TV's Frink said:

I know this won't be a popular opinion, but...

Is it possible that Ledger's performance is overrated due to the timing of this death? I say yes.

It would be absurd to claim that it didn't hype it up to a mythical status - not just the timing itself, but the fact that this was an actor taking a surprisingly different, untypical role for the first time (as far as I'm aware), preparing for a month in an isolated hotel room, and giving so few interviews about the role (certainly none after the release, or on the DVD, as there usually are most of them), AND how convincing and powerful it ended up being.

The artist who, you could say, puts up a completely unexpected feat of brilliance and then suddenly vanishes - of course that boosts the hype, and the bias towards his performance.

But I'd say the praise it gets is deserved.