What went right
The 1980s: smooth transition from teen flick bit-parter to ironic-funny leading man. The 90s, too. Your reboot as a boggle-eyed action hero (The Rock, Face/Off, Con Air) was a stroke of genius. From time to time, when you channel your famed eccentricity into your work, it still hits home. Bringing out the Dead, Adaptation, The Weather Man, Bad Lieutenant, Kick-Ass – loving your work.
What went wrong
You picked quantity over quality. The sheer number of movies you make, presumably down to your much-reported money woes, means the bar is low, and – to use your lingo – your shamanic acting style is often at odds with the material. If a run-of-the-mill thriller comes your way, you’ll prop it up. You shouldn’t have given the nod to Ghost Rider. Think on this, Nic: your most successful movie of the past decade is the one you don’t appear in – The Croods.
What you should do next
Problem is, you’ve already tried so much. Leftfield indie? You grew a beard and got gritty for David Gordon Green’s Joe – to limited returns, despite nice reviews. Topical thriller? You’re down the bill for Oliver Stone’s Snowden. Back to comedy? You’re aboard Army of One, the Larry Charles film about a handyman who heads to Afghanistan to capture Osama bin Laden. So maybe what you need is not to try anything for a while: slow down, take a year or two off, invigorate the brand. Make people miss you. Then, pick directors who can stand up to you, with their own brand of wackiness. David O Russell perhaps? Michael Haneke? If anyone can make you dial it down, it’s him.
More in this series
There’s something about you, Cameron Diaz - here’s how to recapture it
No more directing, Russell Crowe, or going soppy
A titanic Von Trier meltdown could get you back on track, Kate Winslet
Hey, Ryan Gosling, you’ve given girls advice, now let us return the favour
You need discipline, Nicolas Cage. Call Michael Haneke!
