General Discussion

Last night I tried to watch Salvation Boulevard on Netflix and it was awful. It wasn't just bad, it was painful to watch. This sorry excuse for a comedy stars Greg Kinnear as some guy who witnesses a murder. This got me thinking of the recent state of Greg Kinnear's career.

Lately, Kinnear has been linked to indie comedies or awful comedies (sometimes both at the same time). To be fair, Kinnear has never been that big of an actor, starring in secondary roles in popular movies such as As Good As It Gets. Since the success of Little Miss Sunshine, it feels like Kinnear is just looking for the next run away indie hit which would explain why he keeps on starring in movies such as Unknown, Thin Ice and Salvation Boulevard. And if he's not starring in low budget indie comedies, he's in movies like Robots and I Don't Know How She Does It.

So what do you guys think about Greg Kinnear?

I liked The Matador, but I can't really think of another film of his that I liked though. Thin Ice looks kinda good.

I like him and find him personable, but I haven't been into anything he's made in a while. It's just not the type of movie I watch these days. I heard he was the only decent in that Miley Cyrus movie from a year or so back, so at least he's still got some functioning acting chops even if the roles are questionable.

He was on Modern Family recently! I like him.

@CharlesAlanRatliff said:

He was on Modern Family recently! I like him.

Same here. I think he might be suffering from Anna Faris Syndrome. For at least the last couple of years anyway.

@myketuna:

Thin Ice, The Kennedys, and Green Zone would all like to disagree with you. His career is fine. He only did three movies this year, and two before that. Only two of those were independent films.

@Moviemaniac: It's all subjective I guess. I didn't like Green Zone that much and The Kennedys from what I heard was ok. I haven't seen Thin Ice. But let's not forget I Don't Know How She Does It.

Actors/actresses stock sometimes run out and they stop being relevant, but I've always liked him.

I remember him first for hosting Later, that talk show that came on after Conan on NBC during the 90's, before Carson Daly took over.

EDIT: Oh crap! Totally forgot about Talk Soup!

@myketuna:

One movie.

He was good on Talk Soup. I guess he peaked early.

@eugenesaxe said:

He was good on Talk Soup. I guess he peaked early.

I hear that. Well, the Talk Soup part. I don't think he peaked early, but he's gotta get into some more bangers. And by bangers I mean good and memorable films. I don't want him to be the next government nobody in the next Transformers movie or anything.

I'm looking at his filmography, and it looks like he needs a new agent. I never saw New Year's Eve, I Don't Know How She Does It, or The Last Song (one glance at the poster and I don't need to ask if it's a film based on a Nicholas Sparks novel), but I have no problem taking people's word for them. Everything else in the past 5 years was unmemorable: Green Zone, Ghost Town, Flash of Genius, Invincible and even Baby Mama (and I liked Baby Mama).

On the other hand, it's an accomplishment to still be in film after all these years. It's not that bad of a life making terrible romantic comedies or boring uplifting dramas; it could be worse, he could be a television actor (!!!). He needs to do something different, though, even if it's a small role in a film like Horrible Bosses where he can act like a total shithead.

I thought he was great in As Good As It Gets.