In days gone by, David Caruso used to be a good actor. In addition to making a critically well received name for himself on NYPD Blue, he would also put in a very capable turn in films like King of New York. Ok I admit, his range was technically a bit limited to cops, half-Irish cops, military goons, half-Irish military goons, or half-Irish ex-military goons who were now cops, but at least he was playing to some obvious strengths. Can anyone explain what's happened to him in CSI Miami though? I understand the fact that Miami gets a lot sun and therefore wearing a good set of sunglasses is more-or-less mandatory, but good grief! On or off David, make up your damn mind! On, off, on, off, over and over again with every single episode, and if that wasn't bad enough he compounds it with that hand-on-hip stance that makes him look like his arthritis is playing up.
He is a supposedly a student of Method acting, although allegedly used this in Hudson Hawk of all films which is the acting equivalent of showing a card trick to a dog. At least his character was silent which probably made the rest of the cast's life a bit easier. I don't understand how someone who must have drilled pretty hard in their craft just relies on one prop, a pair of aviator sunglasses to encapsulate all they've worked on for that character. Why stop at sunglasses? How about another piece of clothing to keep fiddling with? Suppose it was his trousers. I don't think much forensic work would get done in Miami and their CSI branch would be actively recruiting for a new head of department.
There are those actors who really know how to wear a pair of shades and look cool. Keitel and Roth with their ray ban sunglasses in Reservoir Dogs. Arnie in Terminator. Clint in Dirty Harry. None of these characters felt the particular need to keep taking their shades on and off, almost as if the novelty of seeing the world with less glare was an incredible experience that they just simply couldn't get used to. Glasses maketh the character, David, but they don't define it.
