# A surprising performance by... **URL:** \ **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:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2000, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/21 "2000-09-10T06:36:13Z")
I have never liked Keanu Reeves in anything (Other then Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure & Bogus Journey) until I saw THe Replacements a few weeks ago. He actually ACTED in that movie _GASP!_ ---
**Author:** ![brachyrhynchos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brachyrhynchos/32/376_2.png) [@brachyrhynchos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brachyrhynchos)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2000, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/22 "2000-09-10T06:55:05Z")
Orson Bean. He played the old man in _Being John Malkovich_\* and was terrific. I always thought of him in terms of his Match Game/To Tell the Truth participation so his performance in this movie was a wonderful surprise. ---
**Author:** ![JosephFinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3bc359/32.png) [@JosephFinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JosephFinn)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2000, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/23 "2000-09-10T19:19:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by brachyrhynchos \* > **Orson Bean. He played the old man in _Being John Malkovich_** and was terrific. I always thought of him in terms of his Match Game/To Tell the Truth participation so his performance in this movie was a wonderful surprise. \*\* Orson Bean also had a great guest performance on “Will & Grace” this year as an old college professor of Will and Grace (who had been a wonderfully positive influence on them), who they went to visit and saw what the two of them were going to be like as they witnessed the professor squabbling constatntly with his best friend. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2000, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/24 "2000-09-10T19:36:48Z")
Brad Pitt permanently erased his pretty boy image in “Kalifornia”. He gave an absolutely awesome, surprising performance. If you haven’t seen “Kalifornia” I highly recommend it. Juliette Lewis, Brad Pitt, David Duchovny all put in great performances. But Brad Pitt really is outstanding. He’s barely recognizable, and exudes pure menace all the way through the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2000, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/25 "2000-09-11T00:52:29Z")
Reese Witherspoon blew my socks off in _Election._ Yes, she was good before that (in _Freeway_ and as The Naked Girl in _Twilight_), but I wasn’t prepared for her work as the uptight highschooler. Cameron Diaz in _Being John Malkovich._ Yes, a pretty face. Yes, very good comic timing from the get-go (c.f. _The Mask_). But who knew she could deliver such a bundle of de-glamorized neuroses? This goes back a few years, but perhaps the ultimate “I didn’t know he could do that” breakthrough performance was from Kurt Russell in _Escape from New York._ Before 1981, remember, he had been trying to shake off the mantle of Disney Kid (e.g. _The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes_) for a full decade. Oh, and if you want a surprising Robin Williams performance, check out _Dead Again._ On the disappointment side: Neither Salma Hayek nor Catherine Zeta-Jones has lived up to their initial levels of promise. The former burned up the screen in _Desperado_, and the latter was a firebrand in _The Mask of Zorro._ Both have been amateurish and lame in almost everything since – see _Time Code_ and _Entrapment_, respectively. There’s sort of a corollary question, here, that might warrant its own thread, regarding actors who used to be good but who haven’t really challenged themselves lately or whose talents have gone untapped. Mel Gibson is a good example; think back to _Gallipoli_ and even the first _Lethal Weapon_ movie. Compared to those, _Braveheart_ is coasting. And then there’s Rutger Hauer… ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2000, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/26 "2000-09-11T06:26:47Z")
There are a lot of great actors who simply can’t read a movie script and tell that it sucks, or who are getting bad advice from agents, or whatever. But they consistently show up in 3rd rate movies. Michael Caine comes immediately to mind. Rutger Hauer had an amazing start in _BladeRunner_ and The _Hitchhiker_, but after that appeared in an endless string of lousy movies. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2000, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/27 "2000-09-11T12:41:04Z")
I thought William H. Macy was a milk-dud until I saw him in ‘Fargo’. And Brad Pitt until ‘12 Monkeys’. Ben Affleck, usually lame, was great in ‘Shakespeare in Love’. And Rob Lowe in ‘West Wing’ is very suprising. ---
**Author:** ![Sealemon88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c68b51/32.png) [@Sealemon88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sealemon88)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2000, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/28 "2000-09-11T14:13:00Z")
To be honest, I had forgotten a lot of Brad Pitt’s earlier performances before I posted the OP. My apologies to Brad if he posts here. 😃 Courtney Love really suprised me when I saw her in The People vs. Larry Flint. Excellent acting job, IMO. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2000, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/29 "2000-09-11T14:28:36Z")
Ms Love? Acting? I thought she was being natural in that _cough_movie_coughhackwheeze_… I’m going to gargle with acid now… ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2000, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/30 "2000-09-11T17:21:17Z")
**dhanson:** Rutger Hauer got his amazing start well before that, with a few European films, notably _Soldier of Orange._ Here’s another one that goes back a bit: Remember when Sean Penn was a young prettyboy, from _Fast Times at Ridgemont High_ and _Taps_? He was regarded as a good actor, but nothing to write home about. He gave some clues in _Bad Boys_, and then came _The Falcon and the Snowman._ Kaboom! Suddenly he was a Real Actor. A lot of people were surprised by Michael Douglas’s lumpy and good-humored turn in _Wonder Boys_, after his string of Gucci-clad slimeballs. Oh, hey, how about Melanie Griffith in _Something Wild_? Still a career highlight, as far as I’m concerned. And don’t forget Al Pacino’s clowny-clown performance as the bad guy in _Dick Tracy_… ---
**Author:** ![Sea\_Sloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Sea\_Sloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sea_Sloth)\ **Post date:** [September 11, 2000, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526/31 "2000-09-11T17:33:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BratMan007 \* > 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. \*\* I totally agree. I HATE Kevin Costner as far as one can hate a person for being a miserable actor, but I was completely shocked by the quality of this film. I loved No Way Out but gagged over everything he did since then until Perfect World. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-surprising-performance-by/32526.md?page=1)