I have grown to like him as an actor over the years. When Baldwin first appeared on my radar in She’s Having a Baby; he was memorable as Jake’s best friend Davis, a cynical, selfish person who popped in and out of the story until he made a pass at Kristy. Then he went on to have decent leading roles in Beetle Juice, The Shadow and The Hunt for Red October but I think he’s always been liked for his supporting characters, namely the primo jerk in Glengarry Glen Ross which I imagine is his part on 30 Rock; we don’t have cable or rabbit ears in my house.
My opinion of him remained neutral until he demonstrated his great sense of humor about himself, starting with The Larry Sanders Show. Sure he can be opinionated, loud and irritating, namely to the Right but he volunteered to provide his voice to the unflattering, yet funny portrayal he received in Team America. Personally, I think Parker and Stone are petulant jerks who hide behind their characters because they’d collapse in a real debate. Baldwin’s turn on The Simpsons was great, especially when he was yelling “Grab the shuttlecock!” He’s also not too proud to work on other cartoons: the villain in Spongebob’s movie and the adult version of Timmy Turner on The Fairly Oddparents’ Channel Chasers. For his birthday, I’m going to hunt down Miami Blues which was recently plugged in The Onion as a new “cult” flick. The writer made it sound interesting plus I’ve become a big Noir fan after I saw LA Confidential.