[hijack]
Does anyone know why it takes to terribly acted villians to try and make up for one Jack Nicholson?
(this is about the batman films)
Keanu was good in the Prince of Pennsylvania or whatever it was called. (someone asked what else he was good in)
This one that really sticks in my mind because not only was the performance completely out of sync with all the great stuff happening everywhere else on the screen (and behind) but it was also his own bloody film ! The man was as stiff as a board.
Pulp Fiction: Quentin Tarontino
Damon Runyon’s Guys and Dolls was almost a perfect musical. Sinatra makes good songs great. Vivien Blaine was perfect as the long suffering Adelaide. Stubby Kaye played Stubby Kaye with the usual aplomb. Jean Simmons as the missionary girl was right on. Sheldon Leonard and B.S. Pully in another of their patented tough guy roles. And could anyone but Robert Keith play Lt.Brannigan?
Now get a load of this:
Sky Masterson is played by Marlon Brando. What the f**k were they smoking?
He sings. He dances. He marries the girl.
You couldn’t get anybody wronger for the part.
Keanu was also fairly decent in River’s Edge and Permanent Record, two 80s movies that were not very popular. Shame, because they were good movies too.
Sky Masterson is just a throwaway role that fills the need in period musicals for a Boy Ingenue if the the real lead, in this case Nathan Detroit, needs to be talented. It’s just so big a role that you think he’s the star, thus Marlon Brando.
“My Fair Lady” had it right–Freddie has maybe eight lines, one song, and he’s gone. Can you believe that Jeremy Brett, the greatest Sherlock Holmes ever, played him in the movie? What a waste!
As for good actors ruining an otherwise-atrocious movie (musical division), Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood in “Paint Your Wagon.” Didn’t think it could get worse, but they accomplished it.
I know we shouldn’t be debating herre, but I can’t help myself!
You are breaking my heart!!! Lumping Connery and Caine in with the likes of Keanu Reeves and Chris O’Donnell? I’ll admit they haven’t been chooidng the best films to star in lately, but this isn’t good actors in bad films, it’s bad actors in good films.
And as for the past 15 years, did you not see Connery in The Untouchables or Caine in The Cider House Rules?
Not to debate, but watch those two chew up scenery. They started out as naturalistic actors, but have become parodies of themselves.
Keanu Reeves in anything qualifies as “an actor who ruined an otherwise good movie” in my book. He’s just that bad.
Not for nothing, but when I think of Sherlock Holmes, I see Basil Rathbone. He certainly had the look. And as a classically trained actor, you can’t deny his talent. Unfortunately, he had a weak Watson to play against. Nigel Bruce was a one dimensional character actor who brought little to the role. There was just no chemistry there.
Easy. Jim Backus as James Dean’s father in “Rebel Without a Cause”. I know that he probably was a good, dependable choice at the time, but now you can’t help but see him as either Mr Magoo or Thurston Howell III.
In a recent movie Roseanna Arquette did the worst french canadian accent in “The Whole Nine Yards”. The director got good performances out of Matthew Perry and Bruce Willis, both of whom can kill a movie dead, but he couldn’t work miracles with Roseanna. It looks like "Desperatly Seeking Susan " was a fluke performance by her and Madonna.
By the way I think scenery chewing can be a lot of fun in the right roles. Unfortunately some actors tend to over rely on it and that taints their performance. (Robin Williams in most roles)
Keith
To go back to MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING for a moment…
Keanu didn’t spoil the movie for me because I was expecting him to be god-awful. The nasty surprise here was Michael Keaton stinking up the place in the role of Dogberry…I enjoy Keaton’s work, and I consider Dogberry to be one of the best clown roles in the Shakespearean Comedies, so I was hoping for a lot and his performance was a huge disappointment. I wish Branaugh or Washington or someone had backhanded him one and said “Why the fuck are your playing it that way?!? Play it some OTHER way!!!”
Also, a terrible waste of Denzel Washington…Don Pedro is SUCH a nothing part.
Not that The Fifth Element was a great movie, but I was enjoying it until Chris Tucker came on the scene. Talk about out of place! He has got to be the most annoying thing on screen these days. Luckily, he’s not popular enough to contaminate too many other films. However, as a Jackie Chan fan, I regret that I had to pass on Rush Hour. Maybe I could watch it with the mute on.
I saw somebody mention Titanic up there and that wooden idiot Bill Paxton came to mind. He sucked in Twister (which wasn’t that good anyway,) he sucked in Titanic and he’s sucked everywhere else I’ve seen him. How do dorks like that get jobs?
Also, with the exception of Alec (barely), any one of the Baldwins. aaacckk!
When I saw the thread title I knew what I wanted to say. Having been out of town for several days, I suspected someone would beat me to it, and I should have known it would have been Ike.
I had almost exactly the same reaction to Keaton’s Dogberry, except that I don’t really blame Keaton: I blame Branagh. You’re gonna direct, you gotta take the heat for allowing a performer that you know is capable of handling the role well to go off half-cocked like that. I can only surmise that Keaton had photos of Branagh with someone other than Emma Thompson and threatened to use them, though Branagh’s directorial judgment has been susceptible to such lapses throughout his career. His usual high standard makes them stand out even more.
As for Keanu Reeves, there’s no question that he’s pretty bad in everything (Stephen Frears’ Dangerous Liaisons, anyone?), but Don John is an absolutely thankless role. If you can show me an actor who can look good in it, I’ll show you perhaps the greatest actor of all time. It might even be considered a brilliant casting stroke to have shoved Keanu into the part, figuring “he’s gonna be bad, but so is anyone else, he’ll sell a certain number of tickets among a certain crowd the film would miss completely otherwise, and no actor who cares at all about his reputation would take it, while Keanu has no reputation as an actor to ruin, is unlikely to suffer any harm to his career as a result, and will probably engender exactly the sort of response we want Don John to provoke among the brighter audience members”.
I thought Ghost had an interesting screenplay, but Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore buried it. They gave it it’s big box office success though. I challenge anyone to name a profession that, more than acting, is so dominated by people who have absolutely no talent for it.
Pop music, at any time. There have been manufactured teen idols for as long as I can remember, and I can remember pretty far. Britney Spears and The Backstreet Boys have their origins in Annette Funicello and The Monkees. Frankie Avalon and Fabian and their ilk dominated music at one time, so much so that a pretty boy who could sing, like Bobby Rydell, got tarred with the same brush.
Popular culture is awash with the famous, but untalented. I could name some authors, both bestsellers and the famously intellectual, who are, um, not for the ages, but I’d start another fight that way and I love a peaceful thread.
But Keanu Reeves sucks in everything he is in. Especially Much Ado. And I was also disappointed with Keaton. But not Emma Thompson, the great love of my life.
Keanu Reeves was hilarious in The Devil’s Advocate. My friend and I had a grand time playing, “What accent does he have NOW?” watching that flick. As H8 said, it was all over the map. Damn funny, that.
Others: Kevin Costner in JFK. That self-important SOB has the most annoying monotone, and his “Texas” accent was almost as bad as Keanu’s Southern above. Having a close friend from Houston, and a family rooted in the south, makes me very particular about accents. His was just atrocious (and also waxed and waned, scene to scene…)
Winona Ryder in Alien Resurrection. Not that I saw it–the premise of it was ridiculous enough for me to avoid. But Winona? An android? WTF?
Not a movie, and not a bad actress. But did anyone here see the Voyager episode “Fury?”
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SPOILER SPACE!!!
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Jennifer Lien just can’t play evil. She’s just too sweet and elfin looking, especially with her hair in the pixie cut again. I was alternately giggling and depressed when she put her head down, stared menacingly ahead, and slowly stalked the camera for the Nth time. It was sort of cool when she was in the old-lady outfit and she was walking nonchalantly down the hall which was exploding behind her.
Believe it or not, Ol’Keanu did a decent job in My Own Private Idaho.