What I find most interesting is that all the earlier buzz made it sound like Robert Pattinson was the star but it’s David John Washington who gets top billing and is the focus of the trailer.
The Fourth Protocol feels like a Harry Palmer film.
Regarding Caine’s work ethic, he can clearly afford to be picky when it comes to projects, but refuses to be so. I think he should have cared less about the money and more about a satisfying body of work and a respectable legacy. With wealth, there comes a point when a multi-millionaire is a multi-millionaire, regardless of how much more money they make.
But you should see the house that JAWS 4 made possible.
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In his defence, being picky about roles is something you should never do as an actor, as it is a freelance gig, you don’t know when, or even if, you’ll work again. You can still be good in a bad movie, and every gig will be enjoyed by at least 1 person.
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He was a multi-millionaire, though, so it wasn’t as though he would starve.
He could’ve never got a role again and then got cancer whilst living in the United States and have to pay for his wife and kids whilst dying slowly in the country that is a very expensive place to die slowly whilst the casting directors refuse to let him audition because they’ve realised what he’s known all along, that’s he’s a terrible actor and then his daughter could have a child then immediately break both legs so he’d have to look after the infant whilst paying for his cancer treatment and the cost of living and…
I present the thought process of EVERY.SINGLE.ACTOR.
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He is a multi-millionaire because he did all these movies. If you are saying “no” a lot of times to parts you don’t like, maybe you are also not asked anymore for parts you realy would have liked to do.
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True - but then there’s also that curious fact of life that multi-millionaires, sooner or later, tend to spend at much the same rate ‘ordinary’ people tend to: houses, cars, relationships - all that comes a couple of sizes bigger; expensive hobbies tend to unfavourably influence the budget, like divorce settlements, child maintenance and allowances for ex-mistresses (male and female).
Add a couple of really stupid decisions, like avoiding tax and boasting about it, or, say, investing in that three-legged wonder horse that’s bound to win the Grand National, and you are faster back where you started than you can say Damn!
For most actors the job is a calling they can barely afford. Caine has seen a lot of real life before he became a star - and he hasn’t forgotten how fast it can all turn into dust. I think he’s kept a healthy distance to his own profession and a work ethic that doesn’t sneer at ‘popular’ roles. He knew then - and certainly still agrees - that his body of work is what audiences wanted to see from him. Had he been Laurence Olivier they would have wanted different. He’s not - but he made the best out of it.
Not everybody can claim so these days; Caine can be fairly pleased.
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Not averse to appearing in rubbish, for exactly the same reasons.
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Maybe Olivier even had it worse, coming from the relatively high-brow end while economic needs demanded a similarly matter-of-fact approach to taking on roles. I don’t really remember Caine being flogged for The Swarm or Ashanti; it was the fare of the times and, lucky for him, what the industry churned out in tons. Olivier perhaps just had not the opportunity to do three films in a year.
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Absolutely! And, quite frankly, why do so many A-listers now appear in Marvel movies? Definitely not because they think this is the best way to present their art.
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In the arts the motto most often has to be: take the money and run. The western world is awash with actors, dancers, singers working as cabbies, parking valets, short order cooks. And that’s not even counting the ones - horrible fate! - who already had their 15 minutes. Making a living in entertainment, in show business must be one of the hardest, rarest occurrences. I really don’t blame any actor, however gifted, to grab their chances.
So children, when you read this and think about doing this at home with your own lives, think long and hard…
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I always found Caine’s pragmatism and candour about the roles he played very funny and a refreshing change from the usual smarmy showbiz types. His Jaws 4 quote is just class!
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Concurred. Very refreshing.
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Was that the one where he said he wanted to buy a house? I think I remember that on The Tonight Show or something.
No it was when he was asked if he was aware about the slating that Jaws IV was receiving and he replied, ‘I haven’t seen the film, but I believe it’s terrible. But I have seen the house that it paid for and it’s lovely!’
What a legend!!!
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That’s it! That was brilliant!
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There could be a trailer on Thursday.
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If I had a dollar for every time I read on these boards a trailer “could” drop