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The Dalai Lama's Apprentice

Richard Gere is to acting what wood is to a tree.

Seriously - how does he still collect a paycheck? Maybe it's because he's been able to keep his fee reasonably low or something. Or a whole generation of moviegoers are still amused by the hamster tale, or was it a gerbil? Otherwise, I don't think there's ever been a "leading man" that has sustained so long a career on mediocre movies that put up mediocre box office. If he were female I would declare him as the all-time casting couch queen.

And please don't bring up "Chicago". That had to be the most plastic Billy Flynn I ever witnessed. Heck, John Stamos was better in the part, and his permanent place as ongoing fodder for Hell was sealed from the day he joined "Full House".

Mind you, the Gerester was pretty good in "Looking for Mr. Goodbar" which hit the screens shortly after Nixon resigned. Then he embarked on a sustained career of either one pile of cheesy dreck after another or films that were so good they could be forgiven for his appearing in them. My guess is, if he did a film with Meryl Dreep....er....Streep, Pauline Kael would come out of her coffin and re-bury herself six feet deeper.

I guess he has some appeal to old ladies who want him to clean their pool while they copulate with Robert Redford. Personally, I'd rather he'd disappear to some Tibetan monastery than contaminate even one more foot of celluloid.

TAGS: gere career