In Praise of Don Cheadle

[Anonymous]

I would like to take a minute to sing the praises of one of the finest character actors ever to hit the silver screen, noted Hollywood talent Don Cheadle.  The man is a god among his professional colleagues, standing truly at the pinnacle of his craft.  Truly the greatest, whether playing a noble hotel manager who risks his life to save refugees from genocide in Hotel Rwanda, or playing a loveable, nice-guy porn star with an image identity problem in Boogie Nights, or an insane astronaut marooned on Mars in Mission to Mars, or a cockney rhyming Brit explosives genius in Ocean's Eleven and it's sequel, Ocean's Twelve, or playing himself in NFL promotional commercials, Don Cheadle has proven himself to be a competent, versatile master of his craft who is still able to convincingly infuse his own personality into the ccharacters he portrays.

Last night I had the pleasure of watching Mr. Cheadle's work in the film Beyond the Sunset, a cheesy work starring Pierce Brosnan, Selma Hayek, and Woody Harrelson.  Cheadle is noteworthy as the best performance in the film, playing the role of a gentleman gangsta who has not forgotten his 'hood upbringing, and at one point I had to pause the DVD so I could see a full screen shot of Don Cheadle.  I said to my friend Chris, "I bet that was a fifty-foot picture of Don Cheadle in the movie theater", to which he replied "Who cares?  What's the big deal about Don Cheadle?"

"He's a great actor", I explained, summarizing his accomplishments.

"Well, he plays a bad role in this movie, and he's just some supporting actor anyway."

"DON'T TYPECAST DON CHEADLE AS ASUPPORTING PLAYER!!! HE'S A FUCKING GENIUS!!!

"Geez, Chill out, man, I'm not typecasting him, he's versatile, he's good, he just needs more roles that appreciate his talents, that's all" said Chris placatingly, knowing his lack of appreciation for Mr. Cheadle's thespian skills had offended me, "he's like Peter Sellers or something".

This calmed me a bit.  I could see that perhaps he was getting a glimpse of noted Hollywood actor Don Cheadle's greatness.  "Yeah, I could see that", I replied "Peter Sellers is sort of a white Don Cheadle".

[Anonymous]

I was impressed with his role on E.R., he played a med student/intern with Parkinson's disease. I kind of sat up and took notice of him because of that role.

[Anonymous]

On 2005-08-15 08:01:00, Anonymous wrote:

"I was impressed with his role on E.R., he played a med student/intern with Parkinson's disease. I kind of sat up and took notice of him because of that role."

He scared the hell out of me in that role Can you imagine some doctor with shaky hands operating on you?  :scared:  :scared:

[shanlea]

I am psyched that other people recognized the talents of DC. From ER to Traffic to Hotel Rwanda, he is a true actor, capable of playing black and white, and every shade of grey in between.  You look into his eyes and you see one thing that is missing from the eyes of every other actor and that is Resonance.

[Antigen]

On 2005-08-15 08:12:00, Anonymous wrote:


He scared the hell out of me in that role Can you imagine some doctor with shaky hands operating on you?  :scared:  :scared: "

One long night while my kid was in ICU, I went out for a smoke and more coffee. On the way out, I saw a dwarf w/ page-boy style blond hair in a doctor's coat entering the surgery room and climbing up a step ladder to reach a patient on the table.

And I'm not talking just a slightly dwarfed woman, either; not like 4' nothing. I'm talking more like 2"6', maybe; like a toddler playing dress up., which was the first explanation to occure to me before I knew I must be reaching the breaking point at that point.

But she was all too real. I've seen the same surgeon in the halways several times. Evidently, she's able to do whatever it is she does. Fact is a lot of people come onto an interest the medical professions by way of contact as a chronic patient.

Men had better be without education than be educated by their rulers.
--Thomas Hodgskin, 1823