If you want to see a great actor, watch the early Nicholson, or the early de Niro. Will Smith? He’s at the same level as the movies he’s in, and that’s no compliment. He’s no better actor than (the equally medicore) Ben Affleck or Tom Cruise.

In my opinion. Just watch certain Fresh Prince episodes…

Yes, in most of his movies, he played Will Smith, but he did a good job at playing Will Smith. He was funny, personable, and enjoyable to watch.

Lately, he’s expanding into non-Will Smith roles. It took him a bit to get the hang of playing someone else, but he’s doing quite well at it now.

Is he a great actor? Who am I to judge? I never even played a flower. I will pay to see him, though. I’ll enjoy his movies, and think that it’s nice to see an actor grow enough to play differing roles. I’ll have 2 hours of nice for my money, and it’s not addictive, dangerous, or illegal.

Will Smith is fine by me.

You = acting judge fail.

Smith’s movie would have never been made without Vincent Price & Charlton Heston doing REALLY bad adaptations of the book before – hell, no one would even remember the book, these days, without those movies.

Will Smith is one of the greatest actors of our era. The problem is, this era in filmmaking is really poor in comparison to times long past in the film industry – It’s not hard to be one of the greats in your time, if your competition is the likes of Tom Cruise, Keanu Reeves, etc.

And (in response to an earlier post), Ari, as for Nicholas Cage, do you feel that way because he’s a mere actor willing to play roles that are interesting but not deep thought provoking? One of the reasons he chose the path in acting that he did was because if he played more serious roles, people would constantly be comparing him to his director uncle – there’s a reason why he changed his last name, for acting.

Not that familiar with the other two, but “above the likes of… Keanu Reeves” is what used to be called “damning with faint praise.” I.e. “Yeah, John is a quick, sharp thinker – definitely smarter than that guy down the street who’s been huffing paint for the last ten years.”

Keanu’s talent is very similar to that of Nicholas Cage, Orlando Bloom, Elijah Wood, or any of their other tri/mono-syllabic brethren: Eye candy, typically with only one stock facial expression.

Truth is, Will Smith can be “great”, but it depends on your definition of great. He’s not Al Pacino “Great”, but he’s certainly above the likes of say, Dwayne Johnson, Keanu Reeves and Harvey Keitel.

Now, that doesn’t say that he’s always picked the best options for himself, artistically; but I certainly don’t mind paying to watch him run and jump around and fight bad guys