I found Ice Pirates* on the cheap DVD rack at Target. Had to have it. So I’m watching it and it’s just as silly as I remember. What I had forgotten is how handsome Robert Urich was. Just flat out handsome. It’s just something you don’t see in movies much any more. What happened to the handsome men? The Robert Urichs, the Cary Grants, Robert Wagners, the Bill Pullmans?
Not that you don’t see attractive men. But it’s the pretty boys that rule the screens these days. Hmmm. How to define it. Handsome is groomed but not primped. Handsome is a firm jaw instead of kissable lips. A handsome man is masculine without trying, rather than with a little bit more effort he could pass for a girl. I’m not saying pretty is bad. I’m just saying the handsome is a flavor that I’m not finding on the buffet these days.
There are plenty of overgrown pretty boys (Brad Pitt, Zac Efron, Terrence Howard), frat boys (the Wilson brothers, Seth Rogen, virtually anyone in a Judd Apatow movie), sensitive guys (Ryan Gosling, Milo Ventimiglia, Adrien Brody), rough hewn types (Tommy Lee Jones, Daniel Craig, Clive Owen) and quirky galore (Vince Vaughan, Ben Stiller, et al). All nice in their own way. But after awhile, you get tired of Lean Cuisine. A bit of steak would be nice.
Of overtly, straight-up, plain ol’ handsome, I can think of George Clooney and Denzel Washington. That’s it. Hugh Jackman is handsome, but he verges on the pretty. But even the handsome verging on the pretty is getting scarce. You don’t see a Cary Elwes any more. Kevin Sorbo doesn’t show up much. It appears to be hard for the handsome man to get a job in Hollywood these days.
I’d hate to see the handsome man disappear entirely. The guy that can pull off white dinner jacket. The guy you and your mom agree on – “Oh, my yes, he’s very handsome.” Maybe they exist. Somewhere out there in the wild. And all it will take is one wily casting director to spot one – maybe at the yacht club or a charity ball. He’s the one with a gin martini and a pocket square. Isn’t he handsome?
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2 comments:
See now I'd put Daniel Craig squarely in the handsome not rough-hewn category.
In certain lighting Ben Affleck can look pretty good, which I have to admit even though I'm nota big fan of his. And Leonardo looked pretty spot-on as a handsome, mature Howard Hughes.
But in answer to your question, the classically handsome men are all on daytime TV and to some extent on the nightime shows - movies are tring to be "real" and that kind of handsome is kinda "fakey" and out. You can't look too much like the ET anchors and news broadcasters, to be taken seriuously.
I think on Daniel Craig that he's just got something kind of wonky about the proportions of his face. Screen god bod, no doubt. But not a clasically handsome face. Affleck I can buy, even though he's just got a giant noggin. And Leo seems to be losing that puppyish quality. I can see it. Though he could have easily gone the pretty direction.
Ah, ha! So that's where all the handsome men are. I don't watch soaps, day or night any more. Explains why I don't see them any more. Maybe it's as hard to be taken seriously as a handsome actor as it is to be taken seriously as a pretty journalist.
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