"Not Bad for a Bartender!" by Scott Mantz

Question: What do Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, and Bruce Willis all have in common (other than their connection to the re-energized Planet Hollywood franchise)?

Answer: They are all action heroes who've had their careers almost self-destruct in the last decade.

While Schwarzenegger has yet to regain his former glory, and Stallone's last few movies have been, well, "Judge Dredd"-ful, Bruce Willis has constantly managed to justify his $20 million per picture salary, despite a career filled with more ups and downs than the stock market. Why? Is it talent? Is it timing? Or is it just plain luck? On the eve of his highly anticipated new supernatural thriller "Unbreakable," we answer these questions by looking back on a career that has followed the notion,"if you throw enough stuff against the wall, some of it is gonna stick."

His Girl Friday: Sparks (and knives) fly between Willis and Cybill Shepherd on TV's "Moonlighting"

After making ends meet as a bartender, Willis burst onto the scene in the mid-80's with a co-starring role on TV's "Moonlighting." Talk about beginner's luck! Originally spearheaded as a vehicle for Cybill Shephard, Willis literally stole the show as the streetwise, chauvinistic, and childlike private investigator David Addison. Whenever he appeared on the screen, his manic energy and comic timing were so on target that you just couldn't imagine anyone else in the role.

Making the leap from TV to film is a jump that has left many celebrities licking their wounds. Mark Harmon and Michael J. Fox both had moderate success on the big screen after stints on "St. Elsewhere" and "Family Ties" respectively, but after a string of turkeys, including "The Presidio" for Harmon and "Doc Hollywood" for Fox, it was only a matter of time before they both crawled back to their roots. David Caruso and Shelly Long practically fell off the face of the Earth after their brilliant career moves, and, even after earning critical kudos for "Out of Sight" and "Three Kings," George Clooney has yet to earn the respect of a bona-fide movie star (although "The Perfect Storm" may change that). Only John Travolta has consistently managed to maintain big screen success, even though there were times when it looked like he was destined for the direct-to-video bin (and after this year, he may be again).

What's remarkable is how quickly Willis found his niche in feature films. After a couple of false starts (with the forgettably unfunny "Blind Date" and "Sunset") and a foray into the music business (with the ego trip "The Return of Bruno"), Willis hit paydirt with a little movie about a man who single-handedly defeated an army of hi-tech bank robbers. That film, "Die Hard," not only created the most consistently bankable character second only to the "James Bond" and "Indiana Jones" films, but it also created a genre to which all future action films, like "Speed" ("Die Hard" on a bus) and "Executive Decision" ("Die Hard" on a plane), would be compared. It also upped the ante on celebrity salaries, with Willis commanding a then record-breaking $5 million for the role of his career. "Yippee-ki-yay" indeed!

It's quite probable that even if Arnold Schwarzennegger or Sylvester Stallone had played the role of John McClane, "Die Hard" would still have made millions at the box office. Yet, Bruce Willis had an everyman quality that audiences were instantly able to connect to. Instead of a hero who had muscles bulging out of his shirt, Willis was relatively slim. Instead of a hero with killer looks a la Tom Cruise, Willis had a receding hairline. He was a flawed hero with a failed marriage, but he still embraced his sharp wit and sense of humor despite facing unbeatable odds. With "Die Hard," Willis worked hard, he had nothing to lose, and he became a superstar in the process.

Unfortunately, once the pressure was gone, so was the passion. Although Willis revived John McClane with 1990's "Die Hard 2: Die Harder," the film lacked the vibrancy of its 1988 predecessor. The roles that followed were merely different variations of the same character, with "The Last Boy Scout" and "Striking Distance" lacking the charm that gave Willis his everyman appeal. "Hudson Hawk" was the exact opposite, ending up as an embarrassing ego trip, and it became clear that audiences would not shell out their har d-earned money just to see him walk through his movies without even breaking a sweat.

Still, there was no denying that Willis was a major Hollywood player. Speaking of which, in Robert Altman's 1992 sendup of the movie industry, "The Player," every producer and director in town was anxious to have Willis appear in their film. Although he was just in it for a moment, Willis shows up at the end of the movie-within-the-movie sending up his own image--the action star with the cool one-liners. (How ironic that at 8 years after the fact, Hollywood is still eager to have him sign on the dotted line!)

Willis delivers a knockout performance in "Pulp Fiction"

Faced with career meltdown #1, Willis immersed himself in a groundbreaking film that would only end up reviving his career. Eager to redeem himself as an actor, he took a major cut in pay to work on yet another film responsible for creating a whole new genre. With its hip look at violence and non-linear storytelling, Quentin Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction" contained top-notch performances across the board, including Willis as the tortured, desperate, and intense boxer Butch Coolidge. Though it may not have been a character that audiences could connect to, the critics finally took notice of his acting abilities.

Unfortunately, Willis spent the rest of the 90's appearing in the sort of mindless fluff that threatened to destroy his career in the first place. Aside from impressive turns in "12 Monkeys" and "The Fifth Element," he literally walked through his roles in "Last Man Standing," "The Jackal," "Mercury Rising," and "The Siege."

Willis saves the world (again!) in "Armageddon"

It was while he was in the midst of filming the aborted movie "The Broadway Brawler" that he faced the prospect of career meltdown #2. Not happy with the way "Brawler" was turning out, and realizing that another turkey would do him in, he sought to have the project shelved indefinitely. Then, like a white knight from one of his own movies, then-Disney film chief Joe Roth stepped in and made Willis an offer he couldn't refuse. Roth would pay for all of the expenses incurred on "Brawler" in exchange for a three picture commitment from him for less than his usual salary.

Talk about a blessing in disguise! The first of those pictures, 1998's "Armageddon," put Willis back on top in a Fourth of July spectacular, but it was the next film that gave him one of the best roles of his career. Thanks to his sensitive portrayal as a child psychologist (not to mention a killer ending!), "The Sixth Sense" went on to become the second highest grossing movie of 1999. It also contained a reminder that, yes, Bruce Willis can really act, and had it not been for a stellar performance from young Haley Joel Osment, Willis would have been the one nominated for that film.

"I see dead presidents!" Willis and Haley Joel Osment bring 'em back for more in "The Sixth Sense"

There's no doubt that Willis has gotten to a point where he can literally walk through his movies, but once in a while he steps up to the plate and hits a home run. So, is it talent? Absolutely! Is it timing? It always is in Hollywood! Is it just plain luck? Luck will only get you so far in this business! The fact is, like Tom Cruise (and maybe Brad Pitt), Bruce Willis has been able to walk the line between commercial blockbusters and edgy fare, resulting in an incredibly eclectic career. All signs point to continued success with "Unbreakable," but one thing is for sure. No matter what happens, something tells me the best is yet to come.

By the way, whatever did happen to Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone anyway?

Back to Scott's New Movie Reviews

Review Archives