by Tom on 19 Jun 2009, 16:43
This is why I'm so delighted Dolph is working with a proper director again. We all know DL isn't the greatest actor. He's also the sort who very much needs to be directed and pushed. He's not one of those method guys who gets so into it, he doesn't particularly need his performance moulded by a director.
Even though Dolph has done well with his directing, I feel his performances aren't up to his best when he does. The trouble is, he's running the film, he's directing, so he can't take a step back really. He's got no-one to really push him and get him at his best.
Trouble is in his other DTV films, often the directors are not that good. Often they also tend to be just producers, who have no desire to really go for the extra 7-8 takes to get a spot on one. The films get whizzed through and there's little time to polish things.
I really hope Dolph gets to work with a few more good directors, and gets good roles. Sly's given him a role that really stands out from the other guys. He's got one of the juiciest roles, that's ripe for scene-stealing, so I'm really happy Sly is doing his best to really push Dolph, and I'd guess Jason, Jet, and (the one who'se performance I'm most curious to see, being his first gig with a decent director ever) Gary Daniels, who are also perhaps not the greatest thespians.
You really need to see the behind the scenes for JCVD, and see just how important a good director is in getting a performance out, from actors who need direction. He worked seriously hard to push JC. It's resulted in his best performance ever, by a long, long way. He looks pretty wooden in his follow up, Eagle Path, and again, it's that problem of directing your own gigs, your own performance can often suffer. It's largley different for someone like Sly, who is on his day a really brilliant actor. It's always been his natural want too, while DL and JC for example, fell into the profession somewhat.
