It’s time for a Bruce Willis Renaissance.
If you add up the critics score on Rotten Tomatoes of the 8 movies Willis has made since 2015, the total is 72.
Of course, some of them have 0’s– zeroes. That would include a new one scheduled for release somewhere tomorrow, called “Acts of Violence.” Remarkably, Willis, once the top grossing actor anywhere, is second billed. Some reviews say it’s a “paycheck” movie, although Willis– currently selling a New York aerie for $17 million– hardly needs a paycheck.
Where is Bruce Willis? Once a glib PR magnet, Willis has been slowly vanishing while he makes film after mind-numbingly bad film in which he co-stars with a gun, has little dialogue and a lot of explosions. I miss the fast-quipping Bruce of “Moonlighting” and “Die Hard” fame. I’ll bet others do, too.
Some of the movies on his imdb list may have gone straight to video. There’s no report of a box office release. His last run of movies that mattered in theaters and maybe to audiences was a trio in 2013– “Red 2,” “A Good Day to Die Hard,” and “GI Joe: Retaliation.” Not the stuff of Oscars, but still, something.
Of course, in there Willis made his Broadway debut in the poorly reviewed “Misery” for three months from November 2015 to February 16th. At the same time he was supposed to shoot Woody Allen’s “Cafe Society” but dropped out or was let go after the first week. (Steve Carell replaced him.) Willis said he couldn’t concentrate on the play and deal with the movie.
Last March, Bruce did participate in a lively R&B concert at the Beacon Theater called Love Rocks. But since then, even with several stealth movies, he’s mostly been off the canvas save for a couple of Instagram posts from his wife. In one, he’s getting his fingernails painted by his young daughter.
Come back, Bruce! We need some wisecracks for 2018.
