# Actors who positively ruined an otherwise good movie. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 30, 2000, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899 "2000-05-30T16:40:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899/1 "2000-05-30T16:40:51Z")
I blame Denise Richards for ruining \*The World is not Enough \* for not only myself, but my husband and brother in law. We were all thoroughly enjoying the video on the Bond’s latest adventure and in walks like a hooker, named Dr. Christmas Jones. No less, a nuclear physicist. With silicone breast implants too. I mean, \*what are the odds? \* I know that Bond Girls are typically eye candy in short shorts and braless t’s, but there have been glimmers of these women posessing at least some acting talents. Why couldn’t she (and those caterpillars for eyebrows) have just died? (Other than her dismal refusal to die, the movie we all agreed was one of the better Bonds in years.) ---
**Author:** ![SouthernStyle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@SouthernStyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SouthernStyle)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899/2 "2000-05-30T16:52:04Z")
The OP didn’t go where I thought that is was heading, based on the subject line. I, too, thought it one of the better 007s in years. There being two beautiful babes, (one “good guy” and one “bad guy”), seemed a bit over the top, even for a Bond flick. But I liked it. Now you wanna talk about an actor ruining a film? How about Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible? He just can’t pull off a serious and anger filled scene. (e.g. “You’ve never seen me very upset.”) Kevin Spacey, (Chris Sabian in “The Negotiator”) would have been much better in that role. SouthernStyle ---
**Author:** ![Crunchy\_Frog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ebca7d/32.png) [@Crunchy\_Frog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crunchy_Frog)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899/3 "2000-05-30T16:54:19Z")
I could not agree more. Denise Richards was horrible in _The World Was Not Enough_ and this is coming from a die-hard Bond fan. (Note the 007 at the end of my user name) Personally, (and I know there are those who will disagree with me, but save it for GD, ok people?) I think Brosnan is the best Bond since Connery. But _ **come on** _ Denise Richards looked fresh out of high school, and this is supposed to be a nuclear physicist? BTW, it wasn’t just her caterpillian eyebrows that bugged me, what about those fish lips that semed to engulf the bottom half of her face? I swear it looked like she could swallow her own head with those lips! And before I get jumped, I said **since** Connery, not better than Connery. And on the subject of actors ruining movies, does anyone else think Chris O’Donnell sucks, or is it only me? He was _ok_ in scent of a woman, a film I believe was saved by Al Pacino’s performance. But everything else he’s done was terrible. He’s bland. He’s dull. He’s boring. What the hell was he doing playing Robin in _Batman Forever_? Batman and Robin I thought sucked all the way around, but giving so many lines to Chris O’Donnell didn’t help anything either. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899/4 "2000-05-30T17:10:38Z")
The actress who played Nola Darling in She’s Gotta Have It. I think her name was Tracy Camilla, though I could be wrong. I know it was Spike Lee’s break out film and I realize it was an independant done-on-the-cheap film. But to have Nola, the central character, played by such a wooden actress was criminal. Spike Lee’s sister was pretty stiff too. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899/5 "2000-05-30T17:24:10Z")
BratMan, you and I/me/whatever should write vigorous letters of complaint to the producers and casting of T.W.I.N.E. Another movie that was tolerable, but made much worse was \*The Peacemaker \*. Primarily Nicole Kidman as, _what are the odds_ another nuclear physicist. Yeah, she’s the head of the Nuclear Bomb stuff for the Goverment and she’s 1) Under 50. 2) Very pretty and skinny. Oh,look! There goes a winged monkey flying out of my butt. Gimme a break. Her acting skills were dreadful to say the least.At least her boobs are not enormous. I really haven’t liked her in any film she’s done yet. Just because she’s Mrs. Tom Cruise or just spectacularly pretty is no excuse for her getting another big acting job on screen. ---
**Author:** ![Catrandom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@Catrandom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catrandom)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899/6 "2000-05-30T17:25:01Z")
Hmmm – I think Tom Cruise is a terrific actor; as good as anybody out there. But maybe MI:2 was not his best – I haven’t seen it yet. “Gladiator,” which I did see this weekend, suffered from the casting of the pivotal part of Lucilla with Connie Nielsen. She wasn’t terrible, just dull; and her character’s motivations are supposed to be rather central to (what there is of) the plot. I kept thinking of the possibilities if they had cast, say, someone like Kate Winslet in that part. Otherwise, it was an okay movie; it had too many fun-with-CGI moments, and Russell Crowe, though decidedly easy on the eyes, could perhaps have been more intelligible. (And yes, I know he’s great; I saw “L.A. Confidential.” But in “Gladiator” he mumbles.) Catrandom ---
**Author:** ![H8\_2\_W8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c77e96/32.png) [@H8\_2\_W8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/H8_2_W8)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899/7 "2000-05-30T17:25:45Z")
I think this movie generally got 3 stars outta 4, and I think how just about any other actor would have been better than Keanu and this could’ve been a classic. “Devil’s Advocate” has: - Al Pacino as the Devil - the whole Good vs. Evil thing - crime, punishment, human nature - full-frontal nudity (Charlize Theron) - more full-frontal nudity (Connie Nielsen) - special effects (full-frontal nudity artwork-sculpture) With all that, the problem is of course Keanu. He’s supposed to be a lawyer from the South, but his accent usually slips back to West Coast surfer-dude every other line. This guy just sucks as a actor. Second choice for this category: Keanu in “The Matrix.” ---
**Author:** ![Demo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demo/32/8472_2.png) [@Demo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demo)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899/8 "2000-05-30T17:46:46Z")
Haha! When I saw this thread, I knew exactly what I would say: Keanu Reeves in Point Break. Poor Keanu. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Derfel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/bb73d2/32.png) [@Lord\_Derfel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Derfel)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899/9 "2000-05-30T18:01:12Z")
_The Man in the Iron Mask_ (1998 version) could have been an excellent movie except for the unfortunate decision to cast Leonardo diCrappio. Jeremy Irons, John Malkovitch and Gerard Depardieu are excellent actors, but they couldn’t salvage the movie from diCaprio’s wooden performance. Did I mention that I hate diCaprio? ---
**Author:** ![ReservoirDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@ReservoirDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ReservoirDog)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899/10 "2000-05-30T18:09:24Z")
Too funny. The first thing that popped into my head was the deplorable Mr. Reeves in Kenneth Branaugh’s _Much Ado About Nothing_. Was there any movie that he was actually good in aside from _Bill & Ted_ movies? With each successive movie the poor bastard makes, it seems as if his participation in those earlier “moron” movies were not so much about acting, but just good typecasting. ---
**Author:** ![Sylence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b19c9b/32.png) [@Sylence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylence)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899/11 "2000-05-30T23:42:58Z")
Another vote for DiCrappyo. – Sylence ---
**Author:** ![vandal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/858c86/32.png) [@vandal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vandal)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2000, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899/12 "2000-05-30T23:53:21Z")
The moment I read the subject of this thread, Denise Richards in _The World is Not Enough_ came to mind. But to add a few… Jar Jar Binks in _The Phantom Meance_. Infact, that whole Gunken race I could’ve done without. Chow Yun Fat in _Anna and the King_. While watching this, I just kept thinking, “okay, so when he is gonna start shooting the place up?” He was so wrongly cast for that film. John Travolta in _Battlefield Earth_. He just can’t play a bad guy. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2000, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899/13 "2000-05-31T00:21:15Z")
I instantly thought of him in Much Ado… as well. The only movie that he’s decent in besides Bill&Ted is parenthood. I love when he crashes his drag car, then asks “Did I win?” I also like Point Break, partly because he makes Swazye look like Spacey, and it’s just a fun 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:** [May 31, 2000, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899/14 "2000-05-31T01:03:38Z")
I second just about everything already said (Keanu in _Much Ado_, Chris O’Donnell in general, etc.), but to these I have to add my own personal fingernails-on-chalkboard performer: Andie McDowell, in just about everything she’s done. _Green Card_? She couldn’t carry a line if it were superglued to her hand. _Greystoke_? Dubbed by Glenn Close, and still bad. _The Player_? She wasn’t even able to play herself in a blink-and-you-miss-it cameo. Sorry, I’m ranting. But I don’t know how on earth she keeps getting acting jobs. Modeling and commercials? Fine. But anything where she has to walk and talk at the same time? Hopeless. ---
**Author:** ![Scotticher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Scotticher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scotticher)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2000, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899/15 "2000-05-31T01:37:42Z")
Okay, this is going back awhile, but I have never gotten over the casting of Kevin Costner in Robin Hood. I am not the world’s biggest Costner fan anyway, but in that film he was totally miscast. Now Timothy Dalton, on the other hand would have made an outstanding Robin Hood. Did you ever see the wonderfully campy “Flash Gordon” movie? He had a part in that film that showed what a good choice he would have been for the leader of the Merry Men of Sherwood Forest. He was Baron Something-or-other. Now you all know my deep, dark secret-I LOVE campy movies, the cheesier and more over the top the better. Scotti ---
**Author:** ![Zion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b5e925/32.png) [@Zion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zion)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2000, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899/16 "2000-05-31T01:45:11Z")
I know this isn’t GD, but I have to argue one small point. Look at the Matrix, and what it’s about, and remember the role of Neo (the Reeves character). Is there anybody else out there who is right for that part? I don’t think it’s a role that “any” actor could pull off convincingly. Keanu was right for the job. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2000, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899/17 "2000-05-31T05:03:06Z")
I was going to say Travolta in “Face Off”, but the OP said good movies. But Travolta in just about anything lately. I really hate that squeal of a laugh he seems stuck with. ---
**Author:** ![Mephistopheles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Mephistopheles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mephistopheles)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2000, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899/18 "2000-05-31T05:33:28Z")
I have an actor who ruined an otherwise mediocre movie, Tom Cruise. The 100lb man with the body of a ballerina in an ACTION movie…give me a break. Every time I saw him hit someone I had to laugh, as a Tom Cruise punch is weaker than a Nicole Kidman punch. And the love story in it, JEEZ, lay off, it is an ACTION movie; if I want to see love I’ll rent A Julia Roberts movie. ``` BOYCOTT MISSION IMPOSSIBLE 2 (THE WORST MOVIE OF ALL TIME...YES THAT'S RIGHT, WORSE THAN TITANIC) ``` ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2000, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899/19 "2000-05-31T05:44:59Z")
I’m afraid I’d have to say “Sean Connery or Michael Caine in anything they have made in the past fifteen years” except none of them were good movies. I long for the days of “The Man Who Would Be King.” ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2000, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899/20 "2000-05-31T12:05:50Z")
With the exception of “EverAfter”, whenever Drew Barrymore makes an appearance on screen I just want to hurl bricks at my screen. Oh wait, I said Good Movies ruined by bad actors… Never mind this post [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-positively-ruined-an-otherwise-good-movie/20899.md?page=2)