Purely in terms of how far he's fallen, my choice is Robert De Niro. From the 1970s to the 1990s, you could argue there was nobody as consistently interesting and at the top of his game. Now? The last decade has been pretty much nothing but mediocre to bad, varying between coasting or rather shallowly parodying his own past roles. The one notable exception is The Good Shepherd, which he directed (and cameoed in), and which was excellent. But otherwise? Edit - oh, and he was fine in Stardust, I guess, but that's again essentially a one-note joke (Robert De Niro as a camp gay pirate). Al Pacino hasn't been all that interesting in the cinema for a while, but he's at least got some good TV projects.
From an entertainment standpoint, I disagree about De Niro. My favorite films of his have all been from the past decade or so. I just heard that Florence Henderson is now on Dancing With the Stars. Sad times. Actually, pretty much any actor that ends up on Dancing with the Stars is slumming it.
Aint it the truth. If there is one man who needs a good serious cable drama to shine in it is the good Sir Ben.
Interesting thread. I'll say Eddie Murphy. He used to be legendary and I loved him in his Beverly Hills Cop series, but lately he seems to not even be trying. His movies all seem to be rather bad lately. I think he needs a better agent that will provide better scrutiny with scripts. Same with Robin Williams. Big fan of his, but lately his movies haven't been very good.
Harrison Ford (because most have been mentioned already) Disregarding Star Wars and Indiana Jones Ford has made some really great movies such as Witness or Regarding Henry (some of my favorite movies starring him). He needs to find a good movie again.. either a good thriller like The Fugitive or some quieter piece where he can really show his acting skills.
Who has she ever been other than Mrs. Brady, though? I don't know if she's really ever been a *star* but I caught her dance and she did all right for someone who was 76.
She's been nominated for an Academy Award 5 times in the last ten years, including this year and last, and between Julie & Julia and The Devil Wears Prada alone have profited over 100 million. "Meryl Streep is slumming it." Heck I don't even enjoy her movies that much. Another nod to Ben Kingsley; that man will take any role that pays him.
Seeing as how he's for the most part doing straight-to-DVD stuff now, slumming it would be an A-game in that realm. Apparently a lot of Steven Seagal's straight-to-DVD movies have required stunt doubles for him. And I came across one movie where he was too lazy to do his own dialog looping.
He hasn't been terrible IMO, just far less prolific. I loved World's Greatest Dad, which is just dark pitch black comedy.
I got the impression she'd been slumming it because I tend to notice her roles in 101 Dalmatians, The Devil Wears Prada, and Mama Mia, which all seem pitched far below her considerable talents. However, like Ben Kingsley, I guess she takes whatever crap she can get to put food on the table and boost her pension plan. Like De Niro, they've got sufficient track record that they don't have anything to prove, so good luck to them. I forgot about the Academy nominations, but I tend to dismiss such gong ceremonies as mutual arselicking events.
Christopher Lloyd. He was in so many of my favorite films of the 80s. But I can't even remember the last time he was in a decent film with a memorable role. I am surprised he has not been utilized better by the generation of newer film makers who grew up on those classics. Nice to see him a supporting role in one of the big superhero franchises.
Oh nice one. Yeah, I think he's been doing kids movies these days, which doesn't unlock his potential as an actor. He could be doing so much better, but his talent seems to be wasted. Well, if you're into dramas, I suggest checking out Extraordinary Measures. It was quite good and a bit of a slower pace.
None of those are second-rate movies and I was quite impressed with both her role and performance in The Devil Wears Prada. As for 101 Dalmatians, that was Glenn Close, not Meryl Streep. Probably not the high profile project you're looking for, but I saw clips of the TV movie where he played Jack Kevorkian and was fairly impressed. [yt]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3GXxwmc-Zo[/yt]