It’s a happy birthday to Morgan Freeman, who allegedly turns 71 today. I say allegedly because is there any casual film fan who holds memories of an at-all young Freeman? I’m pretty sure he might have sprung from his mother’s womb pre-aged to about 50 or so.
Freeman is mega-respected by his peers, and not without good reason — he’s a generous and gregarious guy. Still, though you wouldn’t necessarily guess it from the outside, some people in the press have problems with him; I have a good friend who once lobbed him a question incorporating the word Freeman probably detests most when attached to queries about his craft (“gravitas”), and was dressed down in mocking fashion. A lot of others view his cud-chewing, turn-the-question-on-the-questioner routine as tiresome, when they’re just trying to get a cross-quote about a costar or director or what have you. Personally, I tend to think Freeman is a hoot. Yeah, he’s apt to give you some good-natured crap, but it’s because he turned on and tuned in to what you’re actually saying, and appreciates both good badinage and honest reflection. I’d rather have that than the sullen, sighing workmanship of some other celebrities.
Yet I also think Freeman is overrated as an actor, plain and simple. There’s talent, sure, but take away the tent-poles in which he’s appeared, and you have a lot of the same, water-treading type of work, particularly in the last 10 years. He’s leaned too long and too hard on his ennobled wise man shtick (hence all the “gravitas” questions, of which he’s sick), to the point where one expects (and is rarely surprised) to see him play mostly a capital-T type, and even the serious narration of his movies (Feast of Love, the forthcoming Wanted, etcetera) sparks giggles. In many ways, Freeman is the upmarket version of Samuel L. Jackson — an actor who has love of merely working has led him to basically stop challenging himself. Actually, even Jackson seems to occasionally stir to throw himself into something that might be considered trying (e.g., Resurrecting the Champ, and, more arguably, Black Snake Moan). Hopefully The Human Factor, Clint Eastwood’s upcoming drama in which Freeman will portray Nelson Mandela, can serve as that sort of wake-up call for Freeman, who’s been coasting downhill for a long, long time now.
