AN EMH FEATURE…OVERRATED ,UNDERRATED, OR NEITHER? LEONARDO DICAPRIO!

First of all, let me say thanks so much for all the response to this new feature. I was hoping to get some feedback and you all delivered. I had no idea The Wizard of Oz would get so much response. Thanks again! Now let us see if we can do even better with Leo.

Here’s the knock on DiCaprio. Throngs of guys do not like him for the same reason they do not like The Jonas Brothers, or Zac Efron. They see a guy who women swoon over. They think it’s overblown, so they overcompensate by seeing him as overrated and not very talented. Had it not been for Titanic, men would think Leo was way, way cool. Supercool, even. Prove it? Okay.

He earns an Oscar nomination in 1994 for What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. He stars in The Basketball Diaries. Most people didn’t see this initially, but it turned out to be a popular film, and one that did not contain foofy, light, heartthrob kind of stuff. Also in 1995 was Sam Rami’s vastly underrated The Quick and the Dead. So he was in a cool western. That’s another cool guy point, and he was in a Sam Rami movie. Guys love Sam Rami. Right?

Then came his first big strike: 1996’s William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Girls loved it. Guys hated it. Leo’s rep suffers.

But it was Titanic that sank Leo in the eyes of guys (sorry for the rhyming). Girls lined up to see it over and over and over. If guys think the swooning over Edward in Twilight was bad, they are too young or they just don’t remember how bad it was in 1997 and 1998 when Titanic sank almost every conceivable box office record that has to do with longevity. Every boyfriend was being compared to Jack. Every girl loved the movie. It made 1.8 billion dollars worldwide. At the time, that doubled the biggest movie of all time, which I believe was Jurassic Park.

Guys turned on Leo. It was bad. But since all that he has teamed with Martin Scorsese (a guy’s director if there ever was one) three times in The Departed, The Aviator, and Gangs of New York. He has also worked with Spielberg and Ridley Scott, two other superior directors. He’s got almost a decade’s worth of nothing sappy or anything else that would pander to the ladies. He is one of the most selective successful actors Hollywood has ever seen. He has never sold out. He doesn’t even have a romantic comedy on his resume. Sorry, he is a stud! Yet, many guys do not like him.

BUT, IS HE OVERRATED?

This one is easy. No. He lost the Oscar in 1994. He was the lead male actor in the biggest movie of all time, which was nominated for 14 Academy Awards, and he was NOT nominated for best actor! He has never won an award, and in my opinion, he was never nominated for an Academy Award when the role wasn’t deserving of it.

Look at his body of work since 2001:

Gangs of New York

Catch Me if You Can

The Aviator

The Departed

Blood Diamond

Body of Lies

Revolutionary Road

Of these seven films, he was only nominated for two Academy Awards. Altogether, he has three Oscar nominations, with his first coming early in his film career with What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. He lost that one to Tommy Lee Jones, who took home the statue for his work in The Fugitive.

He was not nominated for Revolutionary Road, though one of his co-stars was nominated for supporting.

He was not nominated for The Departed, though one of his co-stars was.

He was not nominated for Catch Me if You Can, though one of his co-stars was.

OFFICIAL DECLARATION – LEONARDO DICAPRIO IS UNDERRATED!

So, I can’t wait to hear your thoughts. Maybe you have a completely opposing spin on this topic. Please give me your feedback.

See you next time,

EMH