Morgan Freeman, hero

Watching Morgan Freeman in the many flicks that he’s been in in the recent decade, I wonder what it was like to watch the younger version of him. Somehow, I can’t imagine him with a full head of black hair! Some of the greatest flicks I have seen have had this talented genius in them. I’m speaking of The Shawshank Redemption, Million Dollar Baby, Chain Reaction, Kiss the Girls, Along Came a Spider, Bruce Almighty...This dude rocks.

But this guy’s talent seems to have come to the fore after he hit the grey hair years. Or maybe, he was in some great flicks before and then he feel off the face of the earth. Either way, I think he deserved that Oscar last year. He is one of the few people who really deserve to be on that famed Hollywood A List.

Morgan Freeman has a unique intelligence that is his and his alone. He makes you want to believe that after all the fear that is all around us, threatening our existence, there is a light at the end and that we shall survive somehow. Like a well traveled uncle who’s come back after years traveling the world. When he talks, everyone wants to listen because this here is a lesson in how to live life.

The unassuming tone that he never changes might be criticised as boring. But only people like Joyce Meyer can be tagged as boring because of their monotone. For Freeman, this is an asset. If he tried to speak in a higher tone or even changed his accent; lose that Southern drawl, then he wouldn’t be Morgan Freeman. Probably, such a flick would bomb and the world wouldn’t know why.

He can even be classified as one of the arrogant greats. Think Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry with that big gun and cool snarl. Think Ford with that innocent, inquisitive lift of the eyebrow as he runs from an angry Tommy Lee Jones. All these guys are arrogant bastards but that’s why we love them.

Freeman is the only guy who could bring out the wise ex-con in Shawshank and he is the only one who could truly bring out the cut-man in Million Dollar Baby. The way his voice dictates the mood as he narrates is spectacular. His is the voice of reason; you can’t go on screaming or scratching your ears or swinging your foot or chewing gum when he starts talking. It is the calm after the storm and you know you need wisdom when there’s been a storm.

Some ague that last year’s Oscar was just one of those consolation thingies they give out to guys they think are about to die. I say, that’s bull. That doesnt fly because he has been nominated and he's won some stuff in his career. This old man takes a bad movie and makes it a blockbuster. That’s the power of experience.

Only that I have not seen his earlier works when he was younger. Probably, back then, he was rash and loud and he was just another wannabe black man trying to make it big in Hollywood.