Topic Of The Day: Regarding The Johnny Depp Comeback

Hello,Bloggers, welcome to another episode of Topic Of The Day. For today's topic, I will delve into a type of narrative over the course of awards season that audiences and usually voters fall far: the comeback narrative where an actor finally gets back into the good graces of the industry and audiences after falling into obscurity or a string of less than desirable films or performances. That type of narrative is present with Best Actor contender Johnny Depp. Yet I am a little questioned as to why that is. Allow me to explain.

While Johnny Depp has had a string of flops recently (Mortdecai. The Lone Ranger, Dark Shadows, The Rum Diary, Transcendence), that doesn't necessarily mean he was a flop in them. I even thought he was one of the best things about Dark Shadows. While some of his recent characters have been similar and quite zany, he still looks like he enjoys playing those characters. Also, while others that have had a comeback narrative fell off the radar before having a resurgence, Depp never really went anywhere.

One example of somebody who has had a bit of comeback recently is Matthew McConaughey. After Ghosts of Girlfriends Past and a string of supbar rom coms, he disappeared for a short while until 2011 came along with The Lincoln Lawyer and then indies like Magic Mike, Bernie, The Paperboy, Mud, his cameo in The Wolf of Wall Street, TV's True Detective, and of course his Oscar winning turn in Dallas Buyers Club. 

Also John Travolta saw some life brought back to his career after Pulp Fiction and he became a bankable leading man once again after his popularity slowly declined during the 80's. Even Charlize Theron had a bit of a recent resurgence with Young Adult after a string of obscure indie films and supporting/bit roles as after Young Adult, she would star in Prometheus and Snow White and the Huntsman and bring us an already memorable heroine with Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road. 

So while I am glad that Johnny Depp has landed a film that has regained him some respectability with Black Mass, I wouldn't be too quick to label him the comeback story because he never really disappeared anywhere and even when his films are down, he is never out in my opinion.

But what do you guys think? Do you think that Depp's recent Oscar buzz amounts to a comeback narrative or do you really think he needs a comeback? Please feel free to write your thoughts in the comments section. Thanks for reading!