# A surprising performance by...
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [September 8, 2000, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526 "2000-09-08T18:41:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Sealemon88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sealemon88)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2000, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/1 "2000-09-08T18:41:33Z")
Who are some actors that you didn’t think much of, until you saw them in a certain role? In high school, I had to be practically dragged to see Die Hard, because I hated Bruce Willis in Moonlighting. I found that he did very well as an action hero in the Indiana Jones style. He has surprised me again in The Sixth Sense, proving that he can play an unassuming character (He’s not the greatest actor of all time, but his action movie roles have shown me that he _can_ play certain characters very well).
Keanu Reeves impressed me with his role in The Matrix. Even though it was vintage Keanu (There was even a “Woah!” moment), his fighting scenes were impressive. I find it interesting that he’s playing a villian in his next movie. I wonder how he’ll do.
Up until Fight Club, I had always seen Brad Pitt as a pretty boy. His role in this movie showed me that he can act, and that he’s not afraid to be seen in a bad light.
Jennifer Lopez isn’t much of an actress, but her role in Out Of Sight shows me that she has potential. Even if it only ever appears in this one movie, she still surprised me with it.
Who are some actors that you didn’t think much of, until you saw them in that certain role?
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### Author:  [@Gregor\_Samsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gregor_Samsa)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2000, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/2 "2000-09-08T19:28:16Z")
I didn’t think John Travolta was good for anything (except playing Vinnie Barbarino) until I saw him in _Pulp Fiction_.
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### Author:  [@struuter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/struuter)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2000, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/3 "2000-09-08T19:34:59Z")
I’d have to second your Keanu vote. I really thought I would have to like the movie IN SPITE of him. Not true. He seemed to understand his part, his capability, and how to let other people shine. Understated performance that worked well, IMHO.
There HAVE been actors who impressed me greatly upon first glance and then were disappointments further on. I’d have to put John Long in that category. He was excellent in The Last Emperor, but by the time The Shadow came out I was sad for him.
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### Author:  [@Kepi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kepi)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2000, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/4 "2000-09-08T20:59:06Z")
This is sort of the reverse of your question. That is, here is the actor that I was really excited about when I first saw him, but unfortunately his subsequent performances have really let me down:
Kevin Costner in _Silverado_
He was a joy to watch in this film. Being a newcomer, he actually held his own with Kevin Kline, Scott Glenn and Danny Glover. I thought “Now here’s a guy I hope to see a lot of in the future.”
Boy was I wrong. It seems he got less enjoyable to watch in each film thereafter. He was pretty good in _No Way Out_, he fit the role of Ray Kinsella in _Field of Dreams_ perfectly, and he probably peaked with _Dances With Wolves_. But then came _JFK_. And I lost all respect for him after _Robin Hood: Prince of Dweebs_ - er, I mean _Prince of Thieves_. It’s been downhill ever since and I haven’t seen anything he’s done since _Wyatt Earp_.
What a waste.
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### Author:  [@lucie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucie)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2000, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/5 "2000-09-08T21:20:43Z")
I know exactly what you mean, Kepi. I thought exactly the same thing, and have been progressively disappointed in his performances ever since. Maybe he was just lucky to work with the only director who could get a good performance out of him.
I was really surprised by Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt in “12 Monkeys”. Both were absolutely outstanding, and I have never seen either of them do anything to touch those performances.
Brendan Fraser in “Gods and Monsters”. i have always found him to be an engaging actor and better than the material he usually has to work with, but had no idea he could act that well. He really holds his own on screen with Sir Ian McKellen. Hopefully he will get more scripts like that in the future.
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### Author:  [@Sealemon88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sealemon88)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2000, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/6 "2000-09-08T21:23:36Z")
OK Kepi, I’ll play!
The award for most disapointing actor, IMHO goes to Sylvester Stallone. His early movies were really good (Nighthawks, Rocky, First blood), but for every good movie he’s been in, there are a dozen crap fests (Over The Top, Stop, Or My Mom Will Shoot!)
Worst of all, he occasionally shows promise again (Copland), only to fall back into the sludge pit that is his typecast career.
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### Author:  [@lucie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucie)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2000, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/7 "2000-09-08T21:28:26Z")
Ooh! Ooh!
Don’t forget when he hit rock bottom: Judge Dredd!
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### Author:  [@JosephFinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JosephFinn)
#### Post date: [September 8, 2000, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/8 "2000-09-08T21:49:36Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by lucie \*
> \*\*Ooh! Ooh!
>
> Don’t forget when he hit rock bottom: Judge Dredd! \*\*
The crime of that movie is that it completely wastes a brilliant performance by Max Sydow.
As for surprising me:
Tom Hanks. As he once remarked during the “Philadelphia” hooplah, “Just remember, I got my SAG card for 'Bosom Buddies.” To come from that and lightweight stuff like “Splash” and “Bachelor Party” and then to deliver the performances he has is quite impressive. Me, I’m looking forward to “Castaway.”
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### Author:  [@rackensack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rackensack)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2000, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/9 "2000-09-09T02:20:04Z")
Burt Reynolds, but not for _Boogie Nights_. That might have surprised me, had I not seen him nearly ten years before in a little-known film by one of my favorite directors, [Bill Forsyth](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Forsyth,+Bill+(I)), called [_Breaking In_](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0096976). In it, Reynolds plays an aging burglar who gets out of prison, and intends to go straight – after a few more jobs. Meanwhile, he happens to break into a house at the same time as a teenaged kid who’s going about it all wrong. Naturally, he sets about to teach the kid to do things the right way. Not Forsyth’s best by far, but it was the first time I’d seen Reynolds play a character his own age. Reynolds is engaging and human, with none of the smarminess that made most of his previous work so dreadful.
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### Author:  [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2000, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/10 "2000-09-09T14:22:07Z")
This is a bit different from the previous posts, but…
Richard Dawson in _The Running Man_. OK, it was a pretty awful Schwarzenegger movie. But Dawson managed to completely cast away his bumbling attempts to be cloying and loveable on _Family Feud_ to play a grade-A evil game-show host in the movie. I could never watch _Family Feud_ in the same way again.
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### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2000, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/11 "2000-09-09T15:19:16Z")
George Clooney. So many bad roles, but his part as Sparky the gay dog in South Park blew my socks off.
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### Author:  [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2000, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/12 "2000-09-09T16:05:29Z")
I thought Brendan Fraiser made a great George of the Jungle. And playing against John Cleese as the Ape. I loved the movie. “Who are you argueing with?” “The narrator” “The Narrator?”
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### Author:  [@JosephFinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JosephFinn)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2000, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/13 "2000-09-09T16:32:05Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by rackensack \*
> \*\*Burt Reynolds, but not for _Boogie Nights_. That might have surprised me, had I not seen him nearly ten years before in a little-known film by one of my favorite directors, [Bill Forsyth](http://us.imdb.com/Name?Forsyth,+Bill+(I)), called [_Breaking In_](http://us.imdb.com/Title?0096976). \*\*
I would also nominate Burt Reynolds for his performance in _Citizen Ruth_. He manages to play a televangelist as horribly creepy without ever actually doing anything creepy on screen. Great part.
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### Author:  [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2000, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/14 "2000-09-09T16:46:45Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Kepi \*
> **He was pretty good in _No Way Out_, he fit the role of Ray Kinsella in _Field of Dreams_ perfectly, and he probably peaked with _Dances With Wolves_. But then came _JFK_. And I lost all respect for him after _Robin Hood: Prince of Dweebs_ - er, I mean _Prince of Thieves_. It’s been downhill ever since and I haven’t seen anything he’s done since _Wyatt Earp_.**
The last thing I saw that I thought Costner actually did a good job in was _A Perfect World_ co-starring and directed by Clint Eastwood. Costner (who had really been sucking since _Dances With Wolves_) really surprised me in this role. _Perfect World_ was Eastwood’s film after _Unforgiven_ and didn’t do well at the box office. A great film, IMHO, that sadly went unnoticed.
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### Author:  [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2000, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/15 "2000-09-09T17:12:29Z")
I have long believed that writing is what makes the difference between a mediocre actor and a superb actor. To re-use an argument I’ve made before, Angie Harmon NEVER showed signs of being anything more than a Baywatch bimbo before joining the cast of “Law and Order.” Given good scripts, she turned out to be quite capable.
Some other examples? Tom Cruise in “Magnolia.” Look, NOBODY could give a great performance in a movie like “Cocktail,” but given a good role, Cruise was very good.
I’d never liked Rob Lowe in ANYTHING before “Bad Influence.” Not a great movie, but an interesting role that stretched him beyond his previous pretty boy limits.
Robin Williams usually turns my stomach with his overbearing sweetness (think “Patch Adams”), but was well deserving of his Oscar in “Good Will Hunting.”
Alec Baldwin and Jack Lemmon usually annoy me, especially Baldwin. But both were superb in “Glengarry Glen Ross.” Baldwin was only on screen a few minutes, but he was unforgettable.
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### Author:  [@SoMoMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SoMoMom)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2000, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/16 "2000-09-09T17:21:31Z")
I am still creeped-out by **Sting** ’s character in **Grave Indiscretions**. I was not expecting to actually like the movie, so I was definitely surprised.
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### Author:  [@Gomez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gomez)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2000, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/17 "2000-09-09T18:09:21Z")
I’ve always loved Jim Carrey but I thought he’d make a total mess of any serious role. The Truman Show \* definately \* proved me wrong there.
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### Author:  [@JosephFinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JosephFinn)
#### Post date: [September 9, 2000, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/18 "2000-09-09T21:28:37Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by astorian \*
> \*\*Alec Baldwin and Jack Lemmon usually annoy me, especially Baldwin. But both were superb in “Glengarry Glen Ross.” Baldwin was only on screen a few minutes, but he was unforgettable. \*\*
And the part was written especially for Baldwin, and is not in the original play, which illustrates your point about good writing can lift a previously un-appreciated actor.
“Put the coffee down! Coffee is for closers.”
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### Author:  [@Diesel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diesel)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2000, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/19 "2000-09-10T05:23:21Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Sealemon88 \*
> \*\*Keanu Reeves impressed me with his role in The Matrix. Even though it was vintage Keanu (There was even a “Woah!” moment), his fighting scenes were impressive. I find it interesting that he’s playing a villian in his next movie. I wonder how he’ll do.
>
> Up until Fight Club, I had always seen Brad Pitt as a pretty boy. His role in this movie showed me that he can act, and that he’s not afraid to be seen in a bad light.\*\*
Everyone praises Keanu Reeves’ performance in The Matrix (he even won an MTV Movie Award for it). But what they fail to understand is that he didn’t have to do that much aside from look cool, know the choreography, and repeat everything Lawrence Fishburne says as a qestion. What he had to work with was what made the performance at least tolerable. Imagine how he would have done as Morpheus or Cypher. ==shudders==
As for Brad Pitt, i knew he was good when i first saw Interview with the Vampire and SE7EN. Sure, most of his lines in the latter included an annoying amount of explatives (hey, i’m all for cursing, but three “fucks” in a sentence when you’re HAPPY is rediculous), but acting when he finds out his wife is dead is what makes the ending so scarring. Plus, the role of a depressed vampire couldn’t possibly be an easy one to play.
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### Author:  [@Mofo\_Rising](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mofo_Rising)
#### Post date: [September 10, 2000, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/20 "2000-09-10T05:54:43Z")
I don’t know, I don’t really pay attention to the acting when I’m watching a movie, so I’m pretty lenient. I’ve always liked Keanu Reeves in pretty much any movie. I also have an odd theory about somewhat good actors who fall prey to the pretty boy label. Brad Pitt had quite a few performances, 12 Monkeys, Seven, Fight Club. Leonardo DiCaprio has my respect for the Basketball Diaries and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. Then they hit Legends of the Fall and Titanic. Man, millions of screaming teenage girls can really go to somebody’s head.
Ummm, so I don’t really have a reply to this thread topic. Hey, Richard Pryor did a good job in Lost Highway didn’t he?
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