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I don't know how he's wrongly cast for the roles, have you not seen The Departed? He pulled off the tough guy thing really well. He exudes angst in the roles he plays, which is a good thing for them type of roles. Sometimes people try to do that, and they just can't pull it off.
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Let me just say that I've seen all of his films except for Shutter Island and Inception. The Departed is the perfect example of how he just can't pull off a tough guy role. It always feels like an act, like a boy playing dress up. He's just not natural in those roles. And that goes for Gangs of New York, Blood Diamond and Body of Lies as well. It feels like he desperately wanted to shake of his Titanic image and as a result he ended up trying too hard. When he plays a charming, boyish, sneaky character, he excels, like in Catch Me if You Can, his best performance in the 00s.
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if you dislike him because you see his partnership with Scorsese as him trying to copy Deniro then I don't get that. I love Deniro because he's brilliant what he does. But I actually think Leo is the better actor, he reaches that emotional level constantly.
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Well, I don't dislike him for working with Scorsese, per se, but because those are the roles he's not suited for. But Scorsese obviously likes him, so what do I know. Maybe he's just comfortable with always working with the same actor, like he was with De Niro. But that will always draw comparisons between the two actors and it will not look good for DiCaprio. For these are the roles that De Niro would have played in his prime, and based on his own powerful performances, one can't help but wonder how much better he would've been in them. And since DiCaprio obviously wants that kind of acclaim, he should be judged on a higher level. So, yeah, I think De Niro was a much better actor in his prime. Even a chain of mediocre roles and movies lately are not enough to make me forget what a wonderful actor he was.
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Just because he's drawn to characters that have emotionally difficulties is NOT a bad thing. Every character he plays has a different story to them, and he has to really get underneath the character and find some pain there. I don't think it's a case of 'overreacting terribly', he reacts accordingly.
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Of course, it's not a bad thing. I like that kind of character WHEN pulled off convincingly. Like I said, DiCaprio is good technically, but that pain you mentioned is always on the surface, he knows how to act it out, what faces to make etc. But truly great actors don't just pull faces, they become a whole character. That pain should come from the inside naturally, where as with DiCaprio it always feels forced. He obviously tries hard to be genuine, but that's the problem, he tries hard where as he should just be. I can't connect to what his characters are feeling, because he's forcing the emotions to the point where they don't look genuine anymore. Maybe this sounds like a nitpick, but since DiCaprio chooses to play this kind of emotionally complex roles, I always judge him on that higher level.
Obviously, since he's so popular, many people find him convincing, but on the other side, many people don't. That's why I said he's the actor that polarizes the audience in many ways, not just because of Titanic.
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name someone better suited to the tough guy role? Edward Norton? Perhaps, but I think Leonardo is better.
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Beside the fact that I think Norton is a better actor, yes, maybe, for some roles, like Howard Hughes. Others on top of my head: Viggo Mortensen, Christian Bale, Guy Pearce, Joaquin Phoenix, Russell Crowe, a bit older ones like Gary Oldman, Daniel Day-Lewis (well maybe they're not suited anymore because of the age, but since they're chameleons, you can never know.)