r/movies • u/shopdog • 24d ago

Question What happened to John Cusack?

Looking at his IMDB page and he's in a bunch of crap (rated 5.0 or lower) movies and a Chinese produced movies (judging from the original titles and posters).

He was in a lot of my favorite movies from the 80s until the teens and then just seemed to disappear.

Did something happen to his career? Self inflicted?

1.9k Upvotes

91% Upvoted

1.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

5.6k

u/Historical_Leg5998 24d ago

I think two things happened simultaneously:

1) He took up activism more full-time/seriously

2) He aged out of his 'niche' which was "attractive but intellectually-neurotic leading man"

986

u/sonofaresiii 24d ago

I think I read somewhere that he kind of got frustrated at never fully breaking out as an a lister and decided to phone it in for cheap cash grabs in Hollywood so he could stay rich and do whatever the fuck he wanted in life

Which kind of aligns with what you're saying

495

u/NotDeadYet57 24d ago

I read one interview somewhere where he said his career cooled off because he "refused to wear tights". John is 58. Come to think of it, there are plenty of actors in their 50s and 60s who DID wear tights - Robert Downey Jr, Ben Affleck, Christian Bale, Paul Rudd, Jeremy Renner, Hugh Jackman, Edward Norton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney ... Maybe Cusack is onto something.

95

u/leaflock7 24d ago

he is actually very true about this

8

u/Working_Chemistry597 23d ago

So make him old ass angry Bruce in the Batman Beyond live action movie I've been waiting for since 99. No tights and he still gets to be that intellectual-neurotic he plays in the others.

→ More replies (1)

37

u/[deleted] 24d ago

[deleted]

262

u/penguinopph 24d ago

He refused to do superhero movies

70

u/ColoRadOrgy 24d ago

I respect it

8

u/WL_FR 24d ago

I could see him as a happy hogan type side character but if he wanted to be a-list he'd have to wear the tights. ah well, he has a good place in film history

60

u/EddyMerkxs 24d ago

Not doing CGI/Marvel stuff I think

→ More replies (2)

15

u/Perditius 23d ago

I legit at first thought he meant older actors had to start wearing tights to rein in their saggy legs or something lmao

→ More replies (1)

27

u/Beautiful-Bit9832 24d ago

Being Robin Hood

22

u/bubblegumshrimp 24d ago

We're men in tight tight tights 

12

u/vulchiegoodness 24d ago

we roam around the forest, looking for fights!

9

u/hudson121 24d ago

"LEAVE US ALONE MEL BROOKS!"

→ More replies (3)

2

u/JackThreeFingered 22d ago

I feel like he was just at the cusp of being an A-lister at a few different points. Not sure exactly what he was expecting since he doesn't necessarily even have classic A-list looks, which is not a bad thing.

2

u/NotDeadYet57 22d ago

I think he started getting interested in co-writing and producing pretty early on, to the point that he wasn't especially interested if he didn't have some input. Unfortunately, he hasn't co-produced anything that's been a box office hit since Hot Tub Time Machine, and that was made in 2010. He's only 58, so I think he has another hit in him if he can just get the right script. On the other hand, maybe it's time to take supporting roles in big films instead of starring roles in direct-to-video/streaming.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

249

u/BunchAlternative6172 24d ago

Which is kinda funny because room 108 or whatever and gross pointe break were fantastic. Lots of his stuff was underrated.

100

u/FatherOfLights88 24d ago

Don't forget Runaway Jury!!!

179

u/prine_one 24d ago

And High Fidelity. My personal favorite of his.

36

u/lisabisabobisa 24d ago

I fucking love this movie. Nothing more to contribute.

4

u/grimskrotum 24d ago

This stupid movie is still my go to when people ask me my favorite of all time. I can't even really defend my choice. I just fucking love it.

→ More replies (3)

6

u/[deleted] 24d ago

Better Off Dead hit the right spot at the time.

→ More replies (1)

4

u/Orson_Randall 24d ago

"I will now sell five copies of 'The Three EPs' by The Beta Band."

→ More replies (1)

3

u/FatherOfLights88 24d ago

I think I have that on hand somewhere, but still haven't scene it. I'll get it to the top of my list. Thanks!

3

u/prine_one 24d ago

It’s top tier entertainment.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Stegasaurus_Wrecks 23d ago

And Con Air.

→ More replies (3)

3

u/Top-Round-2359 24d ago

That reminds me of Rural juror, not his, but another amazing one.

5

u/FatherOfLights88 24d ago

Rural Juror is clearly superior in every way.

2

u/ARM_vs_CORE 23d ago

Runaway Jury is so fucking depressing to watch with the context that nothing changed IRL, school shootings worsened and largely nothing was done to fix them. It had a hopeful ending but the United States went completely the other way.

138

u/TheGrooveasaurus 24d ago

Grosse Pointe Blank.

97

u/hexitor 24d ago

No, Gross Pointe Break. The one starring Swayze, Keanu and Cusack as elite assassins Ronald Reagan, Carter, and Nixon going to their high school reunions.

12

u/MuntaRuy 24d ago

This sounds perfect

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (5)
→ More replies (2)

44

u/wene324 24d ago

1408

26

u/apnonimus 24d ago

maybe i'm a lightweight but that movie scared me

16

u/isilidor0404 24d ago

Most horror movies don't scare me much at all anymore but 1408 really does it for me still

4

u/IHeldADandelion 24d ago

It made me scared of a Carpenters song

3

u/FluffyDoomPatrol 23d ago

We’ve only just begun.

3

u/kingjamesporn 23d ago

I was traveling when I went to that movie. I am definitely not a lightweight, but horror movies can be really situational for me, and I absolutely did not want to go back to my hotel.

2

u/kingjamesporn 23d ago

I was traveling when I went to that movie. I am definitely not a lightweight, but horror movies can be really situational for me, and I absolutely did not want to go back to my hotel.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/FratBoyGene 24d ago

Better Off Dead is absolutely hilarious, and rarely seen these days.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Resident_Bitch 23d ago

More recently (though still 11 years ago), he was really good in Love & Mercy. Doesn't look a thing like Brian Wilson but he portrays "damaged" quite well.

→ More replies (3)

2

u/account_for_norm 24d ago

Honestly, not a bad plan

2

u/band-of-horses 24d ago

Can’t even be mad, phoning in your job while making good money is the dream.

2

u/kaleidoscope00001 24d ago

Good for him.

2

u/lifeentropy 23d ago

I mean that's probably comparatively easy work for great relative pay, not a bad idea to be honest

→ More replies (2)

994

u/WySLatestWit 24d ago

Yeah, I think aging out of his niche is really the biggest issue. His career, with a few notable exceptions, is almost all some variation on romantic comedies, and guys in their late 50s don't tend to get rom com roles regularly and he didn't really have the range to do much else. Even when he tried to do something else he was basically playing the same character he played in his Rom Com roles just in a different genre.

115

u/saint_ryan 24d ago

Still great in Malkovitch but that was twenty years ago. ☹️

105

u/Reek_0_Swovaye 24d ago

Whatever about his current career, Cusack should be credited as the driving force that got that weird, unfilmable, 'Malkovich' film *(and therefore all other subsequent Charlie Kaufman films: Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine, Synecdoche etc.) made at all.

6

u/carringtino10 24d ago

Synecdoche, NY is one of the weirdest movies I have ever seen. It was like a fever dream on painkillers. It was weird even for Kaufman.

2

u/Reek_0_Swovaye 24d ago

It's a doozy!

28

u/SqrlMnkey 24d ago

I hate to be the one to point this out, but more like 26 years ago.  1999 :(

10

u/Gaseous-Clay84 24d ago

You shut your mouth, It was eight years ago and not a second later.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/Chadmanfoo 23d ago

Ouch! Right in the mortality!

3

u/NothingWasDelivered 24d ago

25 now. We’re getting old

2

u/WySLatestWit 24d ago

I gotta watch that movie again, I remember enjoying it but barely remember any details.

14

u/LorenzoStomp 24d ago

"Malkovitch Malkovitch Malkovitch?"

"Malkovitch! Malkovitch Malkovitch Malkovitch, Malkovitch Malcovitch!"

Man, what a classic line!

5

u/NatchJackson 24d ago

I like how all the characters are visually stylized to resemble traditional marionette puppets. Cusack's patchy beard and glasses and stringy ponytail and Diaz's rosy cheeks and wiry hair.

Then, on the 7 1/2 floor, everybody is forced to move about like puppets do, slightly hunched and all.

4

u/jonnyredshorts 24d ago

It’s so good! Upon rewatch I was surprised how dark it got, I remember thinking it was light and funny the whole way through.

2

u/Shim_Hutch 24d ago

With Charlie Sheen as his best friend at the end. Brilliant!

→ More replies (1)

2

u/HootieRocker59 24d ago

Oh god don't tell me that was 20 years ago 

2

u/adamduke88 24d ago

Closer to 30 years…

829

u/AlienScrotum 24d ago edited 24d ago

He is the perfect guy to pull off Grosse Pointe Blank though. To me he has always and will always be a “I’m getting too old for this shit” actor. Even when he was young. Crazy shit would happen and he would take it in stride. So much so, I would love him in a Leathal Weapon remake with a race swap.

169

u/WySLatestWit 24d ago

I have to watch that movie again. I remember it being really good.

147

u/jenorama_CA 24d ago

Welcome back, Pointers.

75

u/unique3 24d ago

Popcorn

9

u/AMGRN 24d ago

NO MEETINGS

3

u/Gaseous-Clay84 24d ago

Oh, I see Mr Grosser is brown bagging it today.

→ More replies (1)

133

u/GoldenKettle24 24d ago

I killed the President of Paraguay with a fork. How have you been?

55

u/starlitstarlet 24d ago

These are… my words.

70

u/GoldenKettle24 24d ago

Do you really believe there’s some kind of built up conflict that exists between us? There is no us.

3

u/Illustrious-Rush-740 24d ago

"WE" don't exist.

42

u/belgrano 24d ago

...for a while

27

u/Lazy_Reservist 24d ago

Wanna do some blow?

34

u/emjaywood 24d ago

you're handsome devil. what's your name?

3

u/nochereddit73 24d ago

Rewatched that scene post walking dead....His words... b!tchnuts , good gracious Ignatius, and motherd!ick lol

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)

93

u/Cursedbythedicegods 24d ago

"Hi there, I'm Martin Blank. I'm not married. I don't have any kids. And I'd blow your head off if someone paid me enough."

51

u/Blazin-Jay 24d ago

10 YEARS!

93

u/IndyO1975 24d ago

Nice seeing you, Ken. Thanks for the pen.

35

u/BigBarneyRoss 24d ago

It is I, Sidney Feldman.

19

u/ryanhilt 24d ago

My, you have changed. Been overseas?

→ More replies (1)

43

u/charitytowin 24d ago

I have a certain moral flexibility

29

u/AuntyMeme 24d ago

Nobody buys American anymore.

26

u/ElKristy 24d ago

I’m taking down the office now!

16

u/FixedVic 24d ago

You've been Detroit's most famous disappearing act since white flight

69

u/TitularFoil 24d ago

There's a spiritual sequel that also stars John Cusack and Dan Akroyd called War. Inc.

It's decent. It doesn't live up to Grosse Pointe Blank, but it was a fun watch.

3

u/WeirdOtter121 24d ago

What????? I had no idea.

6

u/broadsword_1 24d ago

Keep your expectations in-check, if you let yourself get too excited, you'll end up being disappointed. It's very much a geo-political commentary rather than the low-key vibe of GBP.

3

u/mariusioannesp 24d ago

Hilary Duff puts a scorpion down her pants.

→ More replies (2)

3

u/FluffyDoomPatrol 23d ago

So much potential… and yet.

→ More replies (1)

37

u/TwistedNightlight 24d ago

It's a great movie.

32

u/emjaywood 24d ago edited 23d ago

It really is. Story is good, characters are cool & well acted, fights are well choreographed, the gun play scenes are lively & fun while feeling realistic, it's got a murderers row of supporting talent in Arkin, Aykroyd, Joan Cusack, Hank Azaria, hell...even Piven is good. And Minnie Driver is absolutely charming as the jilted ex/love interest. I'm convinced anyone who doesn't like her hasn't seen that movie.

14

u/nighthawk_md 24d ago

It's a hoot. A great example of late 90s pre-9/11 culture too. "I killed the president of Paraguay with a fork!"

3

u/Finie 24d ago

Do you get dental with that?

13

u/Suzdg 24d ago

It’s sooo good!

6

u/robbietreehorn 24d ago edited 23d ago

The fight scene in the hall of the high school against a fellow hitman is one of the best in movie history, imo

→ More replies (1)

3

u/ragua007 24d ago

Don’t forget High Fidelity too!

2

u/Dog1bravo 24d ago

You got my blessing!

→ More replies (1)

54

u/tgs-with-tracyjordan 24d ago

He is the perfect guy to pull off Grosse Pointe Blank though. To me he has always and will always be a “I’m getting too old for this shit” actor. Even when he was young

I love this movie, but I do have to set aside the fact that it's set at a 10 year reunion. There's so much "too old for this shit" that they give off at least mid 30s vibes, not late 20s.

66

u/mackattacktheyak 24d ago

People keep saying he’s “too old for this shit” in this thread but that is not the impression I got from the movie at all. Instead he regrets his career choice and is having an existential crisis. He’s not too old, he’s become too… ethical.

9

u/big_sugi 24d ago

He was also just 30 when he made the movie, so he’s a better fit for a 10-year reunion, age-wise

→ More replies (1)

10

u/JarlaxleForPresident 24d ago

Oh yeah that’s so true, that should be a 20yr reunion for sure

62

u/10before15 24d ago

Top notch fight scenes.

15

u/Margali 24d ago

popcorn!

36

u/doctor_7 24d ago

They really are. Rewatched it recently and it was amazing to see how well they were done for a film coming out when it did. Most fights were just these laughable exchanges of the most telegraphed punches known to man.

47

u/peacefinder 24d ago

If I recall correctly the other actor for the locker hall fight was Cusack’s trainer and maybe the fight coordinator? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benny_Urquidez

55

u/IndyO1975 24d ago

Yeah. That’s Benny “The Jet.”

15

u/Unofficial_Officer 24d ago

Fuck yeah it is! Dude has been in a ton of kung fu movies.

19

u/DrJDog 24d ago

His fight with Jackie Chan in Wheels On Meals is my all time favourite.

3

u/AdorableSobah 24d ago

A man of culture

8

u/pnmartini 24d ago

“Kickboxing, sport of the future”

34

u/gogul1980 24d ago

yep benny is noted for being in 2 of jackie chan's top ten fight scenes of all time. A real rarity for a westerner in Asian cinema. He went above and beyond for the sequences in Grosse Pointe. Love that film.

3

u/Vast_Professor7399 24d ago

More like the top 2 fight scenes.

6

u/I_want_chicken 24d ago

Cusack mentions Benny "The Jet" Urquidez when he meets John Mahoney in Say Anything!

15

u/doctor_7 24d ago

It's a Bourne quality fight, really well done.

I did not know this fact, thanks for posting it!

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (1)

15

u/BlindClairvoyant 24d ago

I totally forgot about grosse pointe blank! Thanks, I'll be rewatching soon.

10

u/Mr_Toe_Tag 24d ago

Grosse Pointe Blank is in my top 3 favorite films.  War, Inc. was a sort-of ersatz sequel, but just not good. Made right about the time Cusack became more outspoken, but the film didn't balance the political message with entertainment imho

7

u/linuxhiker 24d ago

Fantastic movie

7

u/Tsquared10 24d ago

Absolutely love that movie and it's the first one I always think of when he's mentioned.

6

u/creativediffies 24d ago

That is one of my absolute favorite movies of all time. Amazing soundtrack too.

5

u/Click4Coupon 24d ago

I was going to mention he was good in Con Air. Not a rom-com

→ More replies (1)

14

u/pabodie 24d ago

There was a sort of weird stealth sequel to it called war Inc.  But it wasn’t very good. A real Grosse Pointe blank sequel would be incredible. Martin Blank has basically become Grosner  And the young bucks are after him  

5

u/sunnyfordays22 24d ago

I just watched grosse pointe blank - it’s a great one and yes perfect role for him.

5

u/thegermblaster 24d ago

I think that’s why High Fidelity is my favorite movie of his. It’s about a guy coming to terms with “I’m getting too old for this shit” when it comes to relationships.

However, Rob is the primary cause of the shit he’s getting too old for lol.

2

u/broadsword_1 24d ago

However, Rob is the primary cause of the shit he’s getting too old for lol.

I thought they did a decent-enough job of showing that in the film - he's the cause of his problems and while he doesn't magically change into someone different, by the end he's realising his mistakes and taking a genuine attempt at being better.

4

u/PlasticCraken 24d ago

Hugh Grant horror movie redemption arc please 😂

4

u/GovernmentOpposite65 24d ago

Sweet Minnie Driver

3

u/DrRotwang 24d ago

So much so in Say Anything. "You must chill!"

2

u/Dragon900x 24d ago

If we're talking race swap and Lethal Weapon, then you must be on about Lethal Weapon 6

2

u/DonAskren 24d ago

One of my top 3 movies for sure.

2

u/jsmoo68 24d ago

I mean, he helped write the movie, so I think that’s why the part was so good for him.

→ More replies (10)

71

u/TheJenerator65 24d ago

He needs to pull a Hugh Grant and reinvent himself as a series of awesome villains.

→ More replies (1)

35

u/richardmannn 24d ago

Him in Being John Malkovich was brilliant imo

98

u/IndividualistAW 24d ago

1408?

82

u/WySLatestWit 24d ago

1408 is one of the exceptions in his career, and I love that movie (even if the good ending basically doesn't exist anymore in the world of streaming...).

28

u/AgentWD409 24d ago

The Frozen Ground (2013) was pretty good. Plus, ya know... Nic Cage.

48

u/MrSinister248 24d ago

Also Con Air

36

u/Correct_Advantage_20 24d ago

The Grifters

14

u/lorddingus 24d ago

Identity

3

u/anuncommontruth 24d ago

Do people really think identity is good? I thought it was the most ridiculous plot I've ever seen.

Actually, I just looked it up on RT, and people seem very divided about it.

That tracks for me. I managed a Blockbuster when it came out, and my film nerd friends and I hated it, but I spoke with a lot of people who liked it.

I guess it has an audience.

→ More replies (2)
→ More replies (7)
→ More replies (2)

14

u/Kriss-Kringle 24d ago

I would recommend Never grow old too. It's a western he did with Emile Hirsch and it's pretty decent.

He plays a creepy guy that comes into a town and is genuinely good in the role.

→ More replies (2)

2

u/braedan51 24d ago

Which is the good ending? I can't recall now, the endjng on my copy includes Sam Jackson at the cemetery.

16

u/WySLatestWit 24d ago edited 24d ago

That is the bad ending. This is spoilers but since it's damn near impossible to find this ending it really doesn't matter anymore I guess, but the theatrical cut included an ending where Cusack's character survives the fire and ends up reconciling with his wife. And in the very final scene he's going through a box of his possessions that were recovered from the room and among them is the tape recorder. He plays the tape where his wife can hear it, and on the tape is a recording of Cusack's conversation with the dead daughter in the hotel. Cusack gives a knowing look to his now completely and totally stunned wife, fade to black, the end. It's a fantastic ending, much more subtle than the "last second jump scare" style ending of the "director's cut."

6

u/iatealotofcheese 24d ago

This is the ending they show on TV whenever they reair it for a month straight. 

→ More replies (3)
→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (22)
→ More replies (4)

34

u/typesett 24d ago

he can make a comeback

the new alan rickman of this gen

13

u/Margali 24d ago

i liked the light romantic cary grant type demiheros.

2

u/skalpelis 24d ago

Or the next Bob Balaban

→ More replies (2)

3

u/Brock_Hard_Canuck 24d ago

Guys in their late 50s don't tend to get rom com roles regularly and he didn't really have the range to do much else.

The first part reminds me of Leslie Nielsen.

In Nielsen's early career, he was the dramatic / romantic leading man (most famously in Forbidden Planet and The Poseidon Adventure).

So by the time the 1980s came along, Nielsen (who was now in his 50s), was "aging out" of the romantic / dramatic leading man stuff. However, he got offered his first role in a comedy film: Airplane.

Nielsen, who stated his true passion had been comedy, even during his romantic / dramatic acting days, jumped at the chance to finally get into his first comedic movie.

In fact, one of the "big jokes" of Airplane is supposed to be the audience laughing at the fact that you have "serious actor" Leslie Nielsen doing his deadpan comedy bit as all the zaniness of the movie unfolds around him (a fact obviously lost on more modern viewers who are ONLY familiar with Nielsen's comedic movie roles).

Nielsen's last non-comedic role came in the legal drama Nuts, released in 1987 (also starring Barbra Streisand and Richard Dreyfuss). After that, Nielsen dedicated 100% of his time to comedy (be it deadpan or goofy or slapstick, etc...), until his death in 2010 at the age of 84.

3

u/billbord 24d ago

Runaway jury was awesome

2

u/Chocu1a 24d ago

As was Dracula: Dead & Loving it. Both are Hilarious!

3

u/Crying_Reaper 24d ago

That and RomComs are basically dead as a genre.

3

u/CasaBonitaBandit 24d ago

Cusack was so good in 1408 and Identity. I wish I had more horror from him. Well, at least I’ve got LongLegs with Nicholas Cage.

3

u/clarissaswallowsall 24d ago

I would love to see him in a Lost in Translation type of film though.

3

u/Stardustchaser 24d ago edited 24d ago

Mark Ruffalo took his roles. Cusack probably would have been great in a film like Spotlight.

2

u/-SneakySnake- 24d ago

It'll come back around when he gets older, he'll find a new niche as the quirky old guy playing great supporting roles. It's just how this goes.

2

u/WySLatestWit 24d ago

Yeah, even Michael Keaton essentially vanished from any major mainstream non-tv projects somewhere in his 50s until he resurfaced again as a phenomenal "character actor" type in his mid 60s with Birdman.

2

u/-SneakySnake- 24d ago

Exactly. And he'll likely get just as much prestige as Keaton, too. Cusack has always been a really good actor.

2

u/bendbars_liftgates 24d ago

He was very well-cast in 1408- he pulled off "cynical washed-up exploitative writer" extremely well. Though that was quite a while ago, and he's older now, I still think he could do similar roles.

→ More replies (10)

48

u/AvengingBlowfish 24d ago

Replaced by Paul Rudd…

26

u/JimmyTsonga 24d ago

The guy from Mac & Me?

→ More replies (3)

309

u/immagoodboythistime 24d ago

It wasn’t just activism that stalled his career, it was 9/11 Trutherism. This was before the Conspiracy world was taken over by Alex Jones, Trump and ultimately Russian Psy-Ops, back when it was harmless kooks who believed the Military Industrial Complex murdered JFK, RFK and MLK, back when they were lefties trying to push against the supposed shadiness of the government.

John Cusack was very close with Hunter S Thompson around the same time and Thompson too was a 9/11 Truther who believe Bush and the US government was involved, and they both pushed that line of thinking. Woody Harrelson was involved in it too and he made a documentary about how jet fuel cannot melt steel beams. You can’t find that documentary online anymore.

You also can’t find much mention of anyone involved in the 9/11 Truth movement. It’s been scrubbed from most people’s wiki pages now. Remember the actor from the Clint Eastwood movies Every Which You Can and Every Which Way But Loose, the guy who was the leader of the biker gang? His name was John Quade and he was a speaker at many, many 9/11 Truth movement symposiums as well as plenty of conspiracy cons. All that has been removed from his history online, most likely because the anyone with a brain left the conspiracy crowd when it turned racist and fascist, around the time of Obama.

Most of the others dropped out of the conspiracy stuff after Hunter S Thompson died, but John Cusack still went up against the “Military Industrial Complex” and the New World Order for a while after that, and that absolutely cratered his appeal to being cast in movies.

He’s mostly given it up now and definitely isn’t a Trump era conspiracy person, but yeah, that’s where his mainstream appeal disappeared to.

46

u/ILoveRegenHealth 24d ago

I'm confused, did John fully adopt the 9/11 truther stuff and spout that stuff online, or he just hung out with Hunter S. Thompson and that was the extent of that?

Josh Brolin beat his wife, admitted it, and I would not say anyone hiring him or hanging out with him condone that awful moment.

Martin Scorsese, Guillermo Del Toro and Harrison Ford all defended Roman Polanski (none of them have retracted it). But I would not say those who hang out with these three endorse the same beliefs as these three.

9

u/voxadam 24d ago

he made a documentary about how jet fuel cannot melt steel beams. You can’t find that documentary online anymore.

What was the "documentary" called?

8

u/unjacent 23d ago

"'I Don't Understand Structural Engineering' with Woody Harrelson"

2

u/osphan 23d ago

I thought it was Rampart

2

u/CanineAnaconda 23d ago

It was the beginning of all of those bozos who slept in the back of science and civics classes suddenly becoming self-regarded experts on engineering, virology and government. Jet fuel burning at those temps wouldn’t liquify steel and that’s as far as that “theory” went, not taking into account that intensely burning jet fuel can weaken and compromise steel’s structural integrity. Harrelson long ago had shown me playing the dumb-as-rocks barkeep on Cheers wasn’t an act.

123

u/Insidious_Anon 24d ago

I think its a lot simpler than that. Ive heard tons of stories that hes simply difficult to deal with. He was pissed at the director of better off dead after the screening because he didnt like it and thats one of his best movies. heard a lot of similar stories about him over the years.

42

u/immagoodboythistime 24d ago

Maybe, but he made an awful lot of movies between Better Off Dead and his 9/11 conspiracy era, and not a lot after.

35

u/Insidious_Anon 24d ago

People will deal with you in hollywood as long as youre making them money. he had a string of flops which made it very easy to write him off.

→ More replies (2)

2

u/fastermouse 24d ago

He's recently made peace with that movie and admits it was youthful attitude that made him rebel against it.

→ More replies (2)

44

u/CO_PC_Parts 24d ago

Cusack was also a HUGE partier in the 80s and 90s, and from almost everything I’ve seen about him he hates Hollywood and is a prick.

Most of the roles people love him for he despises now. He’s just a bitter, drunk, asshole. Hollywood moves on from these guys pretty fast, him, depp, Mickey rourke, those types.

If people don’t want to work with you and deal with your bullshit, well you’re gonna get forgotten. Unless other people in your same circle throw something together, the Mel Gibson and sly Stallones.

4

u/david-saint-hubbins 24d ago

Yeah I remember hearing some stories about him from people in LA who had met him first-hand and it just sounded like he was kind of a dick. This was almost 20 years ago.

I doubt it's some big conspiracy that the military-industrial complex sent down a decree that Hollywood had to stop hiring him. His career just fizzled out.

7

u/mechachap 24d ago

I did like his appearances on David Choe’s podcast all those years ago. Nice guy. 

5

u/ham_solo 24d ago

I remember for a good while he was writing in the Huff Post about the Iraq war and the Patriot Act. I think those two causes were really important to him, and frankly, he's probably got the kind of money where you can live kinda modestly and not work all the time. I haven't followed his politics since though.

I think he's doing movies now just as a job, not to maintain a high-profile career. When you get involved with a big studio production, there's possibly a lot of commitment involved. Longer shoots, press tours, etc. These DTV movies usually require a modest time on set and not much promotion. He can still draw a nice fee from the production. As for foreign films, that used to be a common thing with Hollywood actors, but it was more relegated to commercials since it likely wouldn't be seen stateside. Again, he probably commands a good salary and it's free trip to China.

12

u/VzlaRebelion 24d ago

“Military Industrial Complex”

I would point out at the David Grusch hearings if you don't believe the MIC is not involved in creepy shit.

25

u/shkeptikal 24d ago

I would point out literally every single bit of US foreign policy since WW2 and a decent chunk of it before as well. American intelligence and the MIC are the sole reasons the world looks the way it does, and that's not a compliment. There's a reason our history teachers skimmed the vast majority of the late 1800s/early 1900s; it makes it really hard to be a patriotic American.

→ More replies (1)

2

u/GarfieldDaCat no shots of jacked dudes re-loading their arms. 4/10. 23d ago

Woody Harrelson was involved in it too and he made a documentary about how jet fuel cannot melt steel beams. You can’t find that documentary online anymore.

Wow, completely forgot about this.

→ More replies (16)

11

u/Boeing367-80 24d ago

America's Sweethearts was the cringefest that made me realize that aging was problematic for Cusack. The stacked talent in that flick just emphasizes how terrible it is.

12

u/[deleted] 24d ago

[deleted]

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (2)

25

u/heebs387 24d ago

I had to unfollow him because I agree with him politically but he's a serial poster. He's a little BlueAnon too at times.

6

u/adamsandleryabish 24d ago

The only benefit of scrolling through an account like his is all the truly angry crazed people in the replies getting so mad at him, or getting emotional in the anger. Its always "JOHN CUSACK I HAVE BEEN A HUGE FAN OF YOURS SINCE 1984 BUT THIS POLITICAL SHIT HAS GONE TOO FAR. I AM THROWING AWAY ALL MY DVDS ON YOURS".

I am not sure whats funnier/sadder the idea of John waking up every morning to post basic anti-Trump content, or the people equally lined up to be upset at John Cusack of all people.

17

u/bottle_of_bees 24d ago edited 24d ago

I got that vibe too. I never followed him, but enough of my friends did that I always saw a lot of his posts (mostly on Twitter) and he came across as… the high school loner who was scary-smart but really should have reined it in a little. Like if Lloyd Dobler never met Diane, and instead got involved with the Lone Gunmen.

ETA: I actually agree with most of his politics, but I found his expression of them tiresome.

5

u/latticep 24d ago

I've never gathered "scary-smart." He writes like a teenager and not ironically.

3

u/bottle_of_bees 24d ago

Oh, yeah, his writing is terrible. I was thinking more of a time before social media, when he came across in interviews as very smart. In the mid-90s I read one where he was talking about his strategy to do one high-dollar, fun movie a year to make enough money for him to be able to make something weird and not a surefire commercial hit.

→ More replies (1)

6

u/valeyard89 24d ago

Now that's a real shame when folks be throwin' away a perfectly good white boy like that.

19

u/FamousLastWords666 24d ago

He criticized Israeli foreign policy.

3

u/mikemdp 24d ago
  1. He was also famously difficult to work with, is my understanding. A young and handsome jerk can still get good work. An old and jowly jerk is a half-step from being Eric Roberts.

2

u/Salt-Inevitable1 24d ago

For real on his activism. He saved that island from those lobster restaurant villians!

2

u/sonictank 24d ago

He needs to pull Liam Neeson and start doing one-man-action flicks. No other way.

2

u/Figgywithit 24d ago

Also bad plastic surgery.

2

u/space_manatee 24d ago

He aged out of his 'niche' which was "attractive but intellectually-neurotic leading man"

Hugh grant enters stage right

2

u/Spiritual-Society185 24d ago

Hugh Grant has diversified into villain roles. Plus, he's way more charming (which makes the villains even better.)

2

u/Diablojota 24d ago

He’s also a huge asshole.

→ More replies (22)