Why isn't Elliott Gould in every film?

[Small Man Big Horse]

I'm watching him now in Ruby Sparks and the man's such a great actor. I've been incredibly fond of him ever since Altman's The Long Goodbye, yet his patchy career has always frustrated, as he really deserves better material than he's received. That or he's terrible at making choices. Either way, I can't think of a film which wouldn't be improved by his presence within it. And I know a lot of people like him, but he never seems to be raved about in the way your Daniel Day Lewis's and your Sean Penn's are.

Many may disagree (though they're wrong) but if so, is there any actor / actress / performing animal that you think is just great, and don't get the acclaim they deserve?

[Queneau]

I've been incredibly fond of him ever since Altman's The Long Goodbye

I found him really irritating in that. That could be mostly down to me hating everything about the film though. I think it's the only thing I've seen him in.

I'd like to see more of Danny Dyer. I seem compelled to watch anything with him in it.

[monkfromhavana]

I'm a massive fan of the Long Goodbye, a lot of Chandler purists weren't too happy with his portayal of Marlowe, but i think he plays the role really well. Gould seemed to be popular at the start of the seventies but then tailed off and ended up making crap like "The Naked Face" with Roger Moore.

At the risk of coming over all JLC, remember Steve Guttenburg?? What happened to him??

I've always loved Walter Matthau, he looked about 80 when he was 30 but he starred in some great films. Everyone knows who he is but he never seems to get much in the way of credit for his work. The Odd Couple, Taking of Pelham 123, Charley Varrick were all superb films. Even stuff like "The Cactus Flower" was pretty funny.

[Queneau]

I've always loved Walter Matthau, he looked about 80 when he was 30 but he starred in some great films. Everyone knows who he is but he never seems to get much in the way of credit for his work. The Odd Couple, Taking of Pelham 123, Charley Varrick were all superb films. Even stuff like "The Cactus Flower" was pretty funny.

I love watching him. He was originally tested for the male lead in The Seven Year Itch. That would have been an entirely different film. He and Lemmon were a joy to watch together. Obviously there was The Odd Couple, which is excellent. As were The Fortune Cookie and The Front Page.

[Small Man Big Horse]

At the risk of coming over all JLC, remember Steve Guttenburg?? What happened to him??

He was in a superb episode of Party Down, playing a fictionalised version of himself to great effect, but apart from that it seems to be mostly films and tv shows I've not heard of.

[Glebe]

Good interview with him in Empire recently... seems like a really nice bloke.

[Doomy Dwyer]

At the risk of coming over all JLC, remember Steve Guttenburg?? What happened to him??

Steve Guttenburg recently published his autobiography. It is entitled 'The Guttenburg Bible' which is the best title of a celebrity memoir there's ever likely to be. Although that's probably only redeeming feature of the entire book.

I too like Elliott Gould, but he's no Donald Sutherland. Sutherland is The Man. The good Man, though. Not the bad corporate capitalist one.

[Incandenza]

I always thought it was funny how little effort he put into his part on Friends. He seemed to be virtually reading the lines cold, and whenever he talked about the show anywhere he seemed to have a fairly indifferent attitude towards it.
Also, M*A*S*H.

[Ignatius_S]

.... as he really deserves better material than he's received. That or he's terrible at making choices...

If he behaved better, he would have got better. Even by the standards of actors, Gould gained the reputation of being an exceedingly difficult to work with – you can get away with that attitude when you're in successful films, but when you get associated with flops, you can't.

Personally, I think he's rather so-so and rather inconsistent.

...I've always loved Walter Matthau, he looked about 80 when he was 30 but he starred in some great films. Everyone knows who he is but he never seems to get much in the way of credit for his work. The Odd Couple, Taking of Pelham 123, Charley Varrick were all superb films. Even stuff like "The Cactus Flower" was pretty funny.

Someone I would say who is criminally underrated these days – during his career, Matthau won plenty of critical plaudits and the occasional award (like an Oscar), but I think people today don't give him enough credit for how great he was.

Slight tangent, in an interview he did for a documentary, Matthau claimed he told Siegel that he thought the dialogue for Charley Varrick – and was told, 'Well, you can write dialogue, can't you?'. Also, during the shoot, Siegel said he needed to attend to something and got Matthau to do a bit of directing. Not sure it's true, but I like it!

I love watching him. He was originally tested for the male lead in The Seven Year Itch. That would have been an entirely different film. He and Lemmon were a joy to watch together. Obviously there was The Odd Couple, which is excellent. As were The Fortune Cookie and The Front Page.

I'm also exceedingly fond of their last film with Billy Wilder, Buddy Buddy – one what was slated at the time. A remake of a French black comedy (which I need to see), Matthau plays a mafia hitman, whose latest job is endangered by Lemmon's depressed television censor, staying in the hotel room next to him – the latter's mental state has been caused by his wife leaving him for a sex therapist (played by Klaus Kinski).

[jutl]

If he behaved better, he would have got better. Even by the standards of actors, Gould gained the reputation of being an exceedingly difficult to work with – you can get away with that attitude when you're in successful films, but when you get associated with flops, you can't.

Yes, that seems to be a common rumour. As for Guttenberg, I heard him interviewed on Howard Stern and he seemed at peace with his life:

Howard said he heard Steve was a "freak" in the bedroom, and Steve admitted it was true: "It's genetic." Steve went on to claim his penis was 10" long when erect, "but not on cold mornings." Howard speculated that Steve was trying to hit on Beth the other day, but Steve disputed the story: "That's not the Guttenberg way." Howard noted that porn star Brittaney Starr claims Steve once took her up to his hotel room and showed her his penis, and Steve relented: "I don't remember Brittaney, but I do like to show it."

Steve told the crew that his penis was the source of "a lot of confidence," but he has to pull his pants down to power-up: "You can't do that everywhere." Howard asked if Steve had ever hurt a woman given his size, but Steve avoided the question. Howard also tried to get Steve to admit to banging some of his famous co-stars, but Steve refused to name names – though he did confess to getting his salad tossed by a former Miss California.

[momatt]

Wasn't even looking for these, but too good not to post.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

I always thought it was funny how little effort he put into his part on Friends. He seemed to be virtually reading the lines cold, and whenever he talked about the show anywhere he seemed to have a fairly indifferent attitude towards it.
Also, M*A*S*H.

Yes, Gould's performance in Friends was very odd. As you say, his line-readings were always very flat and ill-timed, as if he hadn't really thought about what he was saying. He's always struck me as a decent enough actor in the other things of his that I've seen, but a performance as poor as the one he delivered in Friends probably didn't do his career any favours.

Also, as Ignatius says, I've heard that he has a reputation for being difficult to work with.

But as for Donald Sutherland, I've never seen him be anything less than great in whatever he crops up in, no matter how small the role. But he should've played Jack Bauer's dad in season six of 24, dammit! James Cromwell is obviously a fine actor, but it's such a shame that Sutherland senior wasn't available for a role that was presumably written for him.

[monkfromhavana]

But as for Donald Sutherland, I've never seen him be anything less than great in whatever he crops up in, no matter how small the role.

You've not seen Bear Island then? To be fair, he was making the best of a bad script, and he does bring an intensity to the role. OK, i agree with you.

[SockPuppet]

And Kelly's Heroes.

A toe-curling performance.

[Ignatius_S]

And Kelly's Heroes.

A toe-curling performance.

Any problems with that performance, I would lay at the feet of the character, not the performer.

[Tiny Poster]

If he behaved better, he would have got better. Even by the standards of actors, Gould gained the reputation of being an exceedingly difficult to work with – you can get away with that attitude when you're in successful films, but when you get associated with flops, you can't.

Indeed - even though he ended up being an Altman semi-regular, Gould and Sutherland tried to get the actor's director himself fired from M*A*S*H.

Such difficulty resulted in him spending almost two decades in the wilderness, reduced to appearances on Murder, She Wrote and The New Adventures Of Superman.

For a slightly more contemporary example, see Edward Norton. Once praised as the De Niro/Brando of his generation, now a third-stringer thanks to his insistence on interfering with the script/direction/editing of anything he starred in.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Huh, I had no idea about any of this, and I'm normally up on my film gossip. I did look on imdb and wonder how he managed to go from making some real classics to popping up on tv procedurals, it's a real shame he's (or at least hopefully used to be) a bit of a twat.

[monkfromhavana]

Huh, I had no idea about any of this, and I'm normally up on my film gossip. I did look on imdb and wonder how he managed to go from making some real classics to popping up on tv procedurals, it's a real shame he's (or at least hopefully used to be) a bit of a twat.

It's a shame because i quite like Elliott Gould's films. Hopefully he's only a bit of knob when he's working on a film, and in real-life is a pleasant chap.

Someone mentioned John Vernon on another thread, and i'd have to say that i've always liked everything he's been in. Not really the "star" of any of the films but a quality supporting actor.

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

He actually comes across quite well in this recent interview, and seems to have come to terms with the fact that he used to be a bit of an arse. Years in the wilderness will do that to a man, I suppose.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/profiles/elliott-gould-i-didnt-have-a-drug-problem-i-had-a-problem-with-reality-7956788.html

[non capisco]

At the risk of coming over all JLC, remember Steve Guttenburg?? What happened to him??

Hollywood lost him to pantomime. In Kent.

[monkfromhavana]

Hollywood lost him to pantomime. In Kent.

Nice of whoever autographed it to write on it "Rodent 88"