Honest question: When did Bruce Willis transform from a promising action star with a wry wit and effortless charm into the withered husk of a John McClane impersonator? Was Sin City the tipping point? Is that when he realized that, as long as he showed up on set knowing his lines, filmmakers could literally paint him into a convincing performance? It's tough to accept that Willis has outright given up on turning in great performances, because he still seems to have a knack for choosing good scripts. RED, Moonrise Kingdom, and Looper all happened in this decade, after all. And although those are undoubtedly brilliant movies (to varying degrees), you can still see how much effort it took everyone else involved to prop him up. Case in point: HE WON'T OPEN HIS GODDAMN MOUTH ALL THE WAY ANYMORE. Whether it's during an interview in a press junket or giving the climactic monologue on screen, Bruce is content to grimace and mumble his way through a barely audible recital. In a telling anecdote, Kevin Smith described his experience directing Willis in the buddy-comedy Cop Out as "f--kin soul crushing," mentioning how difficult it was to get the action star to perform even the simplest scenes more than once or twice. It seems the action star has become too big for his britches lately, but refuses to retire and spare us the discomfort in watching him glare his way through the action.
