shoop and the indispensibles

One of my myriad old bosses once told me that no one is indispensible. And he was probably right. What I'm examining today has to do with Hollywood--or as Bullwinkle used to pronounce it, "Holllly-wood." Movie stars--once upon a time, one of main reasons we went to a movie. Do we still go see stars? And who do we see? Who can't we imagine the movies without? Are there any indispensible stars left? Or is it all franchises, brand names, and niches? I have a few ideas about what stars are left.

Meryl Streep--like her or not, she's the only one we've got, and we go to see her to see what she'll do next. Now in her 60s, her unique combination of heavy-duty Method and heavy-duty Brecht is impossible to duplicate. It's a matter of the way she "disappears" into characters, yet you always are aware that Meryl Streep is doing the disappearing--the accent, the hair, the make-up or lack of it. It's the same sort of port-o-Brecht that Laurence Olivier used to carry around with him--you always knew it was Olivier, no matter what he did, and he damn well wanted you to know it. She's not only the only one who does it, I think she's the only one who would want to do it. And that's why we go see her.

Tom Hanks--yes, "Angels & Demons" is "underperforming" at a little over $130 million (nothing like inflated costs and expectations), but it's also killing overseas. And Hanks still has something in reserve, which he trots out occasionally on talk shows and stuff like The Colbert Report--a twisted sense of humor. Hanks could, and possibly will, reinvent himself with the right director.

Will Smith--he's not around this summer, but he's one of the few people around who can pretty much guarantee a big opening right now. He's equally comfortable in prestige films and middle-of-the-road comic stuff. And I think he's going to get more interesting as he gets older.

Julia Roberts WAS indispensible. Who else could you root for more consistently in the movies, whether she was a good-hearted hooker, good-hearted runaway bride, good-hearted muckraking attorney's aide, or a good-hearted woman trying to sabotage her best friend's wedding. That's what critics of Roberts never got that we fans did--we weren't rooting for her to undermine the wedding, we were rooting for her to wise up. And she does in the end. But she's having trouble negotiating early middle-age--she might have to disappear for 10 years, like Audrey Hepburn, and then come back in the remake of "Robin and Marian."

John Cusack could have been indispensible--he was unpredictable as a young actor. That combination of blankness and alertness meant that you never knew everything about him. Lately, though, you do know everything. Which is a little boring.

Anne Hathaway might make it to indispensible. She's following a similar path to Julia Roberts, but she's already showing signs of greater versatility (plus there's the singing). At any rate, it'll be interesting to watch her try.

I invite my imaginary readers to present their own candidates.

Next time: shoop gives of himself.