Dear Johnny Depp,
I love you, but you are no William Powell. And here are two scenes that should tell you why. First, multiple Depps in Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End:
Depp tends towards twitchy, strange, he's a sublimely odd sex symbol if people are basing their fantasies on his roles rather than simply the image of him. By contrast, when William Powell runs into himself on a book cover, he's laconic, even cheerful:
Powell is debonair and witty. As Nick Charles, the role Depp is apparently eager to appropriate from him, Powell's deviance from the norm lies not in a willingness to be strange, but in his abilities and his reluctance to action. I think Depp's a poor match for the role, and that really any actor is: the class tensions, the cheerful alcoholism, the banter between husband and wife are all very specific to their era and I think would update poorly. And in any case, Powell and Myrna Loy are perfect. It's hard to imagine who'd have the gall to try to replace her, either.
Cheers,
Alyssa