Actors who clearly wanted and put their hearts into the role.... but it just didn't work

Cafe Society
1

Watching “Hoffa” starring Jack Nicholson. Now this might not be the greatest example because the writing and direction is already poor, but surely JackNicholson as Jimmy Hoffa is a home run, no?

Er, no. Despite an earnest performance, Jack just does not pull it off either. All you can think of is it’s Jack Nicholson with a funny haircut playing Jimmy Hoffa and it just does not work despite the best efforts of a generational talent.

Let’s put it this way: Danny Devito steals the show!

What other movies are there where the actor tries hard but still falls short? The better the actor with the biggest turkey, the better! But remember: the actor had to put his heart and soul into the part.

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2

Not a big actor, and certainly not a big movie, but the movie Ideal Home has a recent example of this.

Steve Coogan is clearly putting it out there as best he can in an obviously crappy movie. Meanwhile, his costar Paul Rudd apparently decided to just mail it in. Quite a contrast.

Coogan has got a lot of recognition over the years, both before and behind the camera (Philomena). But there’s nowhere interesting who could take this character no matter how hard he tried. It was going to be DOA.

3

George Clooney as Batman. Playboy, sure, but he’s just not dark and disturbed enough.

4

You would think that Clooney playing Batman would be an easy home run. Tall, dark hair, nice chin. That movie had plenty of other issues to go around and it’s unfortunate that this became his only opportunity to play that character.

5

I’ll forgive that entire movie because it made Clooney enough money that from then on he could make the movies he wanted. Good Night and Good Luck owes its existence to that horrible Batman monstrosity.

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How about a movie where everyone else is trying except one actor, and he is still the best thing on screen? Edward Norton has stated he did The Italian Job only as a contractual obligation and didn’t care two figs anything about it, yet still outshines Wahlberg, Statham, Theron and Seth Green, by a mile.

7

Try Starcrash. It is a cheesy, low-budget ripoff of Star Wars, and Christopher Plummer is obviously just phoning it it for a quick paycheck. Yet he still gives a better performance than the rest of the cast combined.

8

There’s Jody Foster in Bugsy Malone. I don’t know how hard she was trying, but she’s clearly outdoing the rest of the cast.

But it’s very disconcerting. It makes her seem out of place.

9

I’m seeing a lot of examples of the opposite of what the OP is asking for, which is someone who tried their best but utterly failed at making it work…like Nicholas Cage in most of his movies, but specifically the Ghost Rider movies.

10

It happens whenever an actor who’s super-recognizable - whether it’s their looks, their speech patterns, or whatever - plays a historical figure.

Paul Giamatti as John Adams would be one example IMO. It was an ambitious production, but…he’s Paul Giamatti. I am never going to look at him or hear his voice and not think “it’s Paul Giamatti.”

Some actors have the ability to pull this off and disappear into a role. Philip Seymour Hoffman (RIP) as Truman Capote; Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln; Leonardo DiCaprio and Cate Blanchett as Howard Hughes and Catharine Hepburn in The Aviator. But it takes major acting chops.

11

I remember seeing this back when it was first released and thinking “Its cast is entirely child actors, with one adult performance”. Jodie Foster is inhabiting a character and the rest are performing their characters. She’s essentially a seasoned actor, just in a child’s body.

I took a quick look at her IMDB page (she’s only done 80 acting roles in a 50 year career!) and she had already done Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Taxi Driver, and **The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane **when **Bugsy Malone **was released.

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Every actor involved, Game of Thrones season 8.

13

Anybody ever seen a movie called The Swarm?

If you haven’t, please go look at that cast list. Dear Lord.

14

Johnny Depp tries really hard in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But there was no saving that film.

15

Jeff Bridges as Preston Tucker in Tucker. He tried his damndest to portray Tucker as the spunky little guy who got crushed by the Big Auto Companies, but he still came off as being just slick enough to make you wonder if Tucker might have been a con artist all along, just like his critics claimed.

16

Ang Lee’s version of the Hulk. Not only the actors, but also the director, producers, etc.

They all wanted to make a good film.
They all tried to make a good film.
You could see the effort they put into it.
It just never quite came together.

17

Back when it came out, after seeing all the trailers and clips, I just assumed Bridges was playing Tucker The Slick Carnival Barker.

SO many of these mentioned were disappointments. Especially the HULK… Ang Lee directing Eric Bana, Nick Nolte, Jennifer Connelly… Sam Elliott! Why wouldn’t my friends and I rush to the theater?

18

I thought Shia LaBeouf put more energy into his role than anyone else in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But in the end, it didn’t matter.

19

In Mac and Me, a lot of the actors are going about it as if their lives depend on this movie.

20

And Cate Blanchett as 25 year old Bob Dylan in “I’m Not There”. That movie/role was challenging for all who played him, but Blanchett pulled it off perfectly.