Is it me, or does Christain Bale have no acting Range?

[LostSon88]

He's got range, not that the script for Batman Begins gave him room to really craft any depth for the character with its "Batman for dummies" approach.

He's not as good as Michael Keaton, but then, who is? And my opinions of Michael Keaton and Christian Bale are independant of the two being Batmen. I just so happen to also think Keaton's the superior Batman, not that Bale can't be just as good, mind you, but you'd have to get a new director and new writer.

And if anybody tries to say my opinion is wrong, they really must stop talking. It's bad for the human race.

Your opinion is wrong.

 

[Dr. Fate]

You know a guy who has no acting range? Brandon Routh.

 

[LostSon88]

I don't blame Routh, Singer made him play Superman like a stiff.

His Clark Kent was pretty good, albiet as a Reeve impersonation.

 

[AidanJames]

... it's just you.

 

[Elisha Cuthbert]

But the question is... was he any GOOD as Jesus?

It's not enough to play diverse roles... you have to be good at them.

Well, I haven't seen the movie, but I can tell you he was believable. ...

 

[DocLathropBrown]

Is Michael Keaton still around? I'm asking sincerely. I can't remember the last time I've seen him in a movie.

He's doing independant movies now. He was "Chick Hicks" in Cars and had the lead in 2005's "White Noise". He was the only thing watchable in THAT one.

"Herbie Fully Loaded" and "First Daughter" round out his biggest Hollywood roles recently. His best performances are in the independant films, now. Roger Ebert said that his performance in last year's "Game 6" was Oscar-worthy.

 

[DocLathropBrown]

Well, I haven't seen the movie, but I can tell you he was believable. ...

I haven't seen it either, I can't comment.

 

[Trooper]

man who ever thinks christian bale is not a good actor is a frigin dumbass, hes 1 of the greatest actors around, sure he plays alot of troubled characters but this is what makes him such a great actor, the ability to add such depth.. might i add hes also a method actor. in my opinion hes among the greatest actors ever..such as robert deniro, al pacino, edward norton and tom hanks!

this is from my myspace (http://myspace.com/adogsoldier)

 

[Juanigi]

pffft, they obviously always play the same roles as each other.

 

[Trooper]

oh and he was as good when he portrayed jesus, he approached the role with the needed charasmatic charm and was very humble, it was the first 'jesus' movie i ever watched in my life, so as a catholic..i believe in christian bale

 

[Abaddon]

I want to be original, like everybody else, so I'm gonna say "it's just you".



Not that I believe it.

 

[Legend Killer]

I could go on..but I won't..he has range, he's on par with Johnny Depp when it comes to becoming the character, he's a master of it.

Couldnt agree more.

 

[Mr. Socko]

Watch Harsh Times than watch Batman Begins then watch The Prestige and tell me he's in the same range...

 

[Jerry!]

And then Newsies to bring it full circle.

 

[Pythenis]

No range?? The dude lost 60lbs then gained 85lbs,......thats like 150lbs of range............thats some frigging range!!

 

[ghost_x]

I don't agree with the statement that Bale has no range, he is one of the finest chameleon actors of our generation, but physical transformation doesn't really equate to acting range. It's dedication, but not range.

 

[chamber-music]

His characters in American Psycho, Equilibrium, Batman Begins, The Machinist, and The Prestige are all very similar. At their art, they're all men who suffer from definite and almost-overwhelming emotional...void. They all, at some point, to some extent, can't feel.

Patrick Bateman was a soulless yuppie who used murder and mayhem to feel something, anything, emotionally.

John Preston, obviously, had all of his emotions quilled by futuristic drugs.

Bruce Wayne in BB suffered years of emotional confusion and empathy after the death of his parents. It probably wasn't until the end scene with Rachel that Bruce finally rediscovered some actual feelings besides a need for justice.

Trevor Reznik was someone who's intense guilt totally shut down all his senses. Almost removed all of his humanity for an entire year. Throughout the entire film, the character was basically walking through a fog of conscienceless; never happy, never really sad, just...there.

Alfred Borden was, of course, a man split in two. A man who half the time felt nothing towards his family, and the other half of the time, felt nothing towards his mistress. The only thing that really united him was soulless obsession.

So yeah, while the characters may be different, as an actor, you really can approach them all from the same viewpoint. They all feature the same psychological and emotional theme. In that they're all united and all very similar.

I'm not at all saying he's a bad actor (as Keyser mentioned, some of the best actors of this generation have little range), but it's obviously he's not at all a Johnny Depp type that can go from Edward Scissorhands to Ed Wood to Jack Sparrow, and back again.

You just picked his more popular roles. Look at his earlier movies like the Empire Of The Sun. Disney movies Newsies, Swing kids and the voice of John Smiths compatriot Thomas. Also his 90s roles as a journalist in Velvet Goldmine, Shakespeare update A Midsummers Nights Dream, a Greek fisherman in Captain Corelli's Mandolin and Laurel Canyon.

 

[Bat Attack]

Well I've nearly noticed all the characters Chrstian Bales has played, are in the same exact mold, Psychologically troubled individuals. Hes never played anything else really, and its kind of getting rather curious. Makes you wonder if he can portray different characters, can he do more comedic roles, can he play a geekish character, can he play a sensitive character, and etc? I mean at this point, its obvious while hes a good actor, he needs to expand his roles, as I think he can win an oscar, he just needs to show the academy something different then the mentally troubled indivudual, hes been playing in alot of his movies.

I agree 100%.

 

[mister Lennon]

If you have only seen 5 movies from Chris Bale's career, yes, he can only play the same role. Now, go and watch his other 20 or 25 movies and try to post again with more valid information.

keaton is a good actor, Bale is a better actor. No doutb. In fact, Bale is one of the best actors of his generation and he is one of the best young british actors today.

 

[BatMatt]

He seems to be playing a different character in Rescue Dawn, as well as 3:10 to Yuma, so let's wait on how those pan out. Regardless, he's still my favorite actor

 

[The Sage]

The first time I saw Bale was in Shaft, and he played an arrogant rich jackass. Then there's New World, and Rescue Dawn which comes out in July (Cheap plug!). I wouldn't say his acting range is limited, only that he doesn't do enough different roles. I'm sure some would say the same for Denzel, but he obviously has a wide range, going from good guy in most of his movies to the easily hateable guy in Training Day.

 

[Noir]

Eros, you just like Spammed the hell out of this place.

 

[black_dust]

The guy has range oozing out of him. hes amazing

 

[Mr. Credible]

i wouldn't say that bale has no range, he's not a bad actor by a long shot; but at the same time, he's not the savior of hollywood that some fanboys make him out to be because he lost some weight for a role, and played the best on-screen batman (hardly a difficult task). he was downright flawless as patrick bateman, though, and that should go down as one of the best performances in history, but nothing else he's done has even come close to that.

 

[chaseter]

I agree with whomever said that he has acting range...his prominent roles just inhibit that range that we see. I love all of Bale's movies...he is a good actor.