> > Travolta's been in too many movies like "Mad City" and "Michael," in which his characters are wusses. Van Damme is a hammy poser. Diesel's too young. He plays a good cocky kid, but he doesn't have the class that the other guys have. Yet, anyway.
>
> Well, wouldn't Harrison Ford also fall under this category? I mean, he's done lots of "non-tough guy" work. There's "Regarding Henry", "Sabrina" and "Random Hearts".

Things like image and persona have more to do with impressions than facts. If you say "Harrison Ford" you think of Indiana Jones, Jack Ryan, Han Solo. Nobody remembers Random Hearts, even though it's only a year or two old.

Anyway, as long as we're comparing Ford and Travolta, Ford radiates coolness Travolta can only aspire to, so he can get away with more.

> What about Stallone?

Not cool. Never has been cool. Even when he was good, he wasn't cool. His best film is still Rocky, and Rocky is a long way from smooth.

I should have put Mel Gibson in, though. He's another actor whose diverse work means he doesn't have an untarnished "cool" image, but your mentioning Get Carter reminded me of another obscure crime adventure remake. In "Payback," Mel Gibson was about as cool as cool gets.