Kevin Kline: Dave of all trades

After sitting through the delectable French Kiss, I am reminded of the brilliance of actor Kevin Kline! Star of fantastic films Cry Freedom, Soapdish, A Fish Called Wanda and Dave, Kline is one of the most underrated and versatile actors of the last twenty plus years. And yet I will admit to being guilty of forgetting this most of the time.  I hear that Kline is to star in the new Natalie Portman film No Strings Attached but as he isn't even in the trailer I'm starting to think it might be a fleeting visit.

He has played such a variety of roles and is totally believable in each (I know - this should be normal for actors surely!) but every actor has their role of shame.

Dave was such a low-key film unheard of by many yet it had Kline playing two roles, both pitted against Sigourney Weaver and both brilliant. He was the cheating President and the completely adorable and very endearing nice-guy-next-door.

In Soapdish he goes from washed up bad actor to suave soap star - and for anyone who hasn't seen it - go and see Soapdish. The cast list is a thing of magic with Teri Hatcher, Robert Downey Jnr, Whoopi Goldberg and Sally Field to name but a few!

He's endearing once more in In and Out as the bumbling musical lover who is outed by his hot celebrity student and in French Kiss, he is the loveable rogue Luc who is a thief, a brute, a dirty Frenchman with a bad moustache... and yet when he falls in love with the irritating yank Meg Ryan you can totally see how and it's beautiful to watch (helped largely by the stunning French backdrop).

In Cry Freedom, Kevin Kline was arguably at his acting best in a based-on-reality tale of the Apartheid ridden South Africa  - but it was the infamous Otto "dont call me stupid" alongside Jamie Lee Curtis and John Cleese in A Fish Called Wanda that won him his one and only Oscar back in 1989 for Best Supporting Actor. Go figure!

So if you have a Kline favourite in your DVD collection then go and watch it and if you don't then start with Soapdish or A Fish Called Wanda and let the fun begin...

LE xx