he was never that good in the harry potter movies, but he also (almost) always had shitty directors to work with. i was watching imperium and jungle and daniel is surprisingly good in both movies. i think an artiste director could make him a really good performance. he's one of those actors who needs a good director, but he will be good with a good director.
shareI wouldn't lay the blame with the Directors. Dan is a limited actor without much range and he can be awful when he becomes self conscious. But if the role plays to his strengths he can be quite good.
agreed he just needs to choose/ get better products. easier said than done. some of the greatest scripts on paper ended up being total trash. some of the silliest ridiculous scripts end up being classics and masterpieces.
unless you are working with Wes Anderson, Tarantino or Scorsese (sometimes) it truly is Russian roulette what the end result and reception will be