comment #1

cinefan says ...

Looking back to 2002, I don't think that starring in Down with Love or Big Fish were mistakes on Mcgregor's part. Down with Love was a minor effort but a pleasant, enjoyable throwback to those films that starred Rock Hudson and Doris Day. I also agree that Big Fish was not one of Burton's best but I'm sure any actor would welcome the chance and experience of working with Burton.

comment #2

George Prager says ...

And this nerdy guy with glasses character never works, never rings true, except in BAD INFLUENCE, although JAmes Spader didn't wear glasses.

comment #3

storymark says ...

I'd say Down with Love and Big Fish were both at least interesting experiments, regardless of their lack of success (though I rather like Big Fish). The Island you could justify as a shot at developing some tentpole movie cred outside of Star Wars. The others.... no excuse, really.

comment #4

MiraJeffAICN says ...

It's tough to argue with your assessment Jeff but I thought Big Fish was good and McGregor has a couple promising movies in the pipeline including I Love You Philip Morris, Number 13 and I, Lucifer.

If you really wanna talk about a former great whose career has run off the rails, let's talk about Uma Thurman. She was great in Pulp Fiction and both Kill Bills but what's she done since then. The Rock was the only cool thing about Be Cool. Prime would've been a prime candidate for straight-to-DVD if not for Meryl Streep. The Producers movie didn't have the magic of the stage show. My Super Ex-Girlfriend was absolutely atrocious. I get about an email a day begging me to go see The Life Before Her Eyes (formerly In Bloom) which I hear is terrible. And she has The Accidental Husband coming out, a project I feel has been around forever, aka at least 2 years. And she's filming Eloise in Paris now, which despite being co-written by the gorgeous Hallie Meyers-Shyer, will probably not be a very big hit, at least domestically. What has this beautiful actress' career come to. She needs to hook back up with Tarantino or make a sequel to the underrated thriller Jennifer 8. She could be living with Andy Garcia now and a copycat comes back to stalk them, giving them 88 Minutes to live or some shit like that.

comment #5

DotTheEyes says ...

Marc Forster's Stay is so incredibly underrated. Saw it opening day (in a near-empty theatre) and found it to be an engaging, fascinating experience with fine acting and unforgettable visuals. I've since watched it many times on DVD and television and always enjoy myself. No idea why it's regarded as such a travesty.

In fact, I enjoyed most of the films you labeled letdowns when scanning Ewan's filmography. The Island is by far Michael Bay's most watchable action film. Miss Potter was a charming, if understated, romantic drama. Down with Love was a cute homage to the sex comedies of the '60s. And Big Fish and Young Adam were just plain great films - the latter has a fantastic ending. In fact, in my opinion, the Star Wars prequels are his worst recent films. At least the ones I enjoyed the least and rewatch the least.

So though much of his recent output has unfortunately failed to connect with critics and/or paying customers, I still have the utmost respect for him and anticipate his upcoming projects (I plan to buy a ticket for Deception come April 25th).

comment #6

BurmaShave says ...

They should have let McGregor play old Edward in BIG FISH, with makeup. As good as Albert Finney was, I didn't buy the continuity of the character. Despite how much young Albert Finney resembles McGregor.

He's a hero to myself and all my high school and college friends for his role as Renton, and he's beloved to a whole generation of girls as Christian in MOULIN. He's still fairly young. I've got to imagine he'll be really great in his later period, as British actors with matinee idol looks invariably are. Still, he could have been Michael Caine.

comment #7

actionman says ...

DotTheEyes: I definitley agree with you in that the visual style of Marc Forster's STAY is unforgettable. The way he transitioned from scene to scene was incredible and very trippy. I thought the plot was a little too muddled but I did enjoy it and have always wondered why everyone took a shit on it the way they did.

Is Fox dumping Deception on 700 screens like they dumped Stay on its opening weekend?

comment #8

DotTheEyes says ...

Also, for what it's worth, he also co-starred in a motorcycle travel show with Charley Boorman (son of Deliverance director John), "Long Way Round," which was always entertaining and at times rather beautiful.

comment #9

BurmaShave says ...

"She could be living with Andy Garcia now and a copycat comes back to stalk them, giving them 88 Minutes to live or some shit like that."

I'm going to be giving him the benefit of the doubt that he's joking, but it's nice to know Jeff Sneider is carrying on the torch of Buck Henry in the beginning of THE PLAYER.

comment #10

lindenen says ...

IMO he's an awful leading man. He'd be better with character actor roles. I've never found him attractive at all.

comment #11

Richardson says ...

If you ignore the fact that 'Velvet Goldmine', 'A Life Less Ordinary', 'Eye of the Beholder', and 'Nightwatch' were all complete shit before Lucas ever touched him, and that 'Moulin Rouge' and 'Black Hawk Down' both came after the first 'Star Wars' prequel, and the fact that 'Down With Love' and 'Big Fish' were pretty fun, and that 'The Island' was better than it had any right to largely because he was good in it, then your argument about the decline of his career makes some bit of sense.

comment #12

calum666 says ...

I have to agree with the comment by Richardson, he's been doing very patchy work throughout his career (although he is often good in them). I don't think his career is in decline because you know (Like Trainspotting, Young Adam, THE EXTREMELY WELL REVIEWED BIG FISH, Moulin Rouge). He'll always be doing good performances.

Anyway if I remember correctly Snakes on a Plain wasn't critic screened, it ended up getting well reviewed.

comment #13

Mgmax says ...

I think when MacGregor was cast as Obi-Wan (completely wrongly, physically, unless Guinness was digitally replaced with Kenneth More or Jack Hawkins) I said-- maybe wherever Jeffrey Wells was at the time-- "He's going to enter this series as Mick Jagger and exit it as Malcolm McDowell."

Which is pretty much the case, though I don't think the choices were as cynical as Jeff suggests. I think they just didn't click, mostly.

comment #14

roquentin says ...

I can't remember where I read it, but didn't he even say something along these lines? That the Stars Wars films had driven him into a hole and he was starting to drink whenever he was on location?

He's definitely lost his credibility or something...I can't remember the last time he's being in a film made me desire seeing it. But he's also talented enough that he's got a renaissance in him. Hopefully he'll find it.

comment #15

Jay T. says ...

Big Fish was not a problem film... just because you didn't like it doesn't mean a bunch of other people feel the same way.

comment #16

Mark says ...

so basically he's a less funny and more Scottish Owen Wilson, who also peaked in his breakthrough movie while doing wheelies on that little that motor scooter in Bottle Rockets.

comment #17

breadlymoore says ...

"No idea why it's regarded as such a travesty."

Because it's a muddled film with another ugly, overly processed performance from Ryan Gosling.

comment #18

MiraJeffAICN says ...

Yes, I was kidding Burma, but way to do your homework and drop my name there. Why don't you enlighten us with your real identity so we can know who to forward all the hate mail to. But seriously, Jennifer 8 was a nifty little thriller and a sequel (where she shows her boobs again, natch!) would be 1-10 million times more welcome than the wretched shit her agent has been signing her up for. Uma used to define cool and now she's like an afterthought. She just signed up for another movie, Motherhood, starring Minnie Driver and Anthony Edwards. It sounds like it might've been good... ten years ago. I just want her to get back on track because she used to kick so much ass and now she turns up in lame-duck projects.

comment #19

MiraJeffAICN says ...

And in spite of some cool-looking transitions, Stay was a friggin' mess. Breadlymoore hits the nail on the head by describing it as 'muddled.'

comment #20

D.Z. says ...

McGregor wasn't really that memorable in the first place; so he's actually fairly lucky he's getting any work at all. I also would like to add that Trainspotting was seriously overrated, and that mumbling your dialogue in Welsh does not make your performance "real".

MiraJeff: Uma was never really great, unless you consider loud-mouth primadonnas to be the bee's knees.

comment #21

bmcintire says ...

I thought he was pretty good in VELVET GOLDMINE (which I enjoy now more than I did on its release), but my favorite performance of his is still in SHALLOW GRAVE. I think MOULIN ROUGE did more long-term damage, trying to sell him as a handsome leading man rather than as a quirky leading man. Now, he seems positively neutered.

comment #22

Griff says ...

Kind of in the middle on this one. Agree that some of his film choices have been lame (The Island), but generally, he's been good in them ("Miss Potter," for instance). And the man has range: he was completely believable in a completely bugfuck film like Down with Love.

Let us remember the words of, I think, Peter Cushing, who said, "American actors want to be in a good film. English actors want to be good in a film." I think for the most part, McGregor manages that.

comment #23

MiraJeffAICN says ...

Shallow Grave kicks major ass.

comment #24

BurmaShave says ...

For the amount I fuck with you you must think I'm Uwe, but haha I actually said that lightheartedly.

comment #25

Craptastic says ...

Count me in as well as a Big Fish fan...

comment #26

nemo says ...

"... mumbling your dialogue in Welsh does not make your performance "real"."

Are you aware that McGregor is Scottish, that Trainspotting is set in Scotland, and that all the major characters are Scottish?

Another fan of Big Fish here.

Also, Down With Love was not bad. It was a entertaining way to help meet the yearly chick-flick quota for the wife.

comment #27

MPNeeb says ...

There are lots of great actors that do tons of crap for years on end.
Ewan is no different. In 50 years, we'll reminisce about the dozen or so great films he did. After he's done another 50 movies.

comment #28

Arran says ...

Trainspotting was written, of course, by Irvine Welsh. Maybe by "mumbling in Welsh", DZ was referring to the author's unique dialogue.

Probably not, though.

comment #29

D.Z. says ...

Ok, Gaelic. Whatever. It still came off awful.

comment #30

Hallick says ...

Actually, from what I've read, Scenes of a Sexual Nature is supposed to be a nice little british sleeper that just didn't have much of a hook to be make much of a splash in theaters.

I'd also add MacGregor's guest appearance on ER back in the day as part of his golden period (gee that sounds like a nasty fetish site). But then, how much did he ever really have going for him as a long term actor? Spiritually, he's been supplanted by James McAvoy anyway, hasn't he? I can picture Ewen doing EXACTLY the same parts in Wanted and The Last King of Scotland or Narnia. Maybe he got his chi stolen by this guy.

comment #31

erniesouchak says ...

"Big Fish" is a bloated, tedious, maudlin exercise, but that's a Tim Burton problem, not a Ewan McGregor problem.

comment #32

moorish says ...

How is Big Fish a "problem movie"? It's a sweet flick that is a touch too sentimental in places but it's at least 3 stars out of 5 good. Cheg on, Wells.

comment #33

moorish says ...

How is Big Fish a "problem movie"? It's a sweet flick that is a touch too sentimental in places but it's at least 3 stars out of 5 good. Cheg on, Wells.

comment #34

houmas says ...

Jeff; If it means anything, Mcgregor was recently quoted (google it) as saying that he's become inspired by Daniel Day-Lewis to reassses his career. Mcgregor has enough self-awareness to know he's trapped in a cycle of mediocrity, so he claims he wants to be more choosy and meaningful in his roles like DDL in There Will Be Blood.

I'll believe it when I see it, but it Mcgregor holds true to his promise to be more selective in future and more dedicated to his craft, he may yet regain some of that Trainspotting aura.

comment #35

BurmaShave says ...

When's everybody (Boyle, McGregor, Carylye) going to bite the bullet and make PORNO? I'm always wary of sequels to classics, but I'd love if it they did it sooner rather than later, before it becomes a TWO JAKES/TEXASVILLE stretch.

And yes D.Z., TRAINSPOTTING is a classic.

comment #36

calum666 says ...

Who else thinks Ewan McGregor is becoming the next Michael Caine (career wise).

First part of his career - well reviewed/recieved movies.
Then became a matinee star - did schlock like The Hive or Jaws 3
Then got his stride back and did proper movies (Hannah and her Sisters).

I think if we give E.McGregor time he'll do more quality roles, as he ages slightly

comment #37

btwnproductions says ...

Jude Law IS the new Michael Caine, or wants to be, given (bad) remakes of ALFIE and SLEUTH. And his career is in even shape than McGregor's.

McGregor has been on the West End of late, in a well-received GUYS AND DOLLS and as Iago in a standing-room-only OTHELLO, opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor. Broadway transfers have been mooted. A few months on the stage here might do him so good.

comment #38

Mgmax says ...

"and as Iago in a standing-room-only OTHELLO, opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor"

I'm sorry, I'd have cast a black Desdemona and had Eliofor as Iago and MacGregor as Othello. Size aside, perhaps, that seems to play much more to their strengths.

Mike
who thinks Eliofor's soothing-voiced Nurse Ratched-in-Space in Serenity is about the baddest bad guy of the last decade

comment #39

Dave Polands Gut says ...

You never, ever write off guys with talent like McGregor.

comment #40

erikwithak says ...

his Iago opposite Ejiofor was one of the best things I have ever seen on a stage. he'll get his groove back.

comment #41

corey3rd says ...

Big Fish was Tim Burton's way of saying, "I really wasn't cheating with Helena Bonham Carter while I was shacked up with Lisa Marie." Are we really supposed to believe that Ewan wasn't banging Helena during his long visits to her town? "Accept the denial" was the theme of the movie

comment #42

DavidF says ...

My thoughts:
-he was awesome in Shallow Grave and nearly as great in Trainspotting.
-Down with Love is no classic but it's a surprisingly fun movie and he's good in it
-Big Fish was a bit of Burton stretching for an Oscar but it's a lovely movie. I'm not sure I agree with corey3rd's interpration but chacun son gout
-I also thought MacGregor was a perfect choice for young Obi Wan. They should have picked a lesser actor who looked more like Guiness? I have little problem believing that his character became Guiness's
-He'll do something kick-ass son/

comment #43

jesse says ...

I agree that McGregor's credits far outnumber his debits, and that Jeff isn't giving him enough credit for his post-2000 output. He's fine in the three Star Wars movies -- he seems to really be having fun, especially in Episode II. Moulin Rouge and Big Fish are both wonderful, and his performance in Down with Love is charming as hell. He does seem to have a weakness for shlocky (if ambitious on some level) thrillers: Eye of the Beholder, Stay, Nightwatch, The Island, and that new one that looks cheesy... apart from The Island, these don't even seem like particularly big paydays, so I'm not sure what his deal is. But there isn't a lot on his resume, even with all the crap, that screams "Hollywood cash grab." (His costar in Deception, on the other hand, had an equal if not more substantial Hollywood-crap run until the Prestige/Fountain double feature in '06.)

It seems like most of the best and brightest young guys from the UK eventually falter over here, though. Jude Law's performances in Talented Mr. Ripley, AI, and Road to Perdition are all brilliant -- I was convinced he was one of the finest of his generation -- but it's been awhile since he's done anything of that caliber.

I don't see as much promise in James McAvoy, but it's odd to see him cast in movies like Penelope that smooth over his accent and make him play as bland as possible. Same thing seems to be happening to Jim Sturgess. For some reason, none of these guys (McGregor, Law, McAvoy, Sturgess) have hooked up with the best-and-brightest directors in at least a few years.

comment #44

robbiefantastic says ...

i'll always give him a chance just because of shallow grave......that movie kicked my ass.....

comment #45

D.Z. says ...

Burma: It's a classic waste of time.

comment #46

foxnewsisfake says ...

I'm not a fan of Big Fish but I thought Ewan McGregor's performance was very good.

comment #47

lawrence20086 says ...

This guy has posted his personal ad to a celebrities dating site called Wealthy Kiss.c o m for several months. I just visited his profile page yesterday. It seems he has logged in recently. OMG, is he looking for a new relationship?

comment #48

Les_Sucettes says ...

I actually think "Young Adam" is a brilliant movie, one of his best and one of my personal favorites.

But i agree with most that has been said, when he's good he's excellent, but when he's bad he's downright awful. His movie choices are very inconsistent.