Simple question... who do you believe would have had the better career if River Phoenix and Heath Ledger wouldn't have died so young?
River Phoenix is probably one of the most handsome men ever in cimena, and perhaps even one of the most talented and versatile if you look at his body of work. Even at the age of 12/13, he was fantastic in Stand by Me and there's no doubt that he stole the show and gave the best performance in the film. Then you move on to the movie where he got nominated for an Oscar (which he should've won when you look at his competition that year) at the age of 17, Running on Empty. That film is one of my all time favorites and River carries it from start to finish. And after that he would go on to also give Oscar worthy performances in both Dogfight and My Own Private Idaho (in fact, he probably would've gotten nominated for My Own Private Idaho if the Academy was back then like they are now, with the gay support and what not). His last couple of films were okay at best, but you could tell his personal problems were affecting his work. But hypothetically, when I ask you the question above, think of Phoenix the time he shot My Own Private Idaho and pretend from that point on he would've been drug free. Would he have had a better career than Heath Ledger would have had if he lived on?
Heath Ledger is someone we all first noticed with 10 Things I Hate About You. It was a fun little film, but his performance was nothing special. However, in his next three features, he was simply phenomenal. In the The Patriot, he gave one of the best death scenes in the history of cinema in my opinion when his character died. In a Knight's Tale he single handily carried that film to its awesomeness. And in Monster's Ball... well, let me put it this way: I only saw the film for Halle Berry's infamous sex scene, but I felt like Ledger still gave the most powerful performance in the entire film, even though his on-screen time wasn't very long. After these three films, he basically disappeared because he only did indy films no one gave a shit about for a few years. But then I saw him once again in Lords of Dogtown and at first glance, you're not that impressed by his performance, but once you see and hear the real life version of the character Ledger was portraying, you realize just how great of a job Ledger did with the role. And of course, after Lords of Dogtown, Brokeback Mountain was released, and Ledger gave one of the most unbelievable performances of all time in that movie. And then, obviously, there was The Dark Knight, where he brought on of the most popular villains in American entertainment history to a brand new level.
So, when you look at it all, who in the World goes on to win the awards, be the bigger box office draw, and make the larger impact in the history of film?
River Phoenix is probably one of the most handsome men ever in cimena, and perhaps even one of the most talented and versatile if you look at his body of work. Even at the age of 12/13, he was fantastic in Stand by Me and there's no doubt that he stole the show and gave the best performance in the film. Then you move on to the movie where he got nominated for an Oscar (which he should've won when you look at his competition that year) at the age of 17, Running on Empty. That film is one of my all time favorites and River carries it from start to finish. And after that he would go on to also give Oscar worthy performances in both Dogfight and My Own Private Idaho (in fact, he probably would've gotten nominated for My Own Private Idaho if the Academy was back then like they are now, with the gay support and what not). His last couple of films were okay at best, but you could tell his personal problems were affecting his work. But hypothetically, when I ask you the question above, think of Phoenix the time he shot My Own Private Idaho and pretend from that point on he would've been drug free. Would he have had a better career than Heath Ledger would have had if he lived on?
Heath Ledger is someone we all first noticed with 10 Things I Hate About You. It was a fun little film, but his performance was nothing special. However, in his next three features, he was simply phenomenal. In the The Patriot, he gave one of the best death scenes in the history of cinema in my opinion when his character died. In a Knight's Tale he single handily carried that film to its awesomeness. And in Monster's Ball... well, let me put it this way: I only saw the film for Halle Berry's infamous sex scene, but I felt like Ledger still gave the most powerful performance in the entire film, even though his on-screen time wasn't very long. After these three films, he basically disappeared because he only did indy films no one gave a shit about for a few years. But then I saw him once again in Lords of Dogtown and at first glance, you're not that impressed by his performance, but once you see and hear the real life version of the character Ledger was portraying, you realize just how great of a job Ledger did with the role. And of course, after Lords of Dogtown, Brokeback Mountain was released, and Ledger gave one of the most unbelievable performances of all time in that movie. And then, obviously, there was The Dark Knight, where he brought on of the most popular villains in American entertainment history to a brand new level.
So, when you look at it all, who in the World goes on to win the awards, be the bigger box office draw, and make the larger impact in the history of film?
