Anthony Stokes praises Shia LaBeouf…
I like to think that I’m pretty good in seeing the best in actors. I watched Bradley Cooper in Limitless and said “this guy is going to win an Oscar some day”. I also defended Channing Tatum when people were saying he couldn’t act, and now he’s got legitimate Oscar buzz for Foxcatcher. But the person I was always most sure of was Shia LaBeouf.
I’m not one of those people who holds somebody’s personal life against their professional work. Mel Gibson can call me on the phone and scream racial slurs at me all he wants, but he’s still a fantastic talent. Shia has been going through an obvious identity crisis and probable emotional breakdown. Even when attempting to make amends with his “Iamsorry” performance art people still found things to criticize him for. I never rode the Shia hate train, because I knew how much of a talent he was.
People try to claim Shia is a charisma vaccum. Why? Because of this little franchise called Transformers. We’ve seen this before dozens of times. Channing Tatum was deemed a bad actor due to G.I. Joe, Robert Pattison and Kristen Stewart for Twilight, and Jaden Smith for After Earth. I’m sure if the Harry Potter movies were bad people would say the same about Daniel Radcliffe. The thing these people don’t realize is that actors, especially young actors, need good writing and good direction for their performances. Something none of these actors got at the time of their weakest performances. To prove my point Mark Wahlberg was the lead in Transformers: Age of Extinction and was as bad, if not worse, than Shia in the previous movies. I doubt Shia even had a script half of the time time, and if it says “Sam screams like a jackass” he has to do it.
What about the good Shia performances? Holes, Disturbia, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? He’s clearly a natural on set and can turn in good performances given decent material. Shia’s only mistake was that he went crazy before he got an Oscar. Because of that, his method acting comes off as desperate. But his performance in Fury proves that it works. The look on his face makes you believe he’s been in the war for many years and even though there’s minimal make up he’s not recognizable due to his immersion in the role. In my opinion, he has more of a stand out performance than Brad Pitt, and while his costars also turned in great performances, if anybody deserves recognition out the cast it’s him.
It might be time to treat Shia with the credit he deserves. Fury and also Nyphomaniac should end his stint of being a walking punch line, and I for one hold my breathe in anticipation for his next project.
Anthony Stokes is a blogger and independent filmmaker who also hosts the podcast Delusional Losers.
Originally published November 1, 2014. Updated October 24, 2022.
