Where Did Johnny Depp Go Wrong?

After a drunken night on the town with some college friends, I met Johnny Depp when stumbling back to my apartment in midtown Manhattan. He was coming out of NYC staple P.J. Clarke's where there was a sizable crowd waiting to greet him and his then-girlfriend, Vanessa Paradis, who stood by his side as he signed autographs for kids my age who grew up watching Cry-Baby, Edward Scissorhands, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, and, of course, Donnie Brasco, which, along with Goodfellas, is Gen-Y's favorite mobster movie.

Depp is not a tall man by any means, but, similar to his onscreen personas, his presence is commanding, and you could hear a pin drop as he greeted his fans individually. It was a phenomenal PR move — "Captain Jack Spends Time With College Crowd!" — and controlling his own public image has been one of the actor's strong suits, which is why it's so surprising he's chosen such uneven roles in the last decade or so.

Mortdecai, starring Depp and Gwyneth Paltrow, is out in theaters today and, well, it looks rather crappy. The trailer makes it out to be a spy thriller, but also a rom-com, and an action movie about a mustache that everyone takes turns wearing? While it's imperative never to judge a movie by its trailer, it's tough for Depp fans to stay hopeful for this one.

The three-time Oscar-nominated actor earned his keep on the hit '80s cop show 21 Jump Street before starring in his first Tim Burton collaboration, Edward Scissorhands, which began the eight-film trend of Depp's onscreen portrayal of Burton's internal struggles as an artist, made clear by Scott Rudin's post-Ed Wood criticism that the actor is "basically playing Tim Burton in all his movies." While this might be true (and not necessarily a bad thing), Depp has been a man of many hats over the last twenty-odd years, including: the teen heartthrob, the tough guy, the sensitive soul, the serious dramatic actor, the psychedelic hero, the international leading man, Oscar-bait, Captain Jack Sparrow, comedic actor, and music man.

There's no denying Depp's ability to delve deep into a role he takes on, but to reiterate my point in yesterday's analysis of how Miramax has negatively affected the careers of their A-list alumni, Depp's recent bout of versatility as the funny man, the mock action hero, and the singer might be mistaken for career trouble.

In the last five years, Depp has starred in universally despised The Tourist, along with Rango (which became a joke among projectionists; to "Rango" a film means to flash scenes of the animated flick during movies that aren't, in fact, Rango). There came the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean sequel (which, unfortunately, won't be the last) before The Rum Diary, in which Depp tried to relive his Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas glory days by playing, once again, gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson. After Burton's Dark Shadows failed to impress even the most obsessive of Burton fans, Depp starred as Tonto in The Lone Ranger, which was basically Pirates on a train. Last year, he had a brief role in Megan Griffiths' indie Lucky Them, followed by the uneven sci-fi mystery Transcendence.

Over Christmas, Depp graced us as the big bad Wolf in Disney's Into the Woods (returning to singing Sondheim after his tepid performance in Tim Burton's adaptation of Sweeney Todd), and now, Mortdecai. Over the next two years, Depp has an Alice in Wonderland sequel lined up as well as another Pirates movie (because the world needs another one of those). Also on the horizon for the actor is a Kevin Smith flick, Yoga Hosers, starring Natasha Lyonne, Justin Long, Haley Joel Osment, and, of course, Jason Mewes. And after that, will be a Whitey Bolger biopic called Black Mass, which sounds like some really unfortunate news you receive at the doctors.

The difference between Depp's recent endeavors and his past is the focus on entertaining for entertainment's sake rather than striving to make art. After the Pirates hype of 2003, Depp's commercial shift was obvious, and he has refused to let up for over a decade. We long to see the Depp we grew to love — the considerate actor who put more stock into his characters than hamming it up in front of a green screen. It's not that he refuses to do so, with attempts at actual acting in films like Blow, Finding Neverland, and Public Enemies. Unfortunately, those efforts pale in comparison to the whimsical and ridiculous CGI blockbusters.

It's difficult to pinpoint where exactly Johnny Depp went wrong per se, but it's clear the movie star has reveled in being just that — a movie star — and has stopped choosing complex roles that got him there in the first place. It's always fun to throw it back to a definitive Depp flick, but fingers crossed that the actor goes back to being pickier about his roles rather than signing up for whatever is the current flavor of the month.

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