C’mon Hollywood #138

… don’t screw it up Shia!
by Sturdy

A while ago, I actually sat down to write an article basically saying that Shia LaBeouf wasn’t all that and that people should wait a while before pronouncing him the next big thing. Then I realized I hadn’t seen him in many movies and so I went out and picked up a few of his recent films. Needless to say, I had to delete the previous article and now I’m here to say that Shia LaBeouf is the next big thing and to ask him not to screw it up.

So what made me change my mind? I can’t quite put my finger on it, but you know how people always say “he has that ‘it’ quality” when referring to a great actor? That’s kind of how I feel about Shia. No one really knows what “it” means, but I think of “it” as that something extra certain actors bring to a role that other actors can’t. That’s exactly what Shia brings to a film. It’s not the way he delivers a line or his timing, it’s his natural mannerisms and personality that make him different.

Anyone else notice there were an awful lot of shots of Sarah Roemer’s ass in DISTURBIA???

However, when a young actor encounters a lot of success so early in his or her career, it can easily spell doom for them later on. They’ll either get too cocky and no one will work with them, pick a bunch of crap roles or they’ll get addicted to some designer drug. I don’t see Shia falling into any of these categories, but when Steven Spielberg raves about you in Vanity Fair, how can you not be a little cocky? Not to mention he’s had a string of successful films and has a guaranteed future success with Mr. Jones.

Yes, the mustache is cheesy looking, but we’re going to have to get used to it.

What I would be more worried about is the role picking. That seems to be the downfall of every once-great actor. I got nervous when he chose to do TRANSFORMERS, but he did a good job in it and it turned out to be a successful film. Of course, having any part in an Indiana Jones film is a good career move. The question now is how is he going to follow it up? Is he going to sell out and do some more summer blockbusters? Or is he going to challenge himself as an actor and play a mentally retarded, physically crippled drug addict trying to solve the murder of his younger brother? These are the kind of decisions Shia is going to have to make. Personally, I’d like to see him use the Clooney-alternating tactic and alternate between smaller films and summer blockbusters.

You can’t say he hasn’t worked with some hotties.

But just when I’m about to crown the kid the future king of Hollywood, he goes and does something incredibly stupid like this. Here’s a personal message to Shia: You have the world at your feet, the greatest director of all time publicly praising you, a string of hit films and you’ve been linked to some serious hotties. Getting drunk and then getting kicked out of a Walgreens is not the way to keep up your success. So c’mon Shia, don’t screw this up.