Bruce Willis diagnosed with aphasia, retires from acting. Updated diagnosis frontotemporal dementia*

I get your point and don't disagree, especially because Willis plays such small roles in these movies. A day or 2's work doesn't generate a ton of screen time.

However, it just feels like kicking the guy when he's down to criticize the movies at this point. Any negative review will seem mean-spirited, even if the movie deserves the criticism - which I feel safe to assume these will.

At this point, I also won't judge Willis himself harshly for his decision to appear in these crapfests because it's unclear how clear his judgment was - and it's possible someone else manipulated him into making the movies.

Did Willis fully know he'd make crap and said "don't care - $$$"?

Sure, but based on what we're hearing, it's also very possible he wasn't in the right state of mind to decide for himself or to understand what kinds of projects he was in.

Someone else might've egged him on because they knew his time in front of the camera would end soon.

Anyway, I realize these movies would be equally awful with someone else in Willis's roles, so they should be fair game.

Just doesn't feel right to go after them.

Also, I've seen enough of these terrible movies - I deserve a break!

 

I would assume that the law was followed regarding contracts, and his capacity to consent. Others couldn't commit on his behalf unless they had power of attorney, in which case he would have to be be so far gone that he couldn't even do the limited acting that was required of him. Also, it should be pointed out that, if those rumors about dementia hadn't come out in recent weeks/months, nobody watching those movies would have thought Willis was suffering from such an illness just on the evidence of his acting. People made fun of how bad the movies were, how little he was featured in them, and how little of an effort Willis made -- but none of that pointed to dementia. It reminded people more of some of Steven Seagal's recent B-movies, and what surprised people was that Bruce Willis would agree to star in such projects, since he was still a rather big Hollywood star. His parts in those movies screamed out laziness, not dementia.

But in any event, you're certainly not missing much not reviewing any of those films, as I hear they're uniformly awful.

 

Not true, you have to be of sound mind to make a Power of Attorney, its a voluntary arrangement made in advance of becoming mentally incapacitated. Its a moot poinnt as we don't know anything about Willis' legal arrangements or even his symptoms, only that they have now reached a point that his family (not Willis himself) have had to announce his retirement.

 

Oh, I agree that we all thought Willis's appearances in these movies was laziness/$$$, not mental issues.

But the news casts these performances in a different light, and I think it's entirely possible others pressured Willis to make the movies even though he didn't really have the right level of judgment.

Not saying anyone broke the law, but they might've egged him into the projects.

And I'm almost definitely not missing anything. I've already reviewed a bunch of these movies, and they've indeed been terrible.

 

Best wishes for Bruce & his family.
very sad news.

 

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I think this actually might explains a lot.

With the diagnosis of his condition, he (and possibly his family making the decision for him) opted to liquidate (almost?) all of his real-estate acquisitions in order to centralize their daily life in one specific location. No sense in having possessions strewn about if he's in no shape to travel. The article goes into detail with many significant losses in terms of sold priced in contrast to what he initially paid for them.

Due to his worsening health and those losses (about $20M mentioned in the article - there might be many more), he's been doing a ton of movies at about $2M/each to recuperate that money before being too unwell to do anything. Plus, sheeding the upkeep, taxes, and any other related costs to those properties is not a small chunk of change! Since 2019, he's done 24 movies. At that salary, give or take, he amassed $48M pre-tax.

After checking with a California salary calculator, his take-home post-taxes pay would be $22.6M which would be enough to soften the blow of those losses.

Now that he's even Steven, there's no need to try to drill that well even drier than it is. Just a theory but I think that wrinkle is what was missing from the story.

 

Cybill Shepherd says she 'will always love' her 'Moonlighting' co-star Bruce Willis

 

I am in the process of rewatching all 5 Die Hard movies. To be honest, I'm not sure if I've seen all them previously or not. But I figure that's a good way to remember Mr. Willis. And I agree with the person who praised him in Pulp Fiction. He was one of the actors who made that movie great as it is.

 

One of his homes was in Westchester County NY, only a couple miles from my house. I think he liked it here because it was quiet and he could hang around town with his wife and kids and no one bothered him. I would assume he settled someplace with more consistently nice weather. His house here was beautiful, on top of a hill overlooking the Croton reservoir.

 

Love Pulp fiction. He was fantastic in that movie. Then again, everyone was great in it.

 

Yeah...I was taking to my brother about that. Every performance in that movie was memorable.

 

I think “Pulp Fiction” well to me anyway, has to be watched a second time, to really appreciate it. Bruce of course is gorgeous and treats his girlfriend very sweetly in this movie. A great film and fab soundtrack!

 

Bruce Willis struggled making 'Midnight in the Switchgrass' before publicly sharing aphasia diagnosis, crew claims

 

Very sad...

 

Sad situation. Say what you will about his final films, but you really can’t blame Willis for his desire to save money for his family and his long term care.

Still, his career will be defined by his best work and not his worst.

 

100% true. And there are plenty of good films prior to the last decade.

 

Bruce Willis has dementia, family announces

Emma Heming Willis (his wife):

 

Sounds terrible. At least with a clear diagnosis they can fine-tune the treatment.

 

Almost positive he'll have CTE as well... all the stunts and bashing of his head have finally taken their toll

 

Sad news. Best wishes to both him and his Family & Friends.

 

My thoughts are with his family and friends. Over the years, I've run into him a total of four times totally by accident and got to shake his hand once...at a Steely Dan concert at the Beacon, of all places. Seems like a good guy and I wish him the best.



Dan

 

My thoughts and prayers to Bruce Willis, his wife and Demi Moore, and family...

 

Bruce Willis has frontotemporal dementia, condition worsens