Perlman’s presence trumps Murphy

Talent isn’t hard to assess when we’re talking about running or swimming. Whoever is fastest is best.

If you watched any of the Olympic Trials coverage last week, you know how talented Michael Phelps is, not to mention Tyson Gay – at least in the 100 meters.

It’s a lot harder to gauge talent when we’re talking about movie stars.

Take two of the actors who are starring in films opening today: Eddie Murphy in “Meet Dave” and Ron Perlman in “Hellboy II: The Golden Army.” In any comparison of relative talent, Murphy would seem to have the distinct advantage.

Think of the 47-year-old Murphy when he broke into the business. In his years on “Saturday Night Live” (1980-84), when he portrayed such characters as Buckwheat, Gumby, Velvet Jones and Mr. Robinson, he blazed across the small screen.

He was young, profane, fresh, irreverent and arguably handsome – if you’re turned on by gap-tooth, big-grin, horse-laugh charm.

That charm converted well to the big screen, at least through his first three movies, “48 HRS.,” “Trading Places” and “Beverly Hills Cop.”

In a minute, we’ll get back to what’s happened since.

Before we do that, though, let’s consider Perlman.

Since the 58-year-old actor debuted on the big screen with 1981’s “Quest for Fire,” Perlman – though a classically trained stage actor – has been known best for roles that obligate him to don more makeup than a kindergarten classroom full of Play-Doh.

Think of him with Linda Hamilton in television’s “Beauty and the Beast.” Or Guillermo del Toro’s first attempt at adapting Mike Mignola’s graphic novel series, 2004’s “Hellboy,” which has Perlman playing a demon who, except for his filed-down horns, resembles the traditional red-hued model of Satan.

Without the makeup, Perlman has what could be described most kindly as unusual looks. Heavy-browed, big-jawed, he has a face perfect for … radio.

Which likely is why a lot of what he does is vocal work – the animated series “The Batman,” “Danny Phantom,” “Teen Titans” and so on.

But the fact is that Perlman does get a lot of work. And while much of it is easy to ignore, at least some of it is good.

The first “Hellboy” wasn’t a great film, but del Toro is a fine director – he made the Oscar-nominated “Pan’s Labyrinth” – and Perlman has been working with him since 1993, when del Toro made “Cronos,” the horror film that first brought the Mexican filmmaker to Hollywood’s attention.

Besides, you have to give Perlman credit for achieving so much with so little of what Hollywood commonly requires for leading-character success: a picture-worthy portfolio.

As for Murphy, what has he done with his once-blazing skills?

Well, he, too, has had some success with providing a voice to animated characters, most notably as Donkey in the “Shrek” series. Other than that, though, his career of late has been pretty much a zero.

Sure, there was his 2006 Oscar-nominated turn in “Dreamgirls.” But put that up against “Norbit,” “Daddy Day Care,” “The Adventures of Pluto Nash,” the two “Dr. Doolittle” and “Nutty Professor” films, and you’ve pretty much dismissed an entire decade’s worth of work.

No wonder then that during a screening of “Get Smart” I attended last weekend, I heard groans when the trailer for “Meet Dave” played. Or were those only my own murmured complaints?

Fact is, it may hard to gauge talent. Crap, though, is far easier to spot.