November 5, 2007 4:38 PM
comment #3
PerfectTommy
says ...
Oh, Walgreen security, not Walmart. That's not nearly as cool.
Posted by PerfectTommy
at November 5, 2007 4:39 PM
comment #4
AJW
says ...
Thin line between a respectable anti-authority attitude and arrogant, bitchy, "Don't you know who I am?" celebrity idiocy.
Posted by AJW
at November 5, 2007 5:05 PM
comment #5
rocco
says ...
This corageous act of civil disobediance ranks right up there with anything Brando or Heston ever did.
Maybe Letterman will have him on soon so he can hop the desk and flash the audience...that really ought to get Wells behind him...watch out Oscar Ballon, here comes Shai Lebouf!!
Posted by rocco
at November 5, 2007 5:22 PM
comment #6
dre
says ...
not sure if he went with the "don't you know who i am"? card. maybe he was just drunk and acting insane. that's way better.
Posted by dre
at November 5, 2007 5:23 PM
comment #7
Andrew
says ...
The security guard says he was very polite. And please, getting busted at a Walgreens? A gangsta he's not.
Posted by Andrew
at November 5, 2007 5:29 PM
comment #8
jeffmcm
says ...
Wells really hates Spielberg.
Posted by jeffmcm
at November 5, 2007 5:36 PM
comment #9
JohnCope
says ...
Yeah, God forbid he actually turn out to be a polite, superficially decent kid. Ah well, I guess one man's "polite" is another's "obsequious".
Surely Wells is just trying to provoke by championing this tiresome "sophistication" as affected attitude, right? Otherwise one has to assume he longs for a return to the halcyon period of vintage 1993 Stephen Dorff.
Posted by JohnCope
at November 5, 2007 5:52 PM
comment #10
PastePotPete
says ...
Lebouf had a squeaky clean image? I recall reading about him intentionaly ramming a car blocking his way in the garage of his apartment building just a couple of years ago. The kid's a spoiled Hollywood brat, just like the rest.
Posted by PastePotPete
at November 5, 2007 6:03 PM
comment #11
Movie fan09
says ...
he also picked a fight with conan on his first appearance.
Posted by Movie fan09
at November 5, 2007 6:20 PM
comment #12
a1
says ...
Can anyone tell me why all this attention and hype is being spent on a guy who looks like the second coming of Screech from "Saved By The Bell"?
Posted by a1
at November 5, 2007 6:22 PM
comment #13
lazarus
says ...
Arrest record and mug shot or no, a guy with the name "Shia LaBoeuf" is never going to be regarded as tough or anti-establishment by anyone, at least in this country. You don't have to be a red stater to see that name and at least subconsciously read it as some gay French porn star's name. I still say he doesn't become a household name anywhere other than Pigalle.
While I'm certainly not supportive of ridiculously created stage names like Vin Diesel (or Tom Cruise, for that matter), would it have killed the guy to be more of a realist? Hell, don't even change both of them. Shia LaBond. Shawn LaBoeuf. The manager who's finding him all these great roles would really have earned his paycheck had he worked a little harder and prevented the kid from going too far out of his way to honor the family name.
Posted by lazarus
at November 5, 2007 6:50 PM
comment #14
Ogami Itto
says ...
I like the pic of Lebouf at TMZ.com better.
Posted by Ogami Itto
at November 5, 2007 7:21 PM
comment #15
BurmaShave
says ...
"Maybe this guy will never work in this town again"
Posted by BurmaShave
at November 5, 2007 7:42 PM
comment #16
Adonis
says ...
Yeah, good to know that a punk kid "channels Brando" when he's out in public at 2:30am...
What the fukc Jeffrey? Next you're going to tell us you asked Spielberg's publicist for a freezeframe of LaBoeuf in his boxers.
Posted by Adonis
at November 5, 2007 9:00 PM
comment #17
corey3rd
says ...
you'd figure the Walgreens manager would threaten him with an in store signing of their Transformers DVDs. Or make him pose for pics with all the employees.
it's not like he's the second coming of Andy Dick.
Posted by corey3rd
at November 5, 2007 9:02 PM
comment #18
D.Z.
says ...
Anyway, in stories of people with real struggles, it looks like George showed his support for the WGA.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/international/news/e3ife647aa3f0984861395536a2fc2d35d2
Posted by D.Z.
at November 5, 2007 9:02 PM
comment #19
Ogami Itto
says ...
Thank you for putting this incident into a larger context, D.Z. Now go watch some of your anime porn.
Posted by Ogami Itto
at November 5, 2007 9:16 PM
comment #20
D.Z.
says ...
Ogami: That's funny, considering you name yourself after a character from a manga with porn.
Posted by D.Z.
at November 5, 2007 9:31 PM
comment #21
Craptastic
says ...
He doesn't look drunk.... he looks completely high. Look at his eyes and that goofy "sorta-there" look on his face
Posted by Craptastic
at November 5, 2007 11:30 PM
comment #22
DavidF
says ...
Okay - we can all agree it's a hard name to spell.
But, c'mon Wells - this is like your 50th article about him and spelling someone's name right is a pretty basic thing in journalism!
You weren't even close.
LaBeouf LaBeouf LaBeouf LaBeouf LaBeouf LaBeouf LaBeouf LaBeouf
LaBeouf LaBeouf LaBeouf LaBeouf LaBeouf LaBeouf LaBeouf LaBeouf LaBeouf LaBeouf LaBeouf LaBeouf LaBeouf LaBeouf LaBeouf LaBeouf
Posted by DavidF
at November 6, 2007 6:19 AM
comment #23
nola
says ...
Once I heard he is/was dating Rihanna I had to rethink my earlier position on Shia.
I don't think kids who grew up with him on Even Stevens care about his name.
Posted by nola
at November 6, 2007 7:47 AM
comment #24
Wiggumx
says ...
Everyone seems to have a problem remembering the order of the vowels when typing his name. His last name is all the vowels, in alphabetical order, minus the "I"
A E O U
l A b E O U f
Or you could use a mnemonic device:
Alcohol Energizes Obnoxious Ugliness
Posted by Wiggumx
at November 6, 2007 12:19 PM
comment #25
Michael
says ...
What a coincidence, nola...because when I heard Shia is/was dating Rihanna, I had to rethink my earlier position on Rihanna.
If he was so polite, why didn't he just leave the goddamn store? Like most of young Hollywood, he just needs his ass kicked once or twice and he'll be fine.
Posted by Michael
at November 6, 2007 1:41 PM