# Good Performances from People You Don't Normally Like **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 26, 2017, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-from-people-you-dont-normally-like/802716 "2017-11-26T01:36:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-from-people-you-dont-normally-like/802716/41 "2017-11-27T19:52:50Z")
I’m not a a fan of James Brown’s music, just does nothing for me. But we watched the T.A.M.I. show, and my god what a showman! Now I know what everyone was talking about. There was no meat on those songs at all, just endless repetition, but who cared! He could just have kept going endlessly and it wouldn’t have been boring. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-from-people-you-dont-normally-like/802716/42 "2017-11-27T20:01:24Z")
I absolutely loathe Adam Sandler, but he did well in _Punch Drunk Love_. I loathe Jennifer Tilly even more, but she was good in _Bullets Over Broadway_. Same for Melanie Griffith in _Nobody’s Fool_, which should have won an Oscar or two. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-from-people-you-dont-normally-like/802716/43 "2017-11-27T20:34:40Z")
I agree with the sentiments about Cage in _City of Angels_, Cruise in \*Rainman \*and _Edge of Tomorrow_, and Sandler in _Punch Drunk Love_. I also think Will Farrell was great in _Elf_. I didn’t like **Samantha Bee** on _The Daily Show_ but I am absolutely addicted to her now, on her own show _Full Frontal_. I can’t say I like anything **The Flaming Lips** have done before or since, but their album _Yoshimi Vs. The Pink Robots_ is one of the best albums of the last 25 years. ---
**Author:** ![TCMF-2L](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tcmf-2l/32/16553_2.png) [@TCMF-2L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TCMF-2L)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-from-people-you-dont-normally-like/802716/44 "2017-11-27T20:45:12Z")
I am confident I have mentioned this before but since it fits I will repeat it. Although it was enjoyable enough in **The Evil Dead** , I generally find the deliberately cheesy style of **Bruce Campbell** tedious. I know many worship him but I can’t stand it. However I found actual depth and emotion in his portrayal of **Elvis Presley** in the comedy / horror film **Bubba Ho-Tep**. TCMF-2L ---
**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:** [November 27, 2017, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-from-people-you-dont-normally-like/802716/45 "2017-11-27T20:52:52Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > … Melanie Griffith in _Nobody’s Fool_, which should have won an Oscar or two. Bruce Willis was fairly good in that as well, because they director knew how to make best use his talents: sparingly. ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-from-people-you-dont-normally-like/802716/46 "2017-11-27T20:54:55Z")
Sam Rockwell bugs the crap out of me, but he was amazing in _[Moon](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWoDBcSW4_c)_ (a sci-fi movie that deserves to be seen by many more people than it was). And I feel like I gave this exact answer a few years ago here. Did we already do this? ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2017, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-from-people-you-dont-normally-like/802716/47 "2017-11-27T23:01:53Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Cameron Diaz is mostly a shit actor, annoying as hell, but I thought she hit the right note in _A Life Less Ordinary_. I credit that to acting opposite Ewan McGregor. I can’t think of anyone he can’t create chemistry with. He actually made Hayden Christensen’s Anakin amusing when they did scenes together. I’ve never cared for Kevin Costner except for his portrayal of Elliott Ness in _The Untouchables_. That role seemed like it was made just for him: humorless, wooden, narrator’s voice, unimaginative. “Let’s go do some good.” ---
**Author:** ![Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/face_intentionally_left_blank/32/288_2.png) [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Face_Intentionally_Left_Blank)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-from-people-you-dont-normally-like/802716/48 "2017-11-28T03:19:22Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Cruise was also excellent in “Collateral.” > > He’s good in everything, really. His personal life is much made fun of but he is a fine actor. Most of his movies are fluffy, but when asked to carry some weight, he delivers. > Wayne might actually have been even better in “The Shootist,” which IIRC was his last film. Cruise is dedicated, you have to give him that. Odd guy, weird beliefs and hangs with the crazy Scientologist crowd, but he doesn’t half-ass anything. Probably has a phenomenal work ethic, given what I’ve heard about his ‘Mission Impossible’ stuntwork. He WAS excellent in ‘Collateral’, with a character I wasn’t used to him playing. He was funny as hell in ‘Tropic Thunder.’ If it weren’t for his Scientologist ties and it being hard to forget he’s TOM CRUISE, I think he’d get a bit more respect. I saw the remake of’True Grit’, and it was fantastic, but I long for the day when they can find a way to slap Wayne’s performance into that movie. I’d love to have seen Wayne’s ‘Grit’ with a better supporting cast. People used to like Kim Darby’s performance, but Hailee Steinfeld made that role her own - and the less said about Glen Campbell, the better. As for the Neil Diamond vote upthread, Neil wasn’t ALWAYS a lounge-lizard. He was fairly interesting in his early days, and even [Deep Purple covered one of his songs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiWRCeIkB4M). Can’t really think of a suitable candidate of my own for this thread, but there are a lot of good ones suggested above. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-from-people-you-dont-normally-like/802716/49 "2017-11-28T03:54:40Z")
You’d pretty much have to tie me to a chair and put a gun to my head to make me watch anything with Adam Sandler, but I adore _Hotel Transylvania_ and _Hotel Transylvania 2_…mostly because of Sandler’s Dracula character. I guess maybe I don’t mind him when I don’t have to look at him, and when he’s not doing his “idiot man child” schtick. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-from-people-you-dont-normally-like/802716/50 "2017-11-28T05:11:24Z")
Poor old Nicholas Cage got a review for ‘City of Angels’ where they said ‘Nick Cage gazes at Meg Ryan like a bloodhound eyeballing a ham sandwich’. Though I did like him well enough in ‘Moonstruck’ and Mr. Salinqmind has enjoyed the ‘National Treasure’ movies far more than is seemly. ---
**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:** [November 28, 2017, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-from-people-you-dont-normally-like/802716/51 "2017-11-28T07:00:17Z")
_City of Angels_ was worth watching? Seemed flat to me. I would rather watch the original version, the one with Otto Sander and Bruno Ganz. Or even the sequel that had Nastassja Kinski in it. Those two just blow that hollywood pablum off the map. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2017, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-from-people-you-dont-normally-like/802716/52 "2017-11-28T14:16:57Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > You’d pretty much have to tie me to a chair and put a gun to my head to make me watch anything with Adam Sandler I agree totally with this sentiment, but I will listen to “The Chanukah Song” until my ears are numb. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-performances-from-people-you-dont-normally-like/802716.md?page=2)