In a thirty-year career and counting, Michael Douglas has portrayed characters of many diverse personas. Sometimes the good guy, sometimes the bad guy, Douglas, through it all, has managed to stay grounded and played his roles with conviction. He doesn't seem to be stumped by a new character, because that's his job. Michael seems to get a kick out of seeing how many different roles he can account to his name, by the time he's finished with Hollywood.

Not only has he been a romantic leadsman, but also an Oscar- winning producer, and a TV cop. Yet, through it all, he has shown that the words, "practice makes perfect", are completely true, as some of his best performances have come at middle age. Let us look at, for example his late 80 's and early 90 's films, like "Fatal Attraction" (1987), "Basic Instinct" (1992), "Disclosure" (1994), and 1998 's "A Perfect Murder". He deals with the modern (sometimes evil) women portrayed in these films, and shows that the results aren't always pleasant.

His risk-taking seems to increase with age, but let's not deny Michael Douglas the right to credit for his early performance in 1984 's "Romancing The Stone", as well as his two other stellar, late 80 's films, which were "Wall Street" (1987), and "The War Of The Roses" (1989). (CD)