Shia Labeouf is Officially a Hollywood A-Lister

Posted by Matt Rosenberg on June 30, 2009 at 12:06 pm

His name is infamous, his last name is annoying to spell, and he’s a former Disney Channel superstar, but now Shia Labeouf is officially a Hollywood A-Lister. He is a 23 year old kid who has history of driving drunk and an affliction for finding himself in the tabloids. Be that as it may, this past week “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” took in over $201 million, just losing out to The Dark Knight ($203 million) for the second largest 5 day opening in film history. The man behind that success is none other than Shia Labeouf. Sure Megan Fox is a big part of this, but they simply could not make this sequel without Shia Labeouf.

I do not want to confuse super stardom with talent; super stardom and talent are mutually exclusive. Look at Tom Cruise for example. He is most definitely a Hollywood A-Lister but I wouldn’t say he’s the most talented actor in Hollywood. This goes for other A-Listers such as Stallone, Nick Cage, Harrison Ford, and Ben Affleck.

When an actor becomes unexpendable it is a strong sign that he has reached the highest level of super stardom. Could Marvel make any more Spiderman movies without Toby? Could anyone else be John Maclane other than Bruce Willis? Could any Jim Carrey movie star anyone else besides Jim Carrey? Well, now Shia has made himself attached to a film that cannot be made without him. Not just any film as well, a monster cash cow giant franchise. He is Sam Witwicky and that’s that.

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I want to mention a couple other things that give him super stardom. First, he has a very distinct name stage name. The name actually distinguishes him from the rest of his peers and has become synonmous with his face. The name is also part of his brand and adds extra muscle to a film lineup. Second, he has become Steven Spielberg’s boy. The part of Mutt Williams in last Summer’s Indiana Jones film was pretty much written for him. Does Spielberg and Lucas have future plans to keep the Indiana Jones series alive? Do they have plans to make Labeouf the new Jones? Well it sure looks like it. Spielberg is also a part producer in the Transformer movies. He is a pretty good ally to have in an attempt to climb the Hollywood A-List.

In 2005, Shia starred in the film “The Greatest Game Ever Played,” a golf movie about the story of an amateur golfer defeating golf legends to win the 1913 US Open. The film is directed by Bill Paxton. If you want to see the dawning of Labeouf’s real star power, watch that film. He does an incredible job bringing his character to life. The film is also a great film, especially for golf lovers.

From tabloids to dollar signs, Labeouf is all over Hollywood these days. He’s got an arrogant swagger and he’s kind of funny. In his movies, he sort of has that everyday kid personality and it makes him more likeable on screen. If things continue to move in their current direction, Shia Labeouf will be around for a long time.

Shia Labeouf, welcome to the Hollywood A-List

Comments : 3 Comments | Topics : Rants | Tags : Shia Labeouf,Transformers

3 Comments

jim
11/24/2011 at 5:32 pm

Shia Labeouf has had his fifteen minutes of fame that has really lasted a good hour and he has done nothing with it. He has been given every opportunity to establish himself as a good actor and he is still just a kid who can’t do serious acting. He started off as a kid star on a silly, but popular Disney Channel show and if there’s any adversity that he has ever faced in the world of real acting, it’s that he’s had a hard mold to break to become a respectable actor, but he’s had plenty of opportunity to do so.
He’s been given roles in a variety of films, ranging from Action movies like Transformers to serious movies like Wall Street. He’s had the opportunity to work with some of the most talented and tenured actors, directors, and producers in Hollywood. He got to work with Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas in Indiana Jones and he still weighed the whole project down with his inability to be a serious actor, meaning people still couldn’t take him seriously. He got to work with Michael Douglas, Frank Langela, and Oliver Stone in Wall Street, Money Never Sleeps and despite another powerhouse performance from Douglas, he still failed to hold his own. Michael Bay couldn’t make a good movie if his life depended on it, but in the action movie business, the term “good movie” doesn’t mean a lot and he at least has experience. Even though he was paired with the 100% talentless Megan Fox in a role that is quite frankly very difficult to screw up, Shia still managed to make us laugh at his performance.
The point I am making when I talk about Shia getting to work with great Hollywood talent and experience is that he’s had the opportunity to learn from the best, and when he gets to work with talented, established actors like Ford and Douglas they take a lot of pressure off of Shia, meaning he has less responsibility which is always good. Cases in point, The Godfather, Goodfellas, Pulp Fiction, Traffic, and the Departed to name a few, all great, successful films with ensemble casts where everyone was able to do a good job acting because the pressure was evenly distributed among a long list of good actors. Shia has had that benefit many times and he has never managed to take advantage of it. Shia Labeouf has lived his nine lives in Hollywood. He has had his three strikes at the plate and then some and he still hasn’t gotten on base. Sorry, Shia, but you can’t act.