Topic Question
Added 2021-06-03 17:45:45 +0000 UTCWhat do you consider to be a terrible performance in an otherwise good movie and why? Topic video to follow.
Comments
Speed. The greatest action film of all time. Basically three movies in one simple movie. And The Matrix one of the greatest Sci Fi films all time. I like Keanu Reeves but sometimes his line deliveries are meh.
Brian Tran
2021-06-08 21:08:06 +0000 UTCBarry Lyndon is my favorite Kubrick film, but Ryan O’Neal’s performance has always come off as wooden to me. I for the most part it’s serviceable because the character almost has a blank slate quality to him, and the rest of the cast is extraordinarily. But he’s lacking when it matters most. That scene where’s he’s crying at his son’s death bed yikes!
jared Clarke
2021-06-04 04:24:37 +0000 UTCBlack Swam was an interesting film, BUT, Natalie Portman SUUUUUUCKED in that film!! She win an Oscar just for staring blankly?!
Tony Moro
2021-06-04 03:54:04 +0000 UTCThere’s a difference between acting in a stylized manner and giving a wooden, unconvincing performance. It all has to do with a film’s tone. Verhoeven dipped into the 90210/Melrose Place talent pool to cast his film Starship Troopers because they would give him the effect he was going for. He wanted smooth-faced, magazine cover-ready actors to provide that cheesy, wooden soap operatic type of acting from those shows because it fits in his vision of his film, which was a satire of fascist propaganda. They all consequently gave good performances, even that walking, plastic embodiment of anti-talent Denise Richards. If he had been going for a more straightforward, naturalistic approach, they all would have floundered and been shit. Bad acting was the point. When Sofia Coppola in Godfather III is giving airy, affectless line readings while everyone else around her is convincingly inhabiting their character, that’s just bad acting because that’s not what she or Coppola were going for. But you’re right in that I’ve never known a film to sink because of a bad performance, especially when it has other good to great things going for it. But it can mar it greatly, like a bad scar or something.
Bennett Oliver
2021-06-04 01:06:02 +0000 UTCEmma Watson in Little Women. Greta Gerwig did a mostly excellent follow up to Lady Bird. However, Emma Watson as Meg March didn't work at all. People might argue that she didn't have a lot of screen time but Eliza Scanlen who played Beth I thought was great despite having just as little to do. Watson was just giving the usual half asleep effort that she did in Beauty and the Beast. Maybe Gerwig knew that and made her role small on purpose to help the film? If so, it worked and proves that she can't even act under one of the best writer/directors working today.
Wolfman Brandon
2021-06-04 00:23:00 +0000 UTCAgreed, I thought about putting her on here too
Matt G
2021-06-04 00:21:42 +0000 UTCCameron Diaz was just as bad in that film.
Bennett Oliver
2021-06-03 23:43:09 +0000 UTCKevin Costner in Robin Hood. On paper, it sounded like a good idea: one of the biggest movie stars at the time using his rugged charisma and athleticism to play the iconic English folk hero. His outdoorsy persona makes him seem like someone who would thrive in a forest. But Costner is a very, very American actor, and he should never be asked to play an Englishman. He infamously failed to pull off an English accent—it sounded like dog shit in the opening act, so he ditched it after that—but even if he managed to pull it off, he still wouldn’t be convincing as an English lord. He looks like he’d be more at home fly fishing in Montana. The movie still manages to be plenty entertaining despite this, but the blemish is always there to be noticed. Who knew Robin Hood hailed from California?
Bennett Oliver
2021-06-03 22:14:44 +0000 UTCJames Wan made the first Saw film, which, in my opinion, is one of the best and most underrated and under appreciated horror films out there. But, Cary Elwes is TERRIBLE in the film! There were scenes where he was supposed to be dramatic, but his performance came off comical to me.
Tony Moro
2021-06-03 20:55:05 +0000 UTCThe Ultimate Cut of Batman V Superman is a fantastic film! The story is complex but multilayered, lots of emotion in the film. Cavill, Gadot and Affleck are amazing as the main heroes. But the biggest issue with the film is definitely Jesse Eisenberg's performance. While he doesn't ruin the whole film, but, he does somewhat hinder the experience. Would have been nice if we got the likes of Bryan Cranston playing Lex Luthor to add some serious menace and screen presence, which Eisenberg truly lacked.
Tony Moro
2021-06-03 20:52:48 +0000 UTCLeonardo DiCaprio in Gangs of New York. I felt like he was still struggling to shake off his heartthrob period in this film. I thought he tried far too hard to keep up with DDL and prove he belonged, but he just wasn’t at that level yet.
Matt G
2021-06-03 20:38:22 +0000 UTCActing doesn't matter in movies. No movie became bad because of a performance. In fact, many great films have terrible performances. Verhoeven and Lanthimons both ask for goofy/detached over-acting and it's just part of the experience. Arguably Christensen's performance in Shattered Glass was bad, but it was just as inauthentic as the character.
Arthur Augustyn
2021-06-03 19:32:11 +0000 UTCAnd just a fun little tangent answer, I love the 2008 movie Mamma Mia as a guilty pleasure of sorts. But Pierce Brosnan's singing performance makes me want to rip my ears off every time he tries to hit a note during SOS. Luckily they toned down his singing role in the sequel which makes it a genuine pleasure instead of a guilty one.
Tyler Shobe
2021-06-03 18:01:34 +0000 UTCI absolutely love the movie If Beale Street Could Talk but Dave Franco, even in his minor role, was such a miscast and a grating performance. He actively ruins the scene he is in and I can't for the life of me think why Barry Jenkins would put him in the movie if it wasn't just a personal favor. It's the only part of that movie I consider a total utter failure.
Tyler Shobe
2021-06-03 17:54:22 +0000 UTCNot a movie but Andrew Scott as Jim Moriarty in the BBC series Sherlock -- brilliant series, horrible (try hard, doing the most, overacted) performance
Michael Smith
2021-06-03 17:54:17 +0000 UTC
