# Good performances by otherwise "bad" actors **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 9, 2012, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212 "2012-10-09T14:12:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212/21 "2012-10-09T19:55:22Z")
good points about “Parenthood” guys. I’d forgotten about that one. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212/22 "2012-10-09T20:21:31Z")
Keanu Reeves was also fantastic in _River’s Edge_. Why does everybody judge Keanu by his Bill and Ted movies? I even think those were pretty good for silly comedies. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212/23 "2012-10-09T20:24:43Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Nicolas Cage in “Leaving Las Vegas.” Only performance of his I can stand. I’ve never seen Leaving Las Vegas, but my Nick Cage movie is always Raising Arizona. Brendon Fraser, with his dopey voice, did well in Blast From The Past and (from what I can remember) Airheads. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212/24 "2012-10-09T20:34:02Z")
> [@Two\_Many\_Cats](#): > > Keanu Reeves was also fantastic in _River’s Edge_. > > Why does everybody judge Keanu by his Bill and Ted movies? I even think those were pretty good for silly comedies. I Thought Reeves was great in Bill and Ted. I think where he started to get the bad rap for being a terrible actor is when he started doing the leading action man roles like Point Break and Speed. Laughing at him and his trademark delivery for lines like “I am an FBI agent” is cliche now, but that’s where it all came from methinks. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212/25 "2012-10-09T20:47:56Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > I Thought Reeves was great in Bill and Ted. I think where he started to get the bad rap for being a terrible actor is when he started doing the leading action man roles like Point Break and Speed. Laughing at him and his trademark delivery for lines like “I am an FBI agent” is cliche now, but that’s where it all came from methinks. No, I think Keanu Reeves totally lost his credibility in _Much Ado About Nothing_. He stunk so bad in that, it is a wonder Brannaugh was even able to recover. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212/26 "2012-10-09T20:51:06Z")
Eric Roberts in **Runaway Train**. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212/27 "2012-10-09T23:12:16Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Brendon Fraser, with his dopey voice, did well in Blast From The Past and (from what I can remember) Airheads. He was great in Gods and Monsters. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212/28 "2012-10-09T23:58:45Z")
I think Lon Chaney Jr.'s Lennie in Of Mice and Men was better than John Malkovitch’s; Alan Ladd’s Gatsby better than Robert Redford’s; and Richard Chamberlain was better than Robert Mitchum in Night of the Hunter. (OK, the last one was full of shit, but I really mean it about Lon Chaney Jr and Alan Ladd) ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212/29 "2012-10-10T00:32:45Z")
Get ready, folks, I’m putting out there. Hayden Christensen is not a bad actor at all. Not good enough to overcome Lucas’ incompetence, but he’s not bad. He’s really good in Awake, an underrated gem, not to mention the other things mentioned here. He also is not the bad part of Jumper, which was brought down because of other problems. Not a huge fan here, but he’s not a bad actor. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212/30 "2012-10-10T03:25:02Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > I thought Adam Sandler could have earned an Oscar nod for his role in _Punch-Drunk Love_. Nah. The only difference with that movie is that instead of spazzing out for comedic effect, he spazzes out for dramatic effect. > [@Mahaloth](#): > > Get ready, folks, I’m putting out there. > > Hayden Christensen is not a bad actor at all. Not good enough to overcome Lucas’ incompetence, but he’s not bad. He’s really good in Awake, an underrated gem, not to mention the other things mentioned here. He also is not the bad part of Jumper, which was brought down because of other problems. > > Not a huge fan here, but he’s not a bad actor. Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor couldn’t really overcome Lucas’s crumminess either, could they? ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212/31 "2012-10-10T03:33:24Z")
A good actor can overcome a bad director, poor lines and a low quality script. Alec Guiness, Peter Cushing and Ian McDiarmid each were given a cartoonish one dimensional character to play and yet they gave their characters depth and gravitas. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212/32 "2012-10-10T18:00:03Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > A good actor can overcome a bad director, poor lines and a low quality script. Alec Guiness, Peter Cushing and Ian McDiarmid each were given a cartoonish one dimensional character to play and yet they gave their characters depth and gravitas. But not being able to doesn’t mean you are a bad actor. And you can get better. Especially if you were just a little kid. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212/33 "2012-10-10T18:13:05Z")
Courtney Love in The People VS Larry Flint, had to play a drugged up whore…so not sure how much acting there was. Marshall Mathers in 8 Mile, again semi autobiographical, but still, emoting on screen is not as easy at is looks. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212/34 "2012-10-10T20:24:37Z")
I can’t tell whether Jeremy Renner is a good actor or not. \>.\< The few movies I’ve seen him in, the lines/acting are so short, stilted or stereo-typed that anybody could do them and it’d be the same. But then I got into The Unusuals, and I think the acting there is miles above what I’ve seen him do movie-wise. So…does that count? ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212/35 "2012-10-10T20:59:29Z")
Elvis Presley was actually pretty good in **King Creole**. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212/36 "2012-10-10T21:13:58Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Reeves was quite good in **I Love You to Death, Tune in Tomorrow, Feeling Minnesota, My Own Private Idaho** and **Little Buddha**. His best roles were usually in obscure movies which fit his talents and which most people haven’t actually seen. Was going to mention My Own Private Idaho–we watched it in my college Shakespeare survey class, as it’s rather loosely inspired by one of the Histories (or several–wiki says Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 and Henry V). I recall that we all groaned when we saw that Keanu was in it, but the prof said, “No, really! This is the role he was born to act!” Of course, the role he was _ **truly** _ born to act is that of Theodore “Ted” Logan. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212/37 "2012-10-10T21:36:50Z")
Harold Russell, The Best Years of Our Lives. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212/38 "2012-10-10T21:57:28Z")
> [@Sitnam](#): > > Courtney Love in The People VS Larry Flint, had to play a drugged up whore…so not sure how much acting there was. I’ve always said that Courtney Love is the only person in the world whose reputation rose when she was associated with Larry Flynt. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212/39 "2012-10-11T03:50:18Z")
I never thought much of Anthony Quayle but in the late 1970s he played Sir John Falstaff on a PBS series of Shakespeare plays and was quite good. I never saw it but Raquel Welch got good reviews for “Woman of the Year” on Broadway in the mid 1980s. But then no one ever saw a Rquel welch moving for her acting. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212/40 "2012-10-11T04:18:40Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > Keanu Reeves-Parenthood > [@RealityChuck](#): > > Reeves was quite good in **I Love You to Death** Yes! Terrific in both movies. The linked scene from Parenthood is exactly the one I would have recommended. > [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > Tom Arnold in **True Lies.** Good one. Normally I don’t care for him, and I didn’t like the movie, but he was wonderful in it. My submissions: David Carradine- stole **Long Riders** from a whole bunch of better actors Kevin Costner- **No Way Out** Bruce Willis- **Twelve Monkeys** he was really, really good Clint Eastwood- **Bridges Of Madison County** CE shared an entire film with Meryl Streep, held his own. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-by-otherwise-bad-actors/637212.md?page=3)