In 2007, a dapper young star named Shia LaBeouf appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair next to an interesting caption: "Can Hollywood Turn 21-Year-Old Shia LaBeouf Into the Next Tom Hanks?" Provocative. Of course, LaBeouf's career shifted from that of a Hanks-ian, potential Oscar nominee to the domain of a de rigueur action star. The youngster may not have followed Vanity Fair's wish list since starring in the first Transformers film, but maybe he scored a more interesting feat -- becoming our generation's Michael J. Fox.
Comparing stars new and old is a tricky exercise in star-power genealogy (as we learned last week with Cameron Diaz and Goldie Hawn), and these gents' diametric reputations establish them as distinct entities. However, it's easy to trace similarities in three key areas that all concern product, not personality.
Squeaky-clean TV beginnings
Nearly three decades later, the memory of Michael J. Fox as Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties resonates for one major reason: perfect casting. Though Fox picked up three Emmys for his role as the plucky young Republican, it's fair to say his performance on the show solidified his promise as a Hollywood player. Granted, no one is still talking about Even Stevens eight years after its last episode aired, but the same could be said about LaBeouf's stint on the Disney Channel series. Both shows proved their stars could sell self-deprecation, comic timing, and a comfortable command that outshone their hypothetically more bankable co-stars.
Befuddled action trilogy star
Back to the Future may be a considerably more beloved trilogy than Transformers -- at least critically -- but both series riff on teenage wonderment with explosive sci-fi empowerment. As Marty McFly, Fox sputtered dialogue at his co-conspirator Doc (Christopher Lloyd) with essential groundedness. In the first Transformers film, LaBeouf equipped himself with an incredulous stare and gawked at the rise of the howling machines. They weren't quite Indiana Jones or Jason Bourne; they were audience projections with ideal instincts and a gift for hopeless gulps.
'50s throwback protagonism
Teen Wolf and Disturbia dredge up '50s conceits (I Was a Teenage Werewolf and Rear Window, respectively) and add an element of youthful, au courant angst. If Back to the Future is better than Transformers, surely LaBeouf wins this round with Disturbia's superior suspense. As the house-bound delinquent Kale Brecht, LaBeouf summons the voyeuristic gall of Jimmy Stewart's old Hitchcockian protagonist L.B. Jeffries, who overcame exasperation to sell a murder theory to his confidantes. As Scott Howard in Teen Wolf, Fox works that championship-hungry basketball star charm (which smacks of Anthony Perkins in Tall Story, if we're staying on the Hitchcock star beat), a definitively '50s characteristic catapulted to the '80s.
Clearly, these are two old-fashioned stars working retro cachet, but are they proper kinsmen? Who's your choice for Shia LaBeouf's cinematic forebear? Robert Downey Jr.? Michael Keaton? Ryan O'Neal? Surprise us!
[Photos: Getty Images]