Actresses Are Better at Emoting Than These Actors?

Gene Seymour’s reprinted commentary from Newsday (“On the Face of It, Actresses Out-Emote Actors,” Nov. 30) is so utterly devoid of thought it almost makes me long for one of those much-maligned commentaries by Robert Hilburn. I said: almost.

I have no problem with Seymour’s homage to modern actresses; that Emily Watson and Renee Zellweger light up the screen with their nonverbal emotional fireworks is a no-brainer. But then to state that no male screen actor since the end of the silent era with the exception of James Stewart has packed a nonverbal emotional wallop is absolutely ludicrous.

I take it Seymour never saw Ray Milland in “The Lost Weekend,” Jimmy Cagney in “White Heat,” Humphrey Bogart in anything, William Holden in practically anything, not to mention the incandescent luminosity of Montgomery Clift in “A Place in the Sun” and “I Confess,” the searing intensity of James Dean in “East of Eden” and “Rebel Without a Cause” or the savage intensity of Marlon Brando in “A Streetcar Named Desire” or “On the Waterfront.”

What about Robert De Niro in “Raging Bull,” “Mean Streets” and “Taxi Driver” or Russell Crowe in “L.A. Confidential” and “The Insider” (one of the great performances of this or any year). Then there’s what I consider the most powerful silent-acting moment in the history of American cinema: Al Pacino staring into the waters of Lake Tahoe at the conclusion of “Godfather II.” What could be more emotional than the horror of that hollow gaze?

Next time you find it necessary to import a think piece, please make sure there’s some thought in it.

ROB SULLIVAN

Los Angeles

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When Gene Seymour comments that “women have it way over men as far as nonverbal acting is concerned,” I’m sure that he hasn’t seen Charlie Chaplin’s “City Lights” in ages. It’s hard to imagine another film in which the expressions on the chief character’s face bring together the whole theme of the movie. (Woody Allen tried a similar ending close-up in “Manhattan.”)

REGINA MORIN

San Diego

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Seymour’s cute conceit about actresses out-emoting actors convinces me that he either needs to get out more or needs to avoid misleading emphasis for the sake of a story.

He might start the going-out process with “The Bone Collector” and should pay particular attention to Denzel Washington’s nonverbal externalization of complex levels of pain. I thought that in one such moment this actor achieved a level of expression that is the goal of every serious actor (in the non-gender-specific sense).

JULES BRENNER

Hollywood

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Interesting points brought up by Seymour, but he left one bit of powerful silent acting, by a male, out of his critique.

I’m referring to the final scene in “The Long Good Friday,” when the camera stays on Bob Hoskins’ face for an ungodly and torturous amount of time as his whole being conveys just about every emotion, reaction and thought process a human could possibly go through, given the situation his character has found himself in. It’s an astounding scene to watch. Fortunately, the entire movie is just as brilliant, and we get to see Pierce Brosnan in his first film, and he don’t say nothing either.

Let’s give credit where credit is due. Tom Cruise is wonderful, so is Renee Zellweger, so are a lot of others, and everybody has bad days (or movies). The reaction shot is probably the hardest singular task an actor can attempt. Hats off to all of them just for the effort.

WILLIAM CRISWELL

Los Angeles