Kevin Spacey seems so smug and smarmy I want to smack him. This worked perfectly for his role in Se7en. He was perfect.
Wallace Shawn as The Sicialian in The Princess Bride.
I liked Billy Bob Thorton in Swingblade but he seem’s to play himself in all the other movies he’s in.
I feel the same way about Tom Hanks . I liked the Forest Gump character but all his other movies all I see is Tom Hanks. Even when he’s a Russian in The Terminal or a weirdo in The Lady Killers it’s still just Tom Hanks.
I heard he was good in Philadelphia but I haven’t seen that one.
Sean Penn in Mystic River - I usually can’t stand the guy, but he’s so good in that one movie - sure, he chews scenery, but for once it’s appropriate for his character.
Yes! That’s it exactly! There’s always been something about her that bothered me, but I could never put my finger on it.
And you named it: Nicole Kidman is pointy!
There are a lot of perceptive comments here I would second. I will add that until I saw Fellowship of the Ring, I never thought Elijah Wood was worth a shit. He struck me as the epitome of what Roger Ebert called the “over-coached professional kid.” He was terribly false and mannered in The Ice Storm, especially compared to the brilliant performances of Tobey Maguire and Adam Hann-Byrd. But his Frodo won me over. Maybe he just needed the right material.
I think Pitt’s dirty little secret is that he’s really a character actor who got stuck as a leading man because of his looks. He was funny as the mumbling boxer in Snatch as well.
I never hated Val Kilmer, but I certainly didn’t think he was up to the role of a “cowboy” type when I heard he was going to be in Tombstone. He was fantastic!
I also couldn’t believe that Luke Perry would be able to pull off that attitude in 8 Seconds but he did it very well.
I had a violent, raging hatred of Leonardo DiCaprio after Romeo+Juliet and Titanic… until I saw The Aviator.
Every movie I have seen with Sandra Bullock has had me rolling my eyes and leaving the room after 10 minutes (and I’ve seen all of them because my daughter loves her).
But I actually liked Miss Congeniality.
This was the first thing that came to my mind.
Tom Cruise and Risky Business, I’m sure I’m in the minority but I loved him in that, hated him ever since.
As noted by Excalibre, the first thing I thought of was Nicholas Cage in Adaptation.
DiCaprio is *exactly * the reason I haven’t seen “The Aviator”. Maybe I should reconsider.
I was going to say Tom Cruise but the only movie I like him in is “A Few Good Men”.
Jim Carry in Eternal Sunshine is offically thirded!
Steve Martin in All of Me.
Shakespeare in Love?
. . . and as Floyd, the stoner in True Romance.
Jim Carrey. But I did enjoy him in The Mask.
Courtney Love in “Man on the Moon”.
Tom Cruise in “Rain Man”.
John Belushi in “The Blues Brothers”.
I’ve never liked Richard Dreyfuss (and I’m fully aware that I have little to no company with that opinion) in anything he’s been in. Except for “Mr. Holland’s Opus”, where I really, really, thought he was perfect for the part. Which made me re-watch him in other movies. Where I still thought he was crap. I only liked him as Mr. Holland.