This guy has as much charisma as a box of nails.

When did he become famous?


Pearl Harbor, The Faculty, Halloween H20, Wicker Park, and Hollywood Homicide just a few of the crap that he made.

Because chicks think he's "hot"

I've never understood that either.

To his credit, Black Hawk Down was good, albeit his performance was, as usual, wooden.

He was marketed as a star, but is he?

I never heard anyone in a videostore say, "Hey! let's rent the new Josh Hartnett movie".

He was an actor in many films. Some more successful than others. That's how.

He's made a bunch of shitty movies, but like natevines said, "Black Hawk Down" was a good film, as was "The Virgin Suicides" (not to mention, he actually managed to give a decent performance in that one). If his performances aren't god-awful, he should gain some respect in the next couple of years due to his roles in "Sin City," De Palma's "The Black Dahlia," and "The Rum Diary." Looks like he's finally starting to choose solid roles for himself.

I also didn't think "Wicker Park" was all that awful. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't great...but I think it's more in the league of "Insomnia" than "The Vanishing" as far as American remakes go. It gains points (in my eyes) with it's "stolen" story, stylish direction, and Rose Byrne's performance.

-JP

I've only seen a few of his movies, but i enjoyed them all and a couple of them are even favorites.

Pearl Harbor...great movie, i never understood why many didn't like this one.
40 Days & 40 Nights...fantastic comedy....i love, love, love this movie.
Black Hawk Down...awesome movie, enough said.

I have never seen Here On Earth, but i heard from several friends that it was good.
Wicker Park...haven't seen it yet, but i intend to some day.
Hollywood Homicide....umm, this one DID suck!

He's going to be in the upcoming Sin City...I almost can't wait for this one.

Movies? Quality?

You have it all wrong.

Hartnett was chosen because he was young, handsome, and Hollywood wanted a new star. It happens every year.

There are far more undeserving famous actors than Josh Hartnett.

bingo.....I had one friend (a Korean girl) who was obessed with him.

He's not Hollywood's fines. But I don't see any problems with him. He has worked with Ridley Scott, Robert Rodriguez, Michael Bay. He's in the new DePalma movie. He's in the new Hunter S Thompson movie. He starred in a modern day adaptation of Shakspeare. He was in Sophia Coppola's first movie, before she became well known for Lost in Tranlation.

I wouldn't consider just some social star/celebrity like ...uhhh... Paris Hilton, or something.

For reference, here is his filmography...

The Rum Diary - We don't know yet.
The Black Dahlia - We don't know yet.
Lucky Number Slevin - We don't know yet.
Mozart and the Whale - We don't know yet.
Sin City - We don't know yet.
Wicker Park - Heard it was alright. Who would pass down what seems like a well rounded remake of a well-received foreign film? Did Tom Cruise turn down Vanilla Sky? Did Pacino or Williams pass on Insomnia?
Hollywood Homicide - I heard this wasn't good. But Ebert liked it.
40 Days and 40 Nights - This was popular, and people loved it.
Black Hawk Down - Uhhhhhh.
O - Excellent movie. Those who actually took the time to watch it would probably agree.
Pearl Harbor - Pretty good. Lots of people didn't like it. But it was a spectacle-summer blockbuster.
Town & Country - Ouch.
Blow Dry - Honestly never heard of this movie.
Member - Honestly never heard of this movie.
The Same - Honestly never heard of this movie.
Here on Earth - Honestly never heard of this movie.
The Virgin Suicides - Never saw. Critically 'acclaimed' if I remember properly.
The Faculty - Zeke was my favorite character (though not just because of Hartnett.)
Debutante -
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later - Hmmm. Never saw. Heard it was bad. And it was also his first big movie

The guy hasn't made much garbage. I'd say he's actually kicking ass and taking names. ESPECIALLY for being as young as he is...

Quit being so f'ing jelous.

When I saw the title of this thread, it was my immediate assumption that the OP hadn't seen this film. When I saw it, Josh Hartnett more than proved his worth as an actor to me. If I were to make a complaint thread about him, it wouldn't be "why's he famous?" but rather "why is he getting stuck with so many roles that don't showcase his acting ability?"

I've always kinda agreed with the OP in that Josh has nothing and kinda sucks, but then I look at his films and he has been in some good ones. I won't avoid a movie he's in, but I certainly won't be looking for films he's in cuz I think he'll bring that extra spark.

Wicker Park - Sucked donkey ass.
Hollywood Homicide - didn't see it.
40 Days and 40 Nights - Liked it alot... great flick, and he was pretty good in it.
Black Hawk Down - It was pretty good... not cuz of him.
O - meh...
Pearl Harbor - I liked it.
Town & Country - didn't see it.
Blow Dry - ?
Member - ?
The Same - ?
Here on Earth - ?
The Virgin Suicides - bleh
The Faculty - I kinda liked this almost... his character was okay.
Debutante - ?
Halloween H20: 20 Years Later - crap movie, not his fault.

Thats it exactly. Several of these guys floating around these days, few of them names I care anything about one way or the other. Calling them stars seems sacriligious.....they're just who's in the movie.

He's yet another in a long line of monotone pretty boys who, as pointed out before, was initially marketed as a star. To his credit, he has had a decent track record of choosing pretty good films, but none were in the position to sink or swim by virtue of his performance (although his "O" performance was pretty good). That doesn't change the fact that most of his roles could have easily gone to another actor and the film wouldn't have suffered because of it. I've read articles and it does seem rather refreshing how "un-hollywood" the dude is and how he wants to stay out of the public eye.

"O" was a very good movie. Nice 2-disc set also.

Josh Hartnett is not a star. Unless you can open a film simply on you're name alone, then you are not a star. The few films which had him listed as the "star" (and hoped on his name to bring people in) have all tanked. 40 Days and 40 Nights anyone? Wicker Park? O?

And there were bigger stars in Black Hawk Down than Josh (Mr. McGregor and Bana easily come to mind).

99% of American audiences didn't know who Bana was when they saw BHD. They probably knew who Hartnett was or at least had seen his face somewhere.

Besides that, he was on the poster for it and was pretty much the face behind the picture.

Because he looks so much like a young Tommy Lee Jones.

why do people say "black hawk down" was such a great film?!?!?!

its all a bunch of crap.... you have 30 africans with AK47's shootin at you from a roof top at a HMV. The guy on the HMV is killing them like rats ....what a load of crap....more like he was shitting himself inside the vehicle.

All other josh harnett films are fine compared 2 Black hawk Down

Well trained military elites against untrained African thug gang members?

And the Rangers didn't exactly leave unharmed...

you guess is good as mine

Did you see the actual statistics at the end of the film? The US only lost 18 people. Somalia lost over 500.