I can't help it. In spite of myself -- and in spite of some of the deeply dreadful movies he's made -- I kinda got a soft spot for Bruce Willis. (And I'm probably the only person who actually likes that Bruno album he did all those years ago.) He disappoints me sometimes, and Surrogates will probably do so again, but nothing so far has made me stop gettin' a kick out of that shit-eating grin and cocky 'tude. Just call me a girl who likes a wiseass.

Top Five

Die Hard
Best action movie ever? Maybe. It certainly set the stage for kickass police work doled out by a sarcastic cop ... and set him up as its own punching bag, too, which only made us love Willis' John McClane more: he wasn't invulnerable. That barefoot run across broken glass? Yippee kai-ay.

Twelve Monkeys
Willis isn't all badass. As Terry Gilliam's experimental time traveler in this mind-bending flick, Willis brings real heart and surprising emotion to a genre that typically doesn't bother with anything softer than an explosion or, at best, chilly intellectual trickery.

16 Blocks
Here's John McClane 20 years later: Willis's weary NYPD cop is a gracious acknowledgement that he ain't a young man anymore. But he can still deliver suspense and energetic conflict and cool buddy stuff -- his pairing with Mos Def here is a breath of fresh action air.

Moonlighting
Just pick any episode of the 1980s screwball romantic comedy detective show, and revel in Willis's David Addison Jr.: if you've forgotten how funny, charming, and downright sexy the actor can be, this will remind you. And his onscreen romantic chemistry with Cybill Shepherd is one of the best examples in all of Hollywood history.

The Sixth Sense
M. Night Shyamalan's quiet ghost story gets extra oomph from Willis's wonderfully restrained performance. Even after you know how it's gonna end, it's still a pleasure to watch his Dr. Malcolm Crowe figure it out again and again.

Bottom Five

Live Free or Die Hard
There was a reason why the Die Hard franchise lay fallow all those years: it was played out. And so was John McClane -- Willis just looks exhausted and embarrassed to be here.

The Whole Ten Yards
Even if the idea of Willis as a Hungarian mob hitman nicknamed "The Tulip" strikes you as funny, I promise that "The Tulip" retired and gone so domestic that he loves vacuuming the house in bunny slippers is not. Avoid.

Look Who's Talking Too
No actor over the age of 12 should ever appear in a smartass-talking-baby movie. And certainly not in its sequel. And no, we do not forgive the actor because it's only his voice that "appears." Don't try to wiggle out of this one, Willis.

The Kid
This pitiful fantasy about an obnoxious jerk (Willis) who gets a second chance to be a nice guy due to a "visit" from his own childhood self does Willis no favors. Do him a favor and skip it.

Armageddon
Some might argue that Willis's genius oil roughneck turned astronaut/savior of humanity in this, one of the most absurd movies ever made, is some sort of subversive commentary on something or other. I am not one of those people.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
MaryAnn Johanson dies hard every day at FlickFilosopher.com. (email me)

Recommend (0)

|  Comments (0)

|  Email

|  Share

Share  Facebook Digg del.icio.us