Why Samuel L. Jackson Sucks

How a great actor was reduced to a mediocre caricature of his own self.

As I was nodding off last night, I noticed they were showing the movie ‘The 51st State’. I watched it for about half an hour realizing I’ve already seen it. It’s a horrible movie, which made me wonder why I saw it in the first place. The answer was simple, it stars Samuel L. Jackson, a great actor – how can I miss any of his movies? He’s got the most memorable lines from ‘Pulp Fiction’, he kicked ass in ‘Jungle Fever’, and they even let him play a Jedi. Thing is, what has he done for me lately?

Trying to recount his latest films, I came up with three categories – movies I’ve watched on a plane (you’d watch anything after a couple of hours of boredom), movies I’ve seen on TV (meaning I didn’t bother to watch them in the cinema, or rent the DVD), and movies I’ve rented (they usually come free with my DVD subscription, which I have to justify somehow). There’s another category – movies I’ve seen in the cinema, which ended up including only one Samuel L. Jackson film – ‘Unbreakable’.

So what was Sam up to since he wowed everyone in ‘Pulp Fiction’? Oh, yeah, he followed it up with a few major appearances in films like ‘Die Hard 3’ and ‘Jackie Brown’, but when you think about it; most of his films don’t really amount to anything. It almost seems like he’s comfortable playing the same pompous role over and over again. Are the studios hiring him whenever they need a tall badass with cheesy one-liners?

So I made a list of the films he’s made in the last few years (that I’ve seen). It isn’t as awful as Steven Seagal’s body of work, but then again, it’s Samuel L. Jackson, right?

Shaft – A much hyped movie, with Sam showing up to prove he’s the coolest actor on earth. Christian Bale shined in the movie, while Sam perfected what would become his signature piece – The short foul mouthed catch phrase.
Deep Blue Sea - Sam gets to play a bad ass professor fighting a digital shark.
Unbreakable – Sam redeems himself for a moment, saving Bruce Willis’s ass for the second time…just in time for the downward spiral…
The 51st State – Sam in a kilt, delivering those one-liners.
Changing Lanes – Sam in glasses, I only remember Ben Affleck from this, which says a lot
Star Wars – He also lent his voice to a few computer games, which is basically what this first trilogy amounted to. With all the badass stuff, he ended up being the lamest Jedi in the entire series for some reason.
XXX – This is where the pattern starts to really form
S.W.A.T. – And the plot thickens…
Coach Carter – The obligatory teacher in a bad neighborhood role.
XXX2 – Sequels are in the contract…
The Man - Seen it twice on a plane. This is ‘The 51st State’ with Eugene Levi instead. Awful movie.
Snakes on a Plane – I’m afraid airplanes are the only places I’ll see Sam if this pattern continues.

I thought I’d end up with a very biased list, but with the exception of ‘Freedomland’ and ‘The Incredibles’, this is pretty much it for him in the past few years. So, Mr. Jackson, judging by your upcoming movies, you’ve picked up on this pattern as well. ‘Black Snake Moan’ and ‘Home Of The Brave’ look very promising. Please keep it up. The world doesn’t need another novelty act.

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Posted on October 17, 2006

Comments

15 Responses to “Why Samuel L. Jackson Sucks”

keren on October 17th, 2006 2:52 pm

I agree,
my opinion is the in star wars he was lame and in unbreakable he was amazing.I agree!!!

icepick314 on October 17th, 2006 3:26 pm

but most of those movies are popcorn action flick…

they are not made as Oscar contenders….

if you want storyline, go watch Training Days or Fargo…

Brian on October 17th, 2006 3:34 pm

Losing Isaiah
A Time To Kill
The Long Kiss Goodnight
187
Eve’s Bayou
Sphere
The Negotiator (fantastic film!!!)
Rules of Engagement
The Caveman’s Valentine
Basic
Kill Bill vol. 2 (He was the piano player at the wedding rehearsal. A bit part, but he was there working with Tarantino again.)
The Boondocks (voice credits)

I’d say he’s done a bit more than the typical blow-em-ups that you list above.

doobie on October 17th, 2006 3:40 pm

you’ve finally come to realize this? every role of his is terrible and pulp fiction is probably the most overrated movie of the 90s. if that’s the best hes got, then hes got nothing at all.

Scott Devoid on October 17th, 2006 3:41 pm

The truth is, Jackson is one of the most prolific actors of this day and age. He is in the credits of more than 100 movies and more than 100 TV shows. That’s a little less than 2 movies a year, for every year of his life! Oh, and here are a few of the films you forgot:

# Snakes on a Plane (2006)
# Freedomland (2006)
# The Man (2005) …. Derrick Vann
# Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) …. Mace Windu
# xXx: State of the Union (2005) …. Agent Augustus Gibbons
# Coach Carter (2005) …. Coach Ken Carter
# The Incredibles (2004) (voice) …. Lucius Best/Frozone
# Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004) …. Rufus
# Twisted (2004/I) …. John Mills
# Country of My Skull (2004) …. Langston Whitfield
# S.W.A.T. (2003) …. Sgt. Dan ‘Hondo’ Harrelson
# Basic (2003) …. West
# xXx (2002) …. Agent Augustus Gibbons
# The House on Turk Street (2002) …. Jack Friar
# Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) …. Mace Windu
# Changing Lanes (2002) …. Doyle Gipson
# The Comeback (2002)
# The 51st State (2001) …. Elmo McElroy
# The Caveman’s Valentine (2001) …. Romulus Ledbetter
# Unbreakable (2000) …. Elijah Price
# Shaft (2000) …. John Shaft
# Rules of Engagement (2000) …. Col. Terry L. Childers
# Any Given Wednesday (2000) …. Willie Nutter

# Deep Blue Sea (1999) …. Russell Franklin
# Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) …. Mace Windu
# Violon rouge, Le (1998) …. Charles Morritz (Montréal)
# The Negotiator (1998) …. Lt. Danny Roman
# Out of Sight (1998) (uncredited) …. Hejira Henry
# Sphere (1998) …. Dr. Harry Adams
# Jackie Brown (1997) …. Ordell Robbie
# Eve’s Bayou (1997) …. Louis Batiste
# One Eight Seven (1997) …. Trevor Garfield
# The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) …. Mitch Henessey
# A Time to Kill (1996) …. Carl Lee Hailey
# Trees Lounge (1996) …. Wendell
# The Great White Hype (1996) …. Rev. Fred Sultan
# Sydney (1996) …. Jimmy
# Fluke (1995) (voice) …. Rumbo
# Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995) …. Zeus Carver
# Kiss of Death (1995/I) …. Calvin Hart
# Losing Isaiah (1995) …. Kadar Lewis
# The Search for One-eye Jimmy (1994) …. Col. Ron
# The New Age (1994) …. Dale Deveaux
# Pulp Fiction (1994) …. Jules Winnfield
# Hail Caesar (1994) …. Mailman
# Fresh (1994) …. Sam
# True Romance (1993) …. Big Don
# Jurassic Park (1993) …. Ray Arnold
# Menace II Society (1993) …. Tat Lawson
# Amos & Andrew (1993) …. Andrew Sterling
# Loaded Weapon 1 (1993) …. Sgt. Wes Luger
# Patriot Games (1992) …. Lt. Cmdr. Robby Jackson
# White Sands (1992) (as Sam Jackson) …. Greg Meeker
# Juice (1992) …. Trip
# Fathers & Sons (1992) …. Marshall
# Jumpin’ at the Boneyard (1992) …. Mr. Simpson
# Strictly Business (1991) (as Sam Jackson) …. Monroe
# Johnny Suede (1991) …. B-Bop
# Jungle Fever (1991) …. Gator Purify
# The Return of Superfly (1990) (as Sam Jackson) …. Nate Cabot
# Goodfellas (1990) …. Stacks Edwards
# The Exorcist III (1990) …. Dream blind man

Justin on October 17th, 2006 3:44 pm

I’ve never heard of the 51st state, however on IMDB when I searched for it, It was called formula 51. I respect your oppinion, however I really enjoyed the film, it’s not the best film, and certainly can’t compare with his previous rolls such as in pulpfiction or deep blue sea. But I wouldn’t go as far as to call it a horrible movie . . . not to mention like Brian said, he’s been in quite a few fils bsides the one’s youve listed.

Brian (a different one) on October 17th, 2006 3:44 pm

Don’t forget The Red Violin (1998, I think). Though he was completely miscast, he played a violin expert; and his performance almost rose to the level of the (great/unique) movie.

Martin on October 17th, 2006 3:45 pm

Great post, I linked to it on my blog. Jackson is obviously just coasting, either that or he isn’t being offered anything worthwhile. Pulp Fiction changed movies forever, it was that influential, so don’t pretend it’s not great.

Juan on October 17th, 2006 3:52 pm

Eh. He’s doing what a *lot* of actors do, which is paying the bills. I’m a little suprised at this post, since it assumes that there are just scads of amazing scripts lying around in piles, just waiting for Samuel L. to come on by and bless them with his acting ability.

The reality is that casting big budget movies is an involved, highly political, highly market sensitive, expensive process. Frequently, movies are green-lit with a particular star in mind, which may or may not be the star who ends up making the film. In other cases, stars will pass on scripts about which they’re not sure of the end result. But whatever the case may be, determining who will star in a film is most definitely *not* a matter of execs sitting around a conference room and hoping that Samuel L. Jackson will decide to expand his repertoire.

Movie execs don’t like huge risk, particularly because making movies is very, very costly. There are usually a large number of investors, all of them nervous, all of whom have their own opinions on how best to make the film. Producers keep them, and the banks, and the insurance companies, all in line — but they do so at a price.

That price is minimizing risk. You said that you think Jackson is almost comfortable playing the same pompous role all the time. Hell, yes, he is. It makes him money, large sums of it, and investors and producers absolutely know what they’re getting when they sign him on. It’s a comfortable feeling, and a way of making sure that the movie you want made — i.e., something which recoups its investment — is the movie that gets made.

Having said all this, it’s important to recognize that power buys you options in Hollywood. Sometimes you need to make films that make money, even in rentals, before you get to make films that make sense. So be careful when you’re criticizing Jackson, because he is, in fact, the highest grossing actor in the history of cinema. Just check Wikipedia.

Finally, take a look at IMDB and check his upcoming projects. They don’t seem to be the same ol’ thing to me:

Black Snake Moan
A God-fearing bluesman (Jackson) takes to a wild young woman (Ricci) who, as a victim of childhood sexual abuse, looks everywhere for love, never quite finding it.

1408
A man who specializes in debunking paranormal occurrences checks into the fabled room 1408 in the Dolphin Hotel. Soon after settling in, he confronts genuine terror.

Home of the Brave
Three soldiers struggle to readjust to life at home after returning home from a lengthy tour in Iraq.

Maybe they’ll suck. Maybe they’ll be great. But movies are not only expensive, they’re also collaborative, and that means it isn’t always up to any particular actor how things turn out …

jdr on October 17th, 2006 4:11 pm

you try to have a career like his, especially as a black man and see how far you get.
he has made the most money in Hollywood as an actor (accumulative) challenged only by Harrison ford. (who also plays a similar role over and over) that’s Hollywood.

i remember Sam Jackson when he was always a cameo and he would never even get a part and i always wondered why. for a long time.

roles don’t fall out of trees. and even less for minorities even if they do have an Oscar.

so judge all you want the man is lucky and has had a successful career in Hollywood which I’ve enjoyed watching! you should be so lucky or so talented.

Carter101 on October 23rd, 2006 6:05 am

“The truth is, Jackson is one of the most prolific actors of this day and age. He is in the credits of more than 100 movies and more than 100 TV shows.”

- That makes him even worse.

Joey Walnuts on May 13th, 2007 6:06 am

Eve’s Bayou, a Caveman’s Valentine and Freedomland were great performances.
He is a fine actor.
Bob De Niro’s last film was Meet the Fockers. They all can’t be Deer Hunter and Taxi Driver.

Samuel Jackson has nothing to apologize for to you mouth breathers. Talking about overrated Quentin’s films are ripped off from every explotation director from the 60s and 70s. I am just wondering when he will get a group of big-tit women together to remake Valley of the Ultra-Vixens and call it Tit Fiction or Titty Brown.

Joey Walnuts on May 13th, 2007 6:11 am

Samuel is like Michael Caine he views himself as a professional actor. Like Caine he doesn’t cherry pick roles. If he is offered something he takes it and shows up to work and makes the best of it he can. Like Caine he views acting as a job.

Micheal Caine gets this shit over in England, he use to get more of it when he was younger. If you send him a script he will take the job. He doesn’t have any of the pretenses of a Leo, Brad Pitt or Johnny Depp.
If you hadn’t noticed Samuel is black and his roles are limited to those that are open to Black actors. Tough guys, fast talking hustlers and pimps. WHen he gets something different he usually does something interesting with it.