Good Performances in Terrible Movies

[joegottman]

Can you think of any actors who gave really good performances in movies that were otherwise awful?

[GRANT!]

Janeane Garafolo and Randy Quaid were awesome in the blind date from hell scenes in Bye Bye Love which otherwise sucked.

[Gary Joyce]

Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of new york it in fact it was the only good thing about the movie.

[Black Atom]

Alec Baldwin in The Shadow. But would you expect any less?

[Thorlief]

Natalie Portman in V for Vendetta

Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump. Godawfully movie, good performance

Kenneth Branagh in the one of the ugliest movies ever: Wild Wild West

[TheLazy]

Tom Hanks in Forrest Gump. Godawfully movie, good performance


:eek:

Anyway, Ed Norton in American History X

:)

[Legato]

Samuel Jackson in Black Snake Moan.

[Tony Bang]

Robert Duvall in Gone in 60 Seconds and Gods and Generals.

[jesse_custer]

I agree about Norton in American History X, which is an overrated and amateurish feature that millions have somehow fallen in love with, despite its dishonest screenwriting and stupid "in the clouds" ending.

Daniel Day-Lewis has never had a bad performance. The Ballad of Jack and Rose is an average flick, but Day-Lewis is magnificent in it. By the way, Gangs of New York is actually one of the more uncompromising--though flawed--visions we've had in the last few years.

Al Pacino tore it up as the devil in The Devil's Advocate, as did Forest Whitaker in King of Scotland.

[Tobias March]

Janeane Garafolo and Randy Quaid were awesome in the blind date from hell scenes in Bye Bye Love which otherwise sucked.

Good catch, I liked their scenes together. Christopher Walken regularly saves movies. His scenes in Envy are fantastic, just playing this mumbling hobo. Great stuff :)

[marshal99]

Good catch, I liked their scenes together. Christopher Walken regularly saves movies. His scenes in Envy are fantastic, just playing this mumbling hobo. Great stuff :)

Eh , doesn't Christopher Walken regularly plays the mumbling hobo in every movie he's in ? ;)

[Sean Whitmore]

Seconded on Pacino in Devil's Advocate.

I also found Stuart Townsend quite the charming scenery chewer in League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.


SEAN

[Tien Long]

Nic Cage in Ghost Rider. Personally, I thought the WHOLE movie was terrific, but even detractors agree w/ me that Nicholas Cage's acting was top notch.

[LordEd1976]

Raul Julia in Street Fighter.

[JoeK32880]

Nic Cage in Ghost Rider. Personally, I thought the WHOLE movie was terrific, but even detractors agree w/ me that Nicholas Cage's acting was top notch.

I'd even put Eva Mendes in this category too. The scene where she's getting drunk wiating for Johnny at dinner. . . priceless.

[J. Robb]

Janeane Garafolo and Randy Quaid were awesome in the blind date from hell scenes in Bye Bye Love which otherwise sucked.
Good example. That was a horrible movie but I loved that scene.

How about Ewan McGregor in the Star Wars prequels? Yeah, they weren't completely terrible, but if everyone else could have gotten even close to McGregor's level of acting and delivery, they could have been much, much better.

[GRANT!]

How about Ewan McGregor in the Star Wars prequels? Yeah, they weren't completely terrible...

Yes they were. Though MacGregor was pretty good in the last two. Not as good as Yoda or R2D2 but still pretty good.

[Deep_Sleeper]

What about Denzel Washington in Training Day?

[Atom_basher]

What about Denzel Washington in Training Day?

i cant even begin to wrap mu head around this

[Toku King]

The guy who played Thunderbolt Ross in "Hulk".

[Legato]

The guy who played Thunderbolt Ross in "Hulk".

That and he was the right casting choice for that part. I hope he is used in the new Hulk movie.

[Sean Whitmore]

The guy who played Thunderbolt Ross in "Hulk".

Funnily enough, Sam Elliot also gave one of the few good performances in Ghost Rider.


SEAN

[jesse_custer]

Funnily enough, not everyone knows Sam Elliot's name.

[Thorlief]

he was good in that godawfully movie with Kirstie Allen

[Your Imaginary Pal]

not that it was an awful movie, but in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
when Oldman and Co. are in the Shreiking Shack it's like it was an entirely different film.
Oldman could play a convincing Jay-Z on film.

[Jared H.]

Russell Crowe in "Virtuosity."

Ridiculous plot, cliche main character(although Denzel still did a decent job with him), but Crowe seemed to be having the time of his life playing Sid 6.7.

[z0mbie_aut0pil0t]

I thought Gary Oldman did an alright job in The Professional. The movie was decent but he was CRAZY.

[brundlefly]

Kevin McKidd (AKA Lucius Vorenus from "Rome") in "The Purifiers." It's essentially "The Warriors" set in the near-future with the fight scenes presumably being the movie's big selling point. Except the fights aren't very good and 90% of the acting is pretty poor. McKidd's villainous Moses is the exception and the highlight of the movie, as he's obviously having a good time here playing the bad guy.

[Michael P]

he was good in that godawful movie with Kirstie Alley

You're going to have to narrow that down.

[SPAfreak]

Russell Crowe in "Virtuosity."

Ridiculous plot, cliche main character(although Denzel still did a decent job with him), but Crowe seemed to be having the time of his life playing Sid 6.7.

That would be the reason I own that movie. Awful, terrible movie. But Crowe seems to have such a good time going ridiculously over the top that I love watching it.

[SoulOnIce]

Morgan Freeman in Street Smart

Robert Downey Jr. in Two Girls and a Guy

[metalhead_dave743]

J.K. Simmons as Jameson in Spidey 2