I Was Wrong Fridays: Channing Tatum

Every so often on a Friday I'll be posting a blog post about things in Pop Culture I was wrong about. Whether it is something/someone I dismissed as a passing fad  or something/someone I thought was about to be huge who failed to make it big and quietly disappeared. For the first entry I'll be focusing on Channing Tatum

I was reading an article today on ew.com about Channing Tatum's new movie called "10 Years" and realizing that it was a movie I wanted to see at some point when I realized that I had become a fan of Channing Tatum. I'm not sure when it happened or how but at some point I began looking forward to seeing any movie he was in. I have gone through this stage with other actors: Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks just to name a few but it's been awhile since I've had a go to actor for movies I would give a chance to no matter what. Currently it would be Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Channing Tatum. I've been a fan of The Rock since his wrestling days but my enjoyment of Channing Tatum films snuck up on me. 

It surprised me because when I saw him in Step Up I dismissed him as a up and coming actor. I actually enjoyed Step Up as a dance flick but couldn't picture him as a leading actor in blockbuster films. I envisioned him doing a few more Step Up sequels and then appearing on some reality show trying to get a second chance at a career. 

I then saw him in She's The Man which I also really enjoyed and he did a good job. He  also showed some of his comedy chops in the film

Instead he keeps his life relatively quiet compared to most celebrities and married his Step Up Co Star.

He was apparently in Battle in Seattle which I loved but don't remember him in it. I assume he just wasn't a big enough name at the time to care about and if I watched it now I'd be surprised to realize he was in the film.If you haven't seen the film I would recommend it especially if you remember the real events when they happened in 1999.

He followed this up with a few forgettable roles in forgettable movies like Stop-Loss (Which is remembered more for the film that may have ended the marriage between Ryan Phillippe and Reese Witherspoon), Fighting (Which I watched once with Al but fail to remember what happened in but I assume there was a lot of fighting), and Public Enermies (A film I enjoyed but never had a desire to watch again).

It was at this point that it started turning around. He did the surprising enjoyable but corny live action GI Joe film which made good money despite poor reviews (but in all seriousness how many summer blockbusters actually get good reviews) and follow it up by playing a surprisingly good romantic lead in Dear John. 

Anyone who knows me will tell you I am a sap for romantic films and while it is not on par with A Walk To Remember or The Notebook it was a very enjoyable film and he played a great male lead. The then played a supporting role and was the best part of a really bad film (The Dilemma).

While the rest of 2011 was a forgottable year he jumped up to true leading male status in 2012 with three hit movies and forcing the makers of the GI Joe sequel to push the movie to 2013 so they could include more of his character (A good idea based on his current marketability). 

He started the year with The Vow breaking out in February (The studio was smart to release aroung Valentine's Day making it an "Event Movie" for the romantic holiday).

He then showed that he is a brilliant comedic actor with his role in 21 Jump Street  which I loved but my wife hated. I mean I could have done without Jonah Hill's love story in the film but Tatum made this film so enjoyable.

The trailer doesn't do him justice to how funny he really was in the film. He played off Jonah Hill really well and I am looking forward to the sequel. The last major film this year is Magic Mike which I haven't seen yet but it can't be that bad. I'll watch it with Nessa when it eventually gets to On Demand. Not many people are lucky enough to have three hit movies in a single year but he pulled it off by playing three diverse movie roles.

*For the female readers and my wife*

I don't think 10 Years will be a hit movie like the previous three but I imagine it cost a lot of money to make. The fact I came to is that if anyone else was in this movie other then Channing Tatum I more then likely wouldn't even realize it was being released. I imagine at some point I would have watched it and I'd most likely really like the film since it kinda reminds me of films like St. Elmo's Fire. But I would probably stumble upon it when it hit On Demand or on Netflix rather then wanting to see it in theatres or as soon as it it DVD. The reason for this is due to it featuring Channing Tatum and including some other good actors and actress such as Chris Pratt, Scott Porter, Rosario Dawson, and Justin Long. Without Channing Tatum it would have been a film I had to talk myself into trying rather then wanting to see it. 

For that I will saw I was wrong in thinking Channing Tatum would never be a Leading Man in Hollywood.