I don't know, Keaton had some modest hits before Burton. Mr. Mom, Johnny Dangerously, Night Shift. Not a huge star, but a working actor that starred in some modest hits.
Exactly, and this is what he went back to right after BR.
He fell off the face of the earth after Batman Returns, only to resurface in two movies based on Elmore Leonard novels. I mean, he used to star in movies, even if they weren't great.
Not true. Right after BR, he was in a Shakspearian flick;
Much Ado About Nothing, with an inspired turn as Dogberry the "public constable." He gave an Oscar-worthy performance in
My Life with Nicole Kidman. He gave a side-splitting performance in the Ron Howard-directed
The Paper, and let's not forget the amazing
Multiplicity, which was a fairly successful film.
He never made the same kind of money as on the Batman flicks.... but that's not important. He remained in-demand and a minor-league box-office draw. Every one of his performances are gripping and believeable. The reason he is my idol as an actor is because he givs 110% to these roles and makes them believeable. Even the less-than-stellar films of his (which some of them... I disagree, I think they're marvelous) are worth it to see his work. Whatever the role is doesn't matter. Mike cares about giving audiences real work. That is why his field is so diverse, and that's why he's not a billionaire, stalked by the tabloids; because he doesn't pick what will be huge, he picks what shows off his abilities, and the biggest hits aren't always the most inspired films, anyway.
In truth, his best performances have been in his two most recent films:
Game 6 and
The Last Time, which are both Oscar-worthy. Ebert even said so of Keaton's performance in "6". The fact that he was ignored was a crime. As good as Keaton is, I keep getting amazed, he's even better with each new film. And those films are proof-positive that the only films left with real heart are independant flicks.
When's the last time besides White Noise have you heard anyone saying they wanted to go see the new Michael Keaton movie
Nobody was even saying it for
White Noise.
My group of friends and I are Michael Keaton enthusiasts, however. We're the ones always waiting for his next projects.
My introduction to Keaton was the Batman films, and though I've always liked him, I only became a big fan of his within the last few years. And it's funny. Discovering his other work now, I'm not a Keaton-as-Batman loyalist because I grew up with him, now, but because I'm more amazed by his ability to go from the comedies he did before Batman and into Batman and deliver a solid, accurate and respectful performance (which I will go so far as to call definitive). I don't identify him as Batman anymore automatically. I identify him for his body of work as a whole. Subconsciously, to me, he's a comedian. So I am continually re-amazed when I realize the power of his turn as Batman.
Through all of his interviews, all of his films and every scrap of news about him, the respect he gave to the role of Batman will go down as, I think, one of the most defining things about him. He's not even a fan. He doesn't read the comics, doesn't know much about the character other than his work on it and the few books he read as research, and for him to treat the chracter as respectfully as we (as fans) would want of any actor? Michael Keaton is the man, or truthfully; Both Michael Keaton and Bruce Campbell are my idols and my definitions of "the man." Compared to them, Chuck Norris is garbage.
