jetflair

Why does everyone hate Russell Crowe so much? I very rarely see any praise for him. Almost all of his movies are excellent, he's a good actor, he's extremely handsome, and in most cases plays good roles. I never saw Romper Stomper or Virtuosity, I suppose he might be bad in those. What's wrong with the guy?

The Antipodean

I have no opinion on Russell Crowe as a human being. Why the hell should I? As an actor, I think he's excellent, verging on great. Compare him in "Gladiator," "The Insider" and "A Beautiful Mind" just to get an idea of his range. But as a human being? Frankly I could care less unless he's slicing up toddlers and cooking them in a stew. He may be a bit of a jerk or it may just be media reaction against his refusal to play in the celebrity machine. Either way, it should not and does not have any bearing upon my opinion of him as an actor, which is the only thing most of us are qualified to judge.

Rypro 525

for some reason, many consiter him a p**ck for being like a snob after winning for what many conister a bad choice for an oscar win for gladiator.

Jackskeleton

Cause he hates everyone else.

not to mention what he does to women and there marriages.

Jason

I enjoyed the skewering he took on South Park

Deftones

He's a phenomenal actor, but a dick in real life.

Ginwen

Good actor, but comes across as a dick in real life

Actually, I'd just-as-soon not know about actors/actresses being dicks in real life, but with him, it's hard to avoid.

shaun3000

I don't love him or hate him. He's a GREAT actor but I don't much like him as a person. So I'm kinda inbetween.

TomOpus

He's a really good actor. I've never met him, nor do I know anyone who's met him, so I can't comment on him as a person. And I tend not to believe media hype, either positive or negative.

tasha88

I didn't even know there was media hype. Guess I need to look at the magazine covers more when I check out at the grocery store.

I like him (as an actor). I just watched LA Confidential last night and thought he was great in it.

tasha

joeydaninja

i don't even think he's the world's greatest actor
but he thinks he is

Jericho

I don't hate him personally.

The reason most do, or at least seem to do, is because of the negative publicity surrounding him. That publicity may or may not be true, it's really impossible for me to tell without meeting him and getting to know him. He seems fine in the brief interviews and such I've seen him give.

But the bad press is what people read and tend to form opinions of. I suspect that there's some truth behind it, although he's a big star and is always an easy target. Plus he's a New Zealander, so that makes him evil But I, like some in this thread, don't really let media stories affect my opinion of him.

Flynn

What a wonderfully talented actor.

A few things that make the average joe not like Russell Crowe:

1.) Played part in breaking up the marriage of one Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid.

2.) Has won a best actor Academy Award for a role that most film snobs think is unworthy.

3.) Reportedly attacked (with entourage) an English awards show organizer after they made a snide remark about him.
4.) Reportedly refused to accept an achievment award in Britain when he found out who else had won the award - supposedly sat in his seat and refused to come up on stage for acceptance.

These are just a few things I've hear in the NEGATIVE.

My pastor's daughter worked as Meg Ryan's double in Proof Of Life and said he was a great guy personally and treated everyone very well. She also told me that when Gladiator was released he brought a print with him and rented out an entire movie theatre for the cast and crew (of Proof of Life) for their very own showing. Sounds decent enough to me.

I have NEVER been disappointed with any role he's played. I even thought Gladiator was great.

Flynn

This might help also. Did a few searches online and came up with the following "Bad Russell" articles...

Russell's BAFTA meltdown:
http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,1,9584,00.html

Russell's Apology:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/020311/6/krxv.html

Tabloid Inaccuracy in Silver Heart Variety Club Reward:
http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html...3/17/10013.php

Russell And Meg:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1183758.stm


Hope that helps the thread and people to form their own opinions. I say, judge the guy on his talent, not his personal life. If I looked at anyone in Hollywood as a role-model I'd be in world of trouble.

billis

Well, I got his autograph in February when I was in Sydney and he seemed OK. At first he was roundly cursed by people around me because it looked like he wasn't going to sign any autographs (this was outside the A Beatiful Mind premiere) but then he did sign a lot and everyone was happy.
I love that eonline article: "Crowe's two-fisted temper tantrums have become legendary" :-)

flixtime

I think Russell Crowe is a very good actor based on his work in: A Beautiful Mind, Proof of Life, Gladiator, The Insider, L.A. Confidential (haven't had a chance to catch Mystery, Alaska, The Quick and the Dead, or Virtuousity yet, and I'm not familiar with his other films).

However, based solely on the swirl of negative press around him in recent years, if I had to rank the "A" list stars based on who I would most like to hang-out with for a weekend, Crowe would be ranked middle-of-the-pack at best. Again solely based on the tabloid stuff (which I don't really follow but is sometimes hard to miss), Crowe seems to be somewhat mercurial/chaotic and living life on the brink (who knows, if I were in his shoes, maybe I'd do the same). Yet, the "negative vibes" that the press attach (deservedly so, if I had to bet) to him don't yet impact my judgment of him as an actor. And maybe he is a terrific guy; I've never met him nor do I know anyone who has.

Anyway, I see from his IMDb filmography that one of Crowe's upcoming films - Master and Commander (2003) - is based on one of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin books. O'Brian was the author of a series of books about the adventures of Royal Navy officers Aubrey and Maturin during the Napoleonic era. If you enjoyed the A&E channel Horatio Hornblower films (or Gregory Peck's film version), you should enjoy this film. A major plus for me is that the film co-stars Paul Bettany - who stole the show as the "announcer" in A Knight's Tale - and also worked with Crowe before in A Beautiful Mind where he played Crowe's best friend in college (the guy with the niece).

Does anyone know what Crowe's other 2003 film - Tripoli - directed by Ridley Scott, is about? Sounds like a historical drama/adventure which I like.

hgar78

he's a pompous ass who thinks he's above everyone one else! i'm still fuming about his (bought) oscar for gladiator! IMO he was better in beautiful mind but....

in short, he doesn't play well with others (unless they're rich, beautiful women)

ipkevin

I hadn't realized people thought Crowe's Best Actor Oscar for Gladiator was undeserving. I thought it was the Best Picture award that irritated everyone! (it sure irritates me)

Anyway, I like that pretty much every picture he's made is fairly good. And prior to Beautiful Mind, the closest he came to a romantic pic involved terrorists, kidnapping, and special ops rescue missions.

hgar78

oh it's the best picture oscar too. i personally feel (as do many others) that the award was bought by the weinstein brothers. it was a good film but not best picture. out of chocolat, crouching tiger hidden dragon, erin brockovich, and traffic i can't believe gladiator won by merits alone!

LBPound

I didn't like him after seeing "Gladiator" and then seeing him win the Best Actor over Tom Hanks, and seeing his whole pissy bad boy attitude about everything. Since then, I've seen LA Confidential and The Insider, and I think he was really good in those and I liked the movies a lot. I do think he's a good actor, but his performance in Gladiator was so lackadasical (sp?) and I hated it, and his image compacted it. But he's an actor first and foremost, so now I can stand him, even if his bad boy image is kind of irritating, it's only on the side.

badger1997

I think that while I might not like directing him or being a photographer assigned to get photos of him, he seems like the regular kind of "bloke" that I would like to hang out with, have a beer down at the corner bar. He takes his job very seriously but he hates the problems that come with it. Everybody criticized him for his behavior at the Oscars this year but you know what, if I had to dress up in a tuxedo, walk down a red carpet with flashes glaring in my face, put up with the fakers in Hollywood and then watch some schmaltzy awards show in person with a camera man ready to swoop down in my face any chance he gets, then i would either act like he did or just stay home, but that's just me.

As for the people complaining about him breaking up Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid, just remember that as they say, it takes two to tango. As far as I am concerned, and it's really none of our business anyway, Meg Ryan is just as much to blame for that affair as he is.

And on top of that, how many of you have actually met the guy? Seen him do any of these things that people hate him for? Trust me, as a member of the media, don't ever totally trust anything that is reported in the media, especially given some of the sources cited in this thread. Eonline? The Reno Gazette-Journal? (note that the letter writer to that one even says their story was wrong.)

Jericho

I don't doubt that their have been some suspicious things revolving Miramax, the Weinsteins, and the Oscars. However, since they had nothing to do with Gladiator, you can't make this claim with any evidence. I believe it was Universal and Dreamworks wo released the film.

hgar78

oops i did mean dreamworks, sorry. must of been thinking about shakespear in love.

gutwrencher

i dont hate crowe. now that idiot vin dweezil....

hgar78

don't even get me started on that waste of space! there should be a separate thread for him!