I agreelostgirl said:Well, I think he's not given enough artistic credit. He's seen as a "movie star" more than an "actor" which I think is largely due to Titanic. It's unfortunate though, because he's a really great actor. After Titanic's sucess, he could have coasted, and played a lot of romatic heros, but he chose challenging roles in films that allowed him to stretch his abilities in different directions. But I think that he was a great actor before Titanic (see This Boy's Life, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, Romeo + Juliet, Marvin's Room) and he's done great work since (Catch Me If You Can, The Aviator). Even films like The Beach, that wasn't great, or Gangs of New York where his (very good) performance was overshadowed by Daniel Day Lewis, were risky projects for him: he wasn't playing off his heartthrob image- he was taking darker roles in films he cared about and working with directors he respected and wanted to learn from. personally I thought he deserved an Oscar for The Aviator- he totally carried that movie, and gave a very sensitive, nuanced performance- but this was Jamie Fox's year. He also deserved an Oscar for What's Eating Gilbert Grape (Tommy Lee Jones stole it from him that year IMO). I hope he continues to try different kinds of roles in various film genres. Hopefully in the future he won't be fodder for the gossip columns so much- he's said that the only thing that bothers him about that is that the more you know (or think you know) about an actor in real life the less able you are to believe them when they're in character. I just hope that he's recognized as the great actor he is in the future.
I saw him I thikn in This Boy's Life (I am not sure about the name) it was about drug usiing. And he was fantastic!
I liked Romeo + Juliet as well!