I’d like to nominate Jack Black. The first substantial role I saw him in (Bob Roberts was too small a part to judge) was High Fidelity, and man he rocked in that film. So I’ve been keeping my eye on him, and I’ve seen School of Rock, Orange County, and Saving Silverman, and he failed to impress me in any of those movies, which were turkeys in their own right.
I’m sure people will hate me for saying this, but there is one movie I thought Keanu Reeves was good in, and it wasn’t one of the Bill and Ted movies. I thought he was good in The Devil’s Advocate.
The man was born for Bill and Ted. He’s been in a lot of other good movies, but most of them were good for reasons not related to his acting.
Pulp Fiction is the only thing I’ve liked John Trovolta in. Now, when I see he’s in a film, I take it as a reliable indicator that not only will his acting be annoying, but that the film itself will suck.
Anthony Perkins in Psycho. Granted, I haven’t seen every one of his roles, but I’ve seen him in a couple of films where he was perfectly underwhelming. In fact, he always ticked me off in a Wesley Crusher kind of way.
However, he was perfect as Norman Bates. Maybe his talent for making the viewer uncomfortable came to his aid in his portrayal of Norman.
In the “Keany Reeves was only good in ‘X’ and sucked in everything else” catagory, I nominate River’s Edge
Ray Liotta was also good in Something Wild and was the only good thing in Blow
Going back further, Lon Chaney, Jr. was good in Of Mice and Men and silly in everything else. Tony Curtis likewise in The Outsider
Assuming this is a thread about limited actors who turn in one good role. Not to be confused with actors like Robert Ryan or Scott Wilson who are always good in anything but only stand out once or twice.