Is it just me, or has Michael Keaton just been criminally under-used the past few years in Hollywood? Aside from the indie "Game Six" and TNT's miniseries "The Company" he just hasn't done much work that audiences can appreciate him in. And BTW, I'm choosing to pretend "Herbie: Fully Loaded" doesn't exist.

This is the guy who made "Night Shift," "Mr. Mom," "Johnny Dangerously," (it's funny, watch it again to see what I mean) "The Dream Team," and "Speechless." Then, to show off the dramatic chops no one thought he had, did "Clean & Sober" "One Good Cop" and "Pacific Heights" (a conflicted hero cop in the former, the absolute neighbor from HELL in the latter). For the sake of Pete's Love, he was Beetlejuice and Batman!! Why isn't he working more?

Good news is, he was out and about at Sundance promoting "The Merry Gentleman," which is looking for distribution. He stars as a despondent hitman in the film and also directs the picture -- a first for him. Alison asks him about double dipping on a movie set and also learns that David Letterman really sparked the directing bug in Keaton. You can hear about that in our 'Spotlight On...' feature on Michael Keaton this weekend on REEL TALK (check local listings).

Meanwhile, here's how Keaton describes his character in the movie:

[Photo Courtesy of Getty Images]