Josh Lucas – From tomorrow’s star to today’s direct-to-DVD mainstay

Actor Josh Lucas seemed like the next big movie star not so long ago.

He certainly looked the part – it doesn’t hurt to resemble Paul Newman, right?

And leading roles were starting to fall in his lap, like starring opposite Reese Witherspoon in “Sweet Home Alabama.”

His easy charm and graceful line readings served him well.

And then “Poseidon” hit, or rather sank, followed by the box office duds “Glory Road” and “An Unfinished Life.”

All that “next big movie star” chatter started to fade.

Now, Lucas seems more likely to appear in movies debuting on DVD than ones showing at your local cineplex.

The June 29 release of “Stolen” caps a recent trio of straight-to-DVD titles for the Little Rock, Ark. native. He played a kindly cop in the just-released “Peacock” and nabbed the lead in the twisty thriller “Tell Tale,” coming out May 25 on DVD/Blu-ray.

The question remains – why?

Competition quickly comes to mind. There’s only so many quality commercial scripts being churned out at any given time. And the “name” actors are all chasing them – madly, no doubt.

And while Lucas is a fine actor, his talent isn’t extraordinary. Or, at least he hasn’t had a role to prove otherwise.

He’s simply another attractive actor with enough chops to make it on the big screen. There’s no shame in that, but one wonders if the right role fell his way if he’d have to worry about his films ever gracing a theater.

(Photo: Actor Josh Lucas’ career has hit a rough patch with three straight to DVD titles in the first half of 2010.)