I have always had a crush on James Franco. James has one of the cutest grins. I must admit though, I have not exactly been blown away by his acting, I mostly enjoyed his work due to his appearance. I certainly saw there was talent there, especially in films like 'Sonny' and 'James Dean' but I was waiting for James to really get a role to sink his teeth into.
Well, this past year James got that chance. With roles in 'Pineapple Express' and 'Milk' in 2008, has there been an actor with two such different roles all in the same year. I have always admired James for his choice of roles, and picking these two certainly made him a break out star last year. Although I thought Josh Brolin was great, to me, it should have been Franco who was nominated for the best supporting actor. Milk was a great movie, though I enjoyed the documentary on Milk better myself. But Milk was a showcase for Sean Penn, many of the supporting actors were simply put in to surrond him. I found much of the cast disappeared into the background, the usually amazing Emile Hirsch even fell flat to me in this role. Diego Luna did not impress me at all in Milk and Lucas Grabeel, Alision Pill and the amazing Victor Garber all had great parts, but none were deveolped enough for them to shine. The only exception for me was Franco. Yes, his relationship Milk was the one that was a focus of the first half of the movie, but it was also the most interesting part of the film to me due to Franco's performance. It was subtle but intense. I am a huge Sean Penn, and he was amazing in Milk, but to me Franco was the most interesting character to watch.
James in 'Milk' (2008).
More James Franco:
James in 'James Dean' (2001).
James in 'Sonny' (2002).
James in 'Whatever It Takes' (2000)
