Yes, I was actually thinking about Pullman's hilarious "debut" "Ruthless People" watching Pullman in "Bottle Shock" and realizing that he, too, goes back 20 years--plus, made his name in the 80's, and has hung in there ever since.

Jeff Daniels is a fine comparison to Bill Pullman. They are the guys Hollywood has always needed -- not quite sidekicks, but secondary leads in major pictures(didn't Meg Ryan dump Pullman for Hanks in "Sleepless in Seattle?") and leads in minor pictures.

Bill Pullman has also been compared, perhaps in contrast, to the similarly-named Bill Paxton, who played jerkier guys than Pullman. In the summer of 1996, Bill Pullman and Bill Paxton got to go head-to-head as ersatz stars in "Indpendence Day" and "Twister." Alas, that level of "faked" stardom didn't last for either actor.

Watching the "name" players Alan Rickman, Dennis Farina, and Bill Pullman in "Bottle Shock," I was reminded of Cary Grant's statement that movie actors are "products." They develop themselves as "brands," whether as superstars, or simply as identifiable actors who can command healthy-enough fees just showing up in a movie as a familiar face. Pullman, Rickman, and Farina are established brands.

Still, of the three, Rickman is the most charismatic, the classiest act.

And thanks to this thread, I really must catch up on more of Rickman's movies. More amusing to me was being reminded of movies I saw but forgot he was in ("Sense and Sensibility," for one.)