MovieChat Forums > Barry Lyndon (1975) Discussion > Ryan O'Neal very badly cast here

Ryan O'Neal very badly cast here

posted 9 months ago by ebhaynz (3563)
14 replies | jump to latest

Very little range. Kubrick did his best but this was never going to work.

Kubrick's wisely chose Jack Nicholson for his next film.

[–] pazuzu9 (304) 5 months ago

I disagree. I was surprised how well he did.

[–] nyctc7 (41505) 5 months ago

I think it is the best thing he ever did. More than respectable performance.

[–] pazuzu9 (304) 5 months ago

Yeah, I thought he did it right by doing a low key style. Kind of soft spoken and didn't try to do a strong Irish accent. He was one of the reasons I didn't think I would like this movie but when I watched it for the first time (a few years ago) I was pleasantly surprised. Now it's my favorite Kubrick film.

[–] Pete314 (2474) 5 months ago

Love Story? Paper Moon?

[–] nyctc7 (41505) 5 months ago

Not to take away from those, maybe I'm biased because I love Stanley Kubrick movies.

[–] MichaelJPollock (651) 5 months ago

Only American in all Irish and English cast. He's the perfect outsider, just like his character. Perfect casting I think.

[–] [deleted] 5 months ago

I thought he was great. This was kind of an ideal role for him, the handsome, superficially charming grifter.

[–] MoviesStillSuck (289) 5 months ago

Nicholson is fun to watch, but his acting is way over the top in that film, much to its detriment. By contrast, O’Neal gives a very subtle performance here, and Barry Lyndon is all the better for it.

[–] pazuzu9 (304) 5 months ago

Well, to be fair, Kubrick had James Cagney style acting in mind when he chose Nicholson for the role.

Here's Spielberg talking about it: https://youtu.be/B62f1gQliLY?t=79

[–] MoviesStillSuck (289) 5 months ago

Yeah, I’ve seen that. Thanks for sharing, though. As much as Spielberg irks me these days, I have to agree with him here. Nicholson was extremely distracting (and yet still entertaining because he’s Jack), whereas Wendy was excellent. Hell, even Danny brings more subtlety to his role than Academy Award-winder Nicholson in this one. All that said, even Kubrick’s questionable decisions are more solid than any other director’s flashes of “genius”, so I’m not really complaining. If you put The Shining on in front of my eyeballs, I will drop everything and watch it (usually with a full-blown erection, depending on healthy my diet has been lately).

[–] pazuzu9 (304) 5 months ago

I always felt the same. I can see his performance is good and fun to watch but also distracting. Never had a problem with Shelley and although I think Danny was a good kid actor I always hated the croaky finger talking voice and the redrum bit. I hated it in 1980 and still cringe. The scene with Jack and Stone in the bathroom is one of my favorite scenes of all time though.

[–] MoviesStillSuck (289) 5 months ago

Yeah, I could definitely do without the croaky finger nonsense. No doubt about that.

[–] MoviesStillSuck (289) 5 months ago

Yeah, I could definitely do without the croaky finger nonsense. No doubt about that.

[–] Heisenberg (6386) 5 months ago

He was great.
Who would you have casted instead?