The Kevin Costner Syndrome

In Power Trip recovery...

Ok, let's talk film. Let's talk about what I call the Kevin Costner syndrome. There is a new trailer for Fast and Furious. It is the forth film as you know in the The Fast and The Furious saga. Do we call it saga? Is it a continuation of anything? No...Well Vin Diesel does not like sequels. I am sure he likes sequels now. He actually is one of these actors who has successfully avoided success by not listening to his audience. He thought he could do whatever he wanted after The Fast and the Furious and XXX. Well, he did and he failed. Why did he fail? Because he turned his back on his audience. Kevin Costner started this trend after he won the Oscar, then micromanaged Robin Rood and Water world to their critical and then evitable box office death

It is crazy that you don't have to be an exec to act like an exec. Actors do it too. They think that power is greater than talent. And that will never be true. You see it all the time. It's really easy to confuse the two. The funny thing is about this syndrome, which you can call Suzanne Sommers syndrome, David Caruso syndrome. Its rampant in Hollywood. It is so easy to get get caught up in the money and the fame. I mean if you're a star, you have everyone telling you how great you are. Money is no object, you can throw it away and get more. Girls or guys are not a problem anymore. A star can lose focus easily.

That's what Vin did. Did you know he is a screenwriter? He is! His second film that he wrote and directed was admitted into Sundance before he was popular. As you know, that is no small feat. I mean Sundance! So, what made this talented, action star, who is smart, turn his back to his audience? Well, he thought he knew it all. What has this later half of this decade taught everyone? It's all about the trilogy.

He made his own cage once

I mean Hollywood should have paid attention when the Scream series made the episodic trilogy popular again. But, sadly they had to learn the hard way when Lord of the Rings slammed dunked the saga trilogy. By then, the damage was done. In the early 2000, sequels to Meet the Parents, the Fast and Furious, Oceans Eleven, XXX, and such all were simply stand alone sequels that did not continue the original story. Those sequels did a terrible job or just trying to recreate the original.

So, Vin should have realized that he was sitting on solid gold from day one. He had two films that he could have taken into Trilogy-ville, F and F and XXX. But sadly he chose not to chase success. He felt that sequels were just a passing fad. Well, the point to all this is that when an actor goes into the Kevin Costner syndrome, they always snap out of it. They realize that they needed to stick with what made them popular to begin with.

Well before some actors totally hit bottom, they beg to be taken back. Sometimes they get a second chance. Look at Costner, he paid some of his own money to get Swing Vote to the screen just so he can play his Bull Durham character style. That's what makes him famous. He plays the down to earth guy. He does it well! So what the hell was he doing in Waterworld and the Postman? Well Swing Vote is ten years to late.



Fast and Furious is very late too. But I write all of this today because when you see the trailer it looks good. It looks fun. It looks like what we should have seen before. The original cast making a good episodic sequel. Continuing the story. I am not saying this film is going to be good. Who knows? But it is good to see every one coming together and having what looks like a good time. That's what this is all about. It reminds me that movies are supposed to be fun and creative, not over produced power trips. Until Tomorrow, let's talk film!