Gerard Butler

[JWGunslinger]

Wikipedia:Gerard James Butler (born 13 November 1969) is a Scottish actor who has appeared on film, stage, and television. A trained lawyer, Butler turned to acting in the mid-1990s with small roles in productions such as the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies (1997), which he followed with steady work on television, most notably in the American miniseries Attila (2001). He garnered critical acclaim for his breakthrough work as the lead in Joel Schumacher's 2004 film adaptation of the musical The Phantom of the Opera. In 2007, Butler gained worldwide recognition through his portrayal of King Leonidas in the film 300. Since then, he has appeared in projects including P.S. I Love You (2007), Nim's Island (2008), RocknRolla (2008), The Ugly Truth (2009), Gamer (2009), Law Abiding Citizen (2009), The Bounty Hunter (2010), and as a voice actor in How to Train Your Dragon (2010).

As you can tell from my sig I am a big fan of Gerard Butler, no matter what movie he's in whether he's playing a badass in an action flick like Gamer or a sweet guy in a romatic comedy like P.S. I Love You, I just plain love the guy. He can play any role and make it good, hell I've even watched movies with two of my least favorite actresses in Kathrine Heigel and Hilary Swank because of Gerard and I loved them because his awesomeness overpowered their evil. The man is a genius and deserves much more credit as an actor than he has recieved, his performance in Law Abiding Citizen was flawless and extremely powerful and the fact that he didn't win anything for that was a travesty. Mitch and I were hoping that his most recent film Machine Gun Preacher would be the role to get him attention from everyone but unfortunatly it came out to limited release and isn't getting much recognition. What I'm saying here is I believe he is one of the best actors currently in Hollywood and deserves much more respect and attention than he has been recieving. My questions to you are...

Do you like Gerard Butler as an actor?

Do You believe he deserves more recognition for his talent and work?

 

[nicwits]

I think he's great.

His break out role was portraying King Leonidas in 300. That's when most people started to notice him.


I've loved him ever since Reign of Fire. He was great in that movie.


RocknRolla is by far his best work, though.

 

[CapnKabuki]

I wouldn't call myself a fan of him to be honest, but I do think he just needs that one role that is gonna showcase how much talent he has. He certainly has quite a bit of it, I just feel he hasn't been given the greatest of roles to show it. Law Abiding Citizen I thought came the closest.

Do I see him winning any prestigious (probably spelled that wrong) awards in his career? No, but do I see his talents start to come out and he gets out of the stigma of being the "THIS IS SPARTA!!!!" guy? Yes.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

Do you like Gerard Butler as an actor?

Gerard Butler can be a very solid actor most of the time. He can always bring a good amount of intensity to his performances, and he can be a very believable bad ass.

Do You believe he deserves more recognition for his talent and work?

As I said before, Butler can deliver as the bad ass. 300 doesn't do anything for me, but Butler did a fine job with lead role, as he portrayed the King Of Sparta. Gamer was okay, but this film could've been so much better. Still, Butler did a good job with the Kable character. He was the tough and viscous prisoner, who dominated the deadly game. And I HATED Law Abiding Citizen, but Butler's performance was the highlight of that film. He was this cold and calculating assassin, who wanted to make Jamie Foxx's life a living hell.

Butler does have some promise, but his career took a bad turn after 300. I'm not too crazy about 300, but this was a popular box office success. But The Ugly Truth and The Bounty Hunter were awful comedies, and he hasn't had that one redeemable film yet.

Although, Butler's career could have a chance at a resurrection. Machine Gun Preacher wasn't too popular with the critics, but Coriolanus has received a good amount of very favorable reviews. Butler still has some time left, he is capable of delivering some high quality performances, and he has become a recognizable name in Hollywood, so his star power could grow over the years, but it's going to take some time. He'll be on the road to recovery, because The Bounty Hunter and The Ugly Truth are potential career killers.

 

[GrandSword]

Butler keeps doing these romantic comedies where he could easily be the next top action movie star in Hollywood, if he just stayed in that niche. In action mobvies he simply kicks more ass than anyone right now, and every dude that saw 300 just wants him to keep kicking ass.

now I know actors want to branch out and do different things and blah blah, but hey guess who was the biggest star in the frickin universe and got paid the most money than anyone back in the day... Arnie that's who. And now its Will Smith and Tom Cruise, and guess what they do.. action movies.

Butler is missing the boat he could be the biggest star on the planet if he just sticks to big Holywood summer action films....

 

[Dave]

As a fellow Scot, I am as big a Gerard Butler fan as you are likely to get around these parts. I think that he has played a number of interesting roles and I think that with every movie that he stars in, he is creating his own legacy in the film business.

That said, I wouldn't class Butler as being amongst the top stars of Hollywood. Yes, his movies are fairly decent and entertaining. But when you put him against stars like Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Bruce Willis, there really isn't any comparison to be made. He is not a huge box office draw on his own and some of his more successful movies have achieved such acclaim through other means, rather than the strength of his individual performance.

300 for example was a fantastic movie. However, it was very successful due to it's efficient and glorious use of CGI. Whilst Butler created a good name for himself in this movie, it was hardly the performance of his career. However, Law Abiding Citizen is exactly that. My favourite film in the entire catalogue, this is where Butler proved himself to be a good actor. Alas, the strength of the plot really helped to make this movie a modern classic.

As far as him receiving more credit for his work, I think he generally gets what he deserves. He has been in some pretty shitty movies in his career too (read: Gamer). No, Butler is not a huge box-office draw but he generally gets enough credit for his work. What he needs now is a movie that will define his career and I think it needs to be pretty soon.

 

[Captain Mike]

Law Abiding Citizen was an awesome movie, Butler in that played the cold, calculating badarse to perfection. I felt his pain and disappointment at the start of the story and I felt his rage and anger as the movie went on. I agree he needs more tough man action roles because he could be the next Statham and be a big action movie star. I will say this though he was the best thing about The Ugly Truth, he really cracked me up in that movie...

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I like Gerard Butler. I love him in Rock n Rolla which is one of my favourite movies, and I think he was good in Law Abiding Citizen and The Bounty Hunter too. I am hoping to catch his latest film Machine Gun Preacher before it is out of the cinemas, the trailers for that film look really good, so I'm looking forward to seeing it.

I think he's pretty good at pulling off accents too. I first saw him n P.S I Love You with my ex-girlfriend, and I thought he was Irish as he nailed the accent so well. It was only later I found out he was a Scot! His American accent in The Ugly Truth (another decent film) was solid too.

Women love him, and he is good at playing a romantic comedy role. He's pretty funny and definitely has the look and size to play a tough guy like in Law Abiding Citizen and Gamer. I agree with others when I saw he isn't a major box-office superstar yet, but he is getting more and more well known, consistently doing decent films and I hope he gets his blockbuster release at some point.

 

[rEddie]

Honestly I've noticed GB only after I saw the Gamer movie. It is amazing for me but this guys looks better now at his mid thirties than when he was 20 something. He is definitely my type and I am waiting forward for new movies with him!


avi player

 

[Dagger Dias]

Gerard Butler is a great actor who definitely deserves more recognition than he gets. His work in the film 300 speaks for itself. I also liked him in Gamer and Law Abiding Citizen. His performance in Law Abiding Citizen stands out the most for me because I feel that he saved that film from being far worse than it would have been without him. He took a character you were meant to root against in a story that many disliked, turned the character into an antihero and made the movie tolerable. Few actors can pull off something like that. He's going to be a voice-over in How to Train Your Dragon 2, so that will be something I'm looking forward to.