I've listened to/read interviews with Spader, and he calls acting a hobby. Implicit in a lot of his answers is the knowledge that he has talent and has wasted it, so he denigrates acting as something he did "after school." "It still is," he adds. That's the reason he only has flashes of brilliance.
Not buying it.
You're right about his being fun in the Practice. We like a Robin Hood. We cheer a Robin Hood! Even if he's only a "half Robin Hood." His comedic timing was perfect: "And I promise you, I will never, ever...get caught." He seemed not to know the difference between right and wrong, but he did -- he just wasn't going to let the fineries of the law get in the way. He did what he did so that right would prevail.
One of the articles I read said that he had the face of a choir boy, but eyes that could turn dead and cold. With those, he could walk that fine line between boyish charm and lecherous larceny.
It was one of the great characters of all time, and Kelley was too stupid to know what he had. Or maybe he lacked the talent to continue to write for him. So he turned him into a clown in Boston Legal. And Spader went along with it because it was easier, it was a steady paycheck, and it was just a "hobby" anyway.
Talent to burn, and that's exactly what he did with it.
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