The Decline of Cuba Gooding Jr.

Quick! Name three great Cuba Gooding Jr. movies. Were any of them made before 2001? I didn't think so.

Cuba's career has steadily taken a nosedive for as long as most young filmgoers can remember. If I were a few years younger, my opinions of Cuba would most likely be different. Luckily, I can remember the good days.

Growing up, I could head to the theater and watch As Good as it Gets and What Dreams May Come to see this actor perform his ass off. Nowadays, all the kids get are Snow Dogs and Norbit.

What happened? How does an Oscar-winning actor who clearly had the chops find his way into any non-animated, post-Nutty Professor Eddie Murphy movie? Hell, his first major role was in Boyz n the Hood! If you've yet to partake in the sweet, cinematic nectar that is Boyz n the Hood, do yourself this favor.

Something must have happened. Something changed things for Cuba. Today, I tracked that something down.

Two tragedies took place in America in 2001. One of them was 9/11, the other was Pearl Harbor.

The only bombs Michael Bay should be concerned with are his own. When the film was released, it became clear that turning an attack on American soil into a love story was a bad idea. At least that's the message Oliver Stone took from the movie.

Cuba played Petty Officer Doris Miller, a boxer/cook who is quick to grab a machine gun when the Pearl Harbor hits the fan. Nobody loved this movie. Sadly, Cuba was attached to this stinkbomb and now he's paying the price.

After the Oscar win, his films continued to impress anyone willing to watch. The critics loved him in As Good as it Gets. They didn't hate him in Men of Honor either. He was getting better and better. But it's just like that old kamikaze pilot saying, what goes up must come down.

Pearl Harbor was the turning point. Cuba's co-stars (i.e. Affleck and Harnett), have found their own ways to stay out of the limelight (Gigli and Hollywood Homicide, respectively) but after this movie there was no looking back for Mr. Show Me the Money.



The following year marked the beginning of the Snow Dogs era. Scripts about talking animals remakes of It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, started getting passed across Cuba's desk and Cuba read them all. Here's the tricky part. Why did he read these scripts, and more importantly, why did he take these roles?

Here's a clip from Boat Trip. No need for a plot description for this one. The clip explains it all. Tell me this. What about this earth-shaking dialogue made anyone involved think that this movie won't suck?

Here's the thing. These movies are not stopping. In seven years, Cuba Gooding Jr. has been in over fifteen terrible movies. Fifteen! And they keep getting worse! At least the first few of his movies made it to theaters. Now, there's a steady stream of straight-to-DVD releases with his pretty face plastered all over them.

You have to imagine that the paychecks he's being offered aren't that high anymore. How much money can someone make by recording a voice for a character named Loofah in The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends? No, I'm not kidding. Loofah!

Cuba recently played a flamboyant drug dealer in Ridley Scott's American Gangster. In a surprising turn of events, his performance was the most enjoyable part of that film. Could this have been a sign? Was a "Cuba Comeback" in order?



Sadly, American Gangster was not the catapult Cuba needed to get back on the right track. Nothing could prove that more than a quick look at his upcoming projects. Another straight-to-DVD feature with Ray Liotta, a drug gang movie that probably won't see theatres, and a military horror film with monsters that look like this.

Oh wait, one more. As you all know, he's also in this movie:

Cuba once complained that all the good roles go to Will Smith.
Looks like Smith missed one.

With his next two years tied up in terrible looking movies, it would seem that the "Cuba Comeback" is going to have to wait. Isn't there some way to bring back pre-Pearl Harbor Cuba? I miss Major Salt, Cpl. Carl Hammaker, and Chief Carl Brashear. I miss Tré Styles', Rod Tidwell, and Frank Sachs. What I don't miss is Loofah the talking dinosaur.

Attention all Hollywood bigwigs! Please start greenlighting scripts with at least TWO roles for black actors so that Cuba Gooding Jr. can co-star with Will Smith. That is, if Martin Lawrence doesn't get first pick.

Thanks for reading everyone. Also, I want to thank everyone who commented on my last post. I couldn't believe the response that funny looking poster received. Here are my favorite people in the world right now: Daniel G., The Mad Hatter, Whitney, Megan, Keith, Rick Olsen, Kaleen, MC, and Kim. I am loving the comments and feedback from everyone, keep them coming!