The only thing that bugs me about Will Smith is that he has to say "Oh, Hell no!" in every movie.

Now this is the story all about how
My life got flipped, turned upside down
And I'd like to take a minute just sit right there
I'll tell you how I became the prince of a town called Bel-Air
In West Philadelphia born and raised
On the playground where I spent most of my days
Chilling out, maxing, relaxing all cool
And all shooting some b-ball outside of the school
When a couple of guys said "we're up in no good"
Started making trouble in my neighbourhood
I got in one little fight and my mom got scared
And said "you're moving with your aunt and uncle in Bel-Air"

I whistled for a cab and when it came near the
License plate said "Fresh" and had a dice in the mirror
If anything I could say that this cab was rare
But I thought now forget it, yo home to Bel-Air
I pulled up to a house about seven or eight
And I yelled to the cabby "Yo, home smell you later"
Looked at my kingdom I was finally there
To settle my throne as the prince of Bel-Air

The bottom lines on "acting":

1. It's not as hard as it looks
2. That being said, some people are definitely better at it than others
3. The difference between those who are good at it and those who are not is not worth multiple millions of dollars

In my view, becoming a wealthy actor is not so different from winning the lottery. In either case, trying to attribute wealth and success to merit is mostly a fruitless exercise.

BTW: I listened to the "He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper" cassette about a million times in the late 80s.

Carlton, Uncle Phil, Ashley--the ensemble characters were what made the show work. I think Will Smith was pretty good in it, not great but ok.

I dont really watch action films so I dont care one way or another for Will Smith.

Bad Boys 1 was my favorite movie of his.

Just sayin'....

By the way, please don't take this as me knocking Eddie Murphy, because I think he's great when he has a good script.

I'm guessing the google search for will smith's package will be bringing some new readers to the juiceblog.

I guess it comes from a place inside me which is still bitter about the reality not living up to the dream. Specifically, I had wanted to see Miss Spears 3 years ago in this type of photo, but the actual beaver shot was a major disappointment. (By the way, those of you that don't think this has anything to do with baseball, let me mention that the greatest book on the game, Ball Four, discussed the beaver shooting concept in great detail.)

4. Writers do most of the work, while actors get most of the credit and money

"I read in Rap Pages they refer to me as soft
Yeah, more like Microsoft
Will Gates of the rap game
Quintessential megalomaniac what's my rap name"

I realize other rappers have alluded to Microsoft, but when you're having credibility problems, maybe you shouldn't whip out how you're as cool as an incredibly uncool company.

If only this song came out a few years later, he could have called himself the Zune of the rap game.

not before "Please explain: American Idol"

(sigh)

Also, if you've seen Six Degrees of Separation, the guy can act his tail off when he wants to.

Smith's not a great actor, but movie stars often aren't great actors (see Cruise, Roberts, Gibson, and Clooney, above, or if you want a historical example, Charlton Heston). But he's certainly above average, and he's seldom bad. Even in the horrible movies he's been in (Wild Wild West, Legend of Bagger Vance) he's never been the thing that's wrong with the movie. In some of the crapfests he's been in that were wildly popular (Independence Day, I, Robot, Bad Boys) he was the very best thing in the film. His performance in Ali (a movie ruined by the fact that it apparently didn't have an editor) was really good--better than Ali was when he played himself in a biopic (I think that one was called "The Greatest").

True, his comic persona isn't very original (you're right that he steals a bit from Murphy on screen, on TV it was JJ Walker) but very few of them are. Smith's music is probably the hardest part of him to explain, but I attribute his success to the same market forces that make G Rated movies, by and large, more profitable than the ones that are rated R.

Plus, what's wrong with having someone present us as commanding respect, as opposed to Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, Eddie Griffin, Cedric the Entertainer, et al who far more often simply command dollars? And, if I had kids, I'd be less troubled to find Will Smith in their collection than a mixtape with Fitty or Lil' Kim. I can't hate Will's game.

One more thought: If I could see Will hold his own with Tyler Perry on stage and James Earl Jones on screen, I would consider him a made man.

Went insane? Don't you mean, the rest of the public finally realized that he was batshit crazy all along?

Tom Cruise..on the other hand.
Insane.

I think I feel the same way about Cruise, as Scott Long feels about Will Smith. I loathe all Cruise movies except for Top Gun.

That said, he does ooze charisma. He was just at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival and when his limo pulled up to the red carpet he sprinted over to the fans and shook hands, had his picture taken, gave autographs. Then went to the press. Then went back to the fans. If it's calculated, he sure makes it seem natural.

By comparison a week later Heather Graham gets to the red carpet, looks at fans shouting her name, and turns to her publicist to ask, "Should I go over there?"

R.I.P. Anna Nicole Smith

In regards to the other films, I don't think he has been very good. He is likable, which is a real gift, but he is not a very good actor. Every one of the names that were listed above as major draws have been great in a few films, even if they are playing off of their charisma as much as anything else.

Crowe is magnificent in every serious role he plays.

Cruise was great in Born of the 4th of July and Rainman, with a lot of other good performances.

Denzel has been good in a lot of things and was riveting in Training Day.

Clooney is not a big box office star and shouldn't be listed with these other names.

Hanks is the Jimmy Stewart of the past 15 years. I might be put on Toaster suspension for saying this, but Will Smith should never be mentioned in the same breath as Jimmy Stewart.

I acknowledged he was very good in 6 Degrees, but that was a small film. He's never been part of a really good box office film. All the other major box office stars can claim this. While someone could argue that it's not his fault that he was working with mediocre screenplays, I would argue that he has generally played to his strengths. High-energy, somewhat shallow characters that are made for pop-corny films.

I would think Will Smith would be a great guy to have a few beers with, but then our President was elected on much this same thought-process. Russell Crowe's a dick, but he's the best film actor of our generation.

I never feel any depth in a Will Smith performance (outside of 6 Degreees), which comedic actors like Eddie Murphy, Jim Carrey, and Robin Williams have portrayed in their best work.

I'm not a fan of Jaime Foxx, the person, but he has an edge to him that makes his work seem real and not frivolous.

One other personal tic which bothers me about Smith. His laugh sounds too much like Eddie Murphy's. Kind of like how it has always bugged me that Kobe's voice and mannerisms seem to be like an impression of MJ.

I'm not someone who disses suburban life. Hey, I live in one. I'm not a fan, though, of suburban TV and Movies. Will Smith is the ultimate suburban act. Likeable, safe, but leaves me with an empty feeling.

I'm smart, talented, and good looking, as well. I also have a streak of self-hatred, so maybe you might have a point.

Except for Will Smith. I wish he was more like Dom DeLuise. And I wish that Orson Welles would have made the first Batman movie back in 1948, but that's not what we're talking bout right now so it's not important. Forget I even mentioned it.

25. You say potatoh, I say potahto

26. He's a skilled director, but Gibson hasn't starred in a film since Passion of the Christ came out. Prior to Passion, he had huge goodwill as an actor; two bloodfests and a DWI rant later, I think a lot of that goodwill has been poured down the drain. He probably has support for life from his Christian audience, but I don't know if people in general like him anymore.

Tom Cruise may be crazy, but it's a harmless kind of crazy. Plus, he was much more popular than Gibson, so even if he's lost 50% of his fans, he still has plenty left.

29. I didn't mention Will Smith in the same breath as James Stewart, Scott, you did (except now, to point that out, I just did--d'oh!). Maybe you find more depth in Murphy, Williams, and Carey's best work, but Will Smith has never done anything approaching their worst work (Pluto Nash and Harlem Nights; Patch Adams, Jakob the Liar, Bicentennial Man and What Dreams May Come; The Majestic), you gotta grade both ends of the curve.

(Off-topic side note: is What Dreams May Come to Bicentennial Man the worst stretch for an actor, after winning a long-deserved Oscar, ever? I'm sure someone can point to Marissa Tomei's career, but couldn't someone have told Williams "Is this really what you want to do after winning an Oscar?")

Don't be so self-absorbed. Look at post 19 done by man I have the utmost respect for. I responded to a few different commenters.

Good point on the worst work. My point was that Will Smith has never been in a great movie, unlike every other actor that was listed. I wouldn't rate anything he's ever been better than a B and most of them I would rate C or below. Will Smith dares to be AVERAGE!

For those of you waxing r(h)apsodic over his music career, I just shake my head at the shame you should feel for publicly admitting it. Pick up some Kurtis Blow, DeLaSoul or Basehead, if you like sing-songy rap, as they made great music.

Basically as I see it, there are three levels of actors:

Level three: The Steve Buscemis and William Macys of the world. In other words, guys who can act, but can't really anchor a 200 million dollar blockbuster. Most of us probably have a fave actor in this category.

Level Two: Will Smith and Arnold fall into this category. These are guys that can at least deliver a 'clever' line in front of a blue screen----300 million dollars later, presto!!! A Blockbuster. These guys aren't actors so much as living set pieces. That isn't a value judgement, I'm 20 years older than the target audience for any Will Smith movie. They are what they are.

and

Level One: Guys like Russell Crowe. Crowe can star in a mega-movie and the writers and directors don't feel compelled to dumb the whole production down in order for a stupid 17-year old to 'get' it. Crowe and Hanks (at his best) can act and support a mega-movie.

As far as Mr. Smith's music career is concerned, I'm not sure how one determines 'good' rap from 'bad', but outside of Public Enemy has any rap 'artist(s)' ever done anything worthwhile??

Now that I've established my utter and complete whiteness, let me defend myself for a moment:

I don't really like rap music. I have any number of reasons for my opinion, but two stick out from the others. One, I'm a 37 year old white guy---needless to say, I am not who 50 cent is imagining when he 'pens' his new ode to ho's, bitches, thongs, guns, money and pimpin'.

Secondly and more importantly, in my experience the subject matter covered by the genre is so narrow, so limited it seems like every track is a version of another one.

Let me also say that I don't consider rap music to be a threat to my way of life or some giant threat to Western Civilization either. Rap Music is made for an audience that I'm clearly not a member of, that's all.

I considered adding a comment about Arnold and Stallone as being more of a fit to Will Smith. Arnold was in a great movie, Terminator 2. Stallone starred in a classic, Rocky. I'm not about to say Will SMith isn't a better actor than Arnold and more versatile than Stallone, but I just don't think he will ever be in a great blockbuster movie. We will see.

On the subject of rap, I'm of the same generation, but I still think there is quality stuff out there. Harder to find, though, as I think the genre is pretty stale, overall. Check out P.O.S and Lupe Fiasco, as they are 2 records from 2006 that connected with me.

Now Enemy of the State is the best film that Smith has done, where he was the star of the film. Hackman and Voight are great actors who make everything better that they are in. If Denzel or Samuel Jackson would have played the Smith role, this would have been a grade higher. Instead, it was 3 star movie with a 2-star lead performance.

The missing ingredient Will Smith lacks is having a sense of danger in his personality that is needed in most dramatic roles. There is no darkness there.

His comedic style is similar to his rapping style. Paint by the numbers.

40. Probably the guy that Smith is most like on your level two (and whose career started to wind down just as Smith's took off, IIRC) is Bruce Willis. Not a great actor, but someone with enough physicality and charisma to pull off the big-budget action flicks, and better acting chops than Arnold or Stallone.

Will Smith has never been in an action movie close to as good as the first 2 Die Hard films. He will never be in a ensemble piece as good as Pulp Fiction. (hey, very few actors can say that, though.)

Wiilis' TV work on Moonlighting is the best romantic comedy performance in any series. He showed so many shades and talents in Moonlighting that it just magnifies how disappointing much of his movie career has been. Having said that, his movie career is still superior to Smtih.

Now, Willis' musical career was a near perfect equal to Smith's rap career. Respect Yourself, indeed.