Jackie Earle Haley or Heath Ledger?

[ariastar]

Give your reasons!

Here (http://www.watchmencomicmovie.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2585&p=84781#p84781) is mine. Since I quoted someone else, I'm just linking.

[stubadub]

I have to go Ledger. I loved Jackie Earle Haley and thought he nailed the character, but Ledger's performance is one of the most electrifying I've ever seen. I've seen Dark Knight somewhere around 12 times now, and I'm as happy with Ledger now as I was the first time.

[torx]

Jackie Earle! "Breaking Away" FTW!! "Dont forget to punch the clock shorty"

oh wait, thats not in the poll. ive only seen dark knight.

[tsmith15]

If I had to make this decision to save my life, I would have to lie and pick one, because, I can't consciously put one over the other. I hope Ledger set enough precedent that Rorschach can get a nomination.

[joeyrock]

Why do we have to pick one? They were both good. Can't both be allowed to be good? Why make one better that the other... it's like asking if Dancing better than a rhombus. Pick one.... PICK ONE! :mad:

:p

[stubadub]

I prefer Dancing to a rhombus. just sayin'

[roessnakhan]

Very hard poll. I would say in terms of embodying a character from a previous work, Jackie Earle Haley wins, hands down. But in terms of creating one's own character for a film, that goes to Heath Ledger.

Rorschach in the film is exactly how I pictured him in the novel, the Joker is an entirely new take on the Joker that I had never seen before.

[joeyrock]

I prefer Dancing to a rhombus. just sayin'

Yeah me to.... sigh

The rhombi just aren't what they used to be. :(

[damnedeyez]

like asking if Dancing better than a rhombus.

That depends on who is dancing...

[ariastar]

Very hard poll. I would say in terms of embodying a character from a previous work, Jackie Earle Haley wins, hands down. But in terms of creating one's own character for a film, that goes to Heath Ledger.

Rorschach in the film is exactly how I pictured him in the novel, the Joker is an entirely new take on the Joker that I had never seen before.

This is where Ledger had an advantage. JEH had no room for his own interpretation and had to live up to a very set character standard. If something didn't feel right, he can't do it a way that feels natural and call it his spin.

[scoobydiesel]

They both did great Jobs but i think Heath over all did the better of the two. But i've only seen watchmen once.

[tsmith15]

They both did great Jobs but i think Heath over all did the better of the two. But i've only seen watchmen once.

I don't want to watch it again, because I can't enjoy it more than the first time, nor can I see it without picking flaws out like I did when I saw Dark Knight the second time. That said, Ledger was still amazing the second time I saw TDK and the oscar was deserved imo whether he was dead or alive.

[vash]

This is where Ledger had an advantage. JEH had no room for his own interpretation and had to live up to a very set character standard. If something didn't feel right, he can't do it a way that feels natural and call it his spin.

I think you hit the nail on the head. Ledger was free to roam with his character. Although Hayley was the embodiment of Rorschach.

[nshady]

I voted Ledger. I understand that Rorschach as a character was predefined and that limited how he could be portrayed, but I think Ledger's performance will stick with me for far longer than Haley's.

[7h0m45]

Ledger for me.

[gglynn00]

Sigh...I loved them both.

I think the only true way to ever be able to compare them is if they would have given the Joker an ink blot test in The Dark Knight.:D

[wideawakewesley]

Haley was a more believable character for my money.

[roessnakhan]

I think both characters were almost equally believeable considering neither had any fantastical powers. I think The Joker was a tad more believeable, however, because the world he lived in was entirely plausible.

[babnert]

Tough choice, but I gotta give it to Ledger. Although JEH was imo, the best actor in Watchmen and so far maybe my favorite performance since Ledger.

[gglynn00]

so far maybe my favorite performance since Ledger.

Great point, I agree.

[aerodash84]

Is it really fair to compare these two portrayals then? Rorshach was a character who existed in a graphic novel that was translated as closely to the big screen. With a novel you get some visual ideas from descriptions, but with the visual component you basically see what it would look like on screen. I think there were some interesting things that was brought to the character, but he basically did a great job playing the character from the pages. He even looked the part so closely to the book it was weird.

Heath Ledger was more free to make his character his own. There was no particular version of the Joker this was based of and was a bit of all of them combined. He had his own movements, vocal choices, and other things he brought to the Dark Knight. He also had some great writers, not to say Watchmen didn't either but it's apples and oranges.

Basically I can't pick one or the other because they're not in the same categories to compare. I'd throw in J.K. Simmons for playing J Jonah Jameson for making something memorable in those movies. Just my views on the movies they're no where in the same boat and enjoyed both in their own ways.

[rhinohelix]

Is it really fair to compare these two portrayals then? ...

Its also not fair in the sense one died tragically young, with a relatively short career that involved much public adoration and critical acclaim, his last performance being perhaps the most iconic, while the other was a child star 30 years ago, is not nearly as attractive, and has only recently regained even a modicum of attention before this role.

I may be one of the ten people on the planet that didn't think that The Dark Knight was the greatest thing ever. I had some serious issues with the movie. That doesn't mean that Heath Ledger's work is any less fantastic. I think my appreciation of his work is muted by some of Nolan's choices, though.

Jackie Earle Haley was also amazing in his work as Rorschach. He carried off the role in a way I didn't think possible for both for any actor and for he himself to accomplish. Because of a different focus, I think the portrayal of Rorschach has more room to breathe inside the movie. Haley seems to for me transcends his movie, while Ledger is limited by his, in an interesting inversion of the dynamic one might think would play out, given as many point out that Ledger has a blank canvas and Haley has a tightrope to walk. Thus, my vote is Haley, although neither should be diminished by having to choose between them.