Alec Baldwin Career Highs (and Lows)
 

Alec Baldwin is one hell of a talented guy. In my opinion, he is the definitive Baldwin - his brothers seem to be half-assed clones, and the only serious actor of the bunch.

I believe I first saw Alec in 1988's "Beetlejuice" with Michael Keaton and pre-Oscar winner Geena Davis, and last saw Alec in 2000's "State & Main" with an outstanding cast including Charles Durning, William H Macy, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman.

What are your opinions on his best films and his worst?

I would say "Hunter for Red October" is one of his best.

I really liked his role in Miami Blues. My favorite part is his encounter with the Hari Krishna at the airport.

I don't think there IS more than one Baldwin. I think he changes his name depending on his weight. That said... "Hunt For Red October"

Another vote for HFRO (best Jack Ryan)

Moving to Movie Talk.

best: Beetlejuice
worst: Marrying Man

As I recall, Hunt For Red OCtober was at his peak in his career. He was suppose to keep starring in the Jack Ryan Saga, but he turned it down.

Personally i feel that when he fell in love with Kim Basinger. I think he wanted to give movies a rest for a while, at leat on a low-key level. Because after HFRO, he was suppose to be within the elite group of actors.

i liked his work in Malice. the 'I AM GOD" speech.. classic.

For years I was trying to remember what movie had a guy who always said he loved his girlfriend's cooking, whether he really liked it or not. One day, the girl purposely made a dish that was really terrible - the guy started eating it, and his eyes started watering, and his mouth was trembling...but he still said, "Mmm, Mmm" as he forced himself to swallow the horrible concoction.

The film, as it turned out, was "Miami Blues."

I can't imagine him being any better than he was in Glengarry Glen Ross.

Except for that Simpsons episode, of course.

He's great on "Saturday Night Live" (Sweaty's Weiner)

Some of his best has been HFRO,Beetlejuice,and Outside Providence.His worst is State and Main.

Do you remember the "It's a great time to invest!" commercial parody? The SNL commercial parodies have almost always been the best part of the show, and I think this one is definitely one of the top 5. My wife and I just roll around laughing everytime we see Alec Baldwin offering investment advice while plummeting out the window.

Alec Baldwin, IMO, is one of the greatest actors in film history, he simply can't be bad (not talking about the movie here, talking about Alec's performance). Say "Glengarry Glen Ross" and Alec Baldwin's speech is the first thing someone will mention (he was only in the movie a few minutes, but stole the show from Pacino & Lemmon!), and beside the FX, was the only decent thing about "Pearl Harbor".

One of my favorite (and overlooked) performances of his in "Heaven's Prisoners".

He's great in: Hunt for Red October, Beetlejuice, Malice and Outside Providence. I also agree w/ those who mentioned that any episode of SNL that he has hosted has been a classic.

His movies w/ his wife have sucked, imo.

Hunt for Red October and Beetlejuice would be my picks for his best roles/performances.

I really can't think of any "bad" performances. I didn't care too much for his role in Outside Providence, but then again, it was only supporting.

He's got one of those voices that you just want to listen to.

What are you all talking about, his best is his appearances as the center on "Hollywood Squares" this week. The true pinnacle of fame, held by other cinematic legends as Ellen Degeneres and Whoopi Goldberg.

Just kidding, I think he's a good actor too. And the SNL weiner bit was hilarious.

The Royal Tenenbaums

I like Stephen better. I at least enjoy his films more.

I love Alec in the Hunt for the Red October.

First of all, Baldwin did not turn down the role of Jack Ryan for future Clancy adaptations. They could not agree on terms ($$), so the producers opted to go with Harrison Ford. He asked for like 8 or 10 million a movie, and I believe they offerred 3 (just from memory). 8 or 10 would have been near top dollar at the time, and the producers didn't feel like he brought that many fans to the movies, and judging from his box office draw, they were probably right. He has never quite been A-list material. Chris Tucker can get 20 million for Rush Hour 2 because it seems like no one else can play the part. Obviously the role of Jack Ryan is not like that.

Back to thread,

My favorites:

Ghosts of Mississippi
Prelude to a Kiss
Malice
The Shadow
Miami Blues
The Hunt for Red October

Worst:

Thomas and the Magic Railroad
Working Girl (Great film, but he was wrong for the part)

It just don't get any better than his layered performace as "Cucumber" Frank DeMarco in Married to the Mob. :)

As much as I despise the man's politics, he is a good actor.

And it took a full twenty-three posts for that to come up.

You guys are slipping.

I guess. Frankly, if I let politics bother me too much I'd never get to watch anything. :)