# Great Movies Marred By One Bad Performance
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Tags:** movies
**Created:** [May 7, 2020, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360 "2020-05-07T22:21:14Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 6
### Author:  [@jali](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jali)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2020, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360/101 "2020-05-25T18:02:49Z")
Andie MacDowell even stunk up St. Elmo’s Fire. How she got work after this is a mystery to me.
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### Author:  [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)
#### Post date: [May 25, 2020, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360/102 "2020-05-25T18:25:16Z")
_Treasure Island_ (1934) – As young Jim Hawkins, Jackie Cooper is miscast, stilted and awful in this otherwise entertaining adaptation.
_Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla_ (1974) – Perhaps playing Anguirus and King Shîsâ (also known as King Caesar or King Seesaw in various U.S. dubs) in the same movie was too much of a challenge for any suit-actor, but Kinichi Kusumi’s performance as the latter completely fails to transcend the horridness of his costume.
> **[Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071565/mediaviewer/rm3768194816?ft0=name&fv0=nm0476429&ft1=image_type&fv1=still_frame)**
>
> Kinichi Kusumi, Ise Mori, and Isao Zushi in Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
A complete embarrassment, the character taints each and every one of his scenes, downgrading an otherwise fine _kaiju_ entry whose immediate sequel, _Terror of Mechagodzilla_, would gain immeasurably from the absence of Mr. Kusumi (except in archive footage).
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### Author:  [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2020, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360/103 "2020-06-01T22:03:56Z")
> [@Dropo](#):
>
> Most films starring Woody Allen (and not retroactively, he has always been irritating as an actor).
Ugh. The Missus loves woody Allen in everything she’s seen him in, but she couldn’t get through _Sleeper_. _Sleeper_ is the only performance of his I actually liked.
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### Author:  [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2020, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360/104 "2020-06-01T22:36:16Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#):
>
> Ugh. The Missus loves woody Allen in everything she’s seen him in, but she couldn’t get through _Sleeper_. _Sleeper_ is the only performance of his I actually liked.
A round or two in the Orgasmatron will make her see the light.
[ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isrd7E5nzIQ)
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### Author:  [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)
#### Post date: [June 1, 2020, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360/105 "2020-06-01T22:43:52Z")
OK, sorry for the hijack but one of the kids got her a Hypersphere vibrating massage ball for her birthday. It got switched on and passed around the room and I was laughing uncontrollably because I was the only one who realized we were reenacting the drug ball scene. Someone gets the ball, mashes it into their low back or shoulder for a few seconds, and then moans pleasantly–pass to the next person. It was terrible because I couldn’t invite her into the Orgasmatron without sounding like I had completely lost my mind.
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### Author:  [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2020, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360/106 "2020-06-02T01:25:15Z")
> [@digs](#):
>
> Ah say, son, you are IN the PRESENCE of a DEE-rect descendent of Colonel. Robert. SHAW.
>
> And I can guar-an-TEE on a stack of Union Scrip that our deeeear departed colonel was indeed an A-DULT, and did NOT look like a pre-pubescent Abe Froman look-alike.
>
> That will be all.
[Honestly, this looks like a pretty good likeness.](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/4a/4e/53/4a4e530cc186c6bec65121aff65dfe97.jpg)
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### Author:  [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2020, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360/107 "2020-06-02T15:50:48Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#):
>
> I liked Marillon Cotillard. Hathaway didn’t work - far too fragile looking, and it felt like she was reading lines rather than acting.
>
> TBF, even though I like Christian Bale as an actor, he’s much, much better at the dark parts of the characters he plays than as a person anyone could fall in love with, so when part of the role of characters like Catwoman and Talia al Ghul is to be attracted to him and possibly a bit in love with him, he doesn’t give them a lot to work with.
I don’t know why Maggie Gyyllenhaall doesn’t get more criticism for her “performance” in Dark Knight.
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### Author:  [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2020, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360/108 "2020-06-02T17:11:01Z")
> [@DKW](#):
>
> I watched Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom exactly once, over a decade ago, and to this day I maintain that Kate Capshaw’s utterly nerve-fraying rendition of Willie Scott is the one reason I refuse to ever see it again. It was so horrible that I’m honestly baffled by all the bellyaching about Short Round and the heart-extraction scene. Do these people not have _ears?_
I just watched this recently, and it occurred to me that a good acting performance can often overcome a poorly-written character, and a bad performance doesn’t always ruin a well-written one.
But Willie Scott was both badly written _and_ excruciatingly terribly acted. There’s no coming back from that combination.
I used to think this was just a blatant case of nepotism, but I’ve since learned that Capshaw met future hubby Steven Spielberg _after_ having been cast in this role. She somehow won the part on her own merits! Somebody should have been fired over that.
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### Author:  [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2020, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360/109 "2020-06-02T18:19:59Z")
> [@johnspartan](#):
>
> I don’t know why Maggie Gyyllenhaall doesn’t get more criticism for her “performance” in Dark Knight.
Me neither. She was miscast and didn’t seem at all comfortable in the role. She didn’t ruin the movie but that’s because it was so good in almost every other respect.
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### Author:  [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360/110 "2020-06-02T18:34:23Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#):
>
> Me neither. She was miscast and didn’t seem at all comfortable in the role. She didn’t ruin the movie but that’s because it was so good in almost every other respect.
I feel like you could take almost any still closeup of her or even any clip in isolation and you’d have honestly no sense if she’s looking & talking to someone she is supposed to like, love, hate, be scared of, intrigued by, admire, mourn…
It’s also weird because people often before and since lament Katie Holmes in Batman Begins in the same role. Admittedly I’m biased because I always thought her cute, but I don’t think with her performance in BB you could say “Well I just don’t get what she’s supposed to be playing here. She looks like she’s at the table read.”
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### Author:  [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2020, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360/111 "2020-06-02T18:43:11Z")
> [@Wheelz](#):
>
> I just watched this recently, and it occurred to me that a good acting performance can often overcome a poorly-written character, and a bad performance doesn’t always ruin a well-written one.
>
> But Willie Scott was both badly written _and_ excruciatingly terribly acted. There’s no coming back from that combination.
>
> I used to think this was just a blatant case of nepotism, but I’ve since learned that Capshaw met future hubby Steven Spielberg _after_ having been cast in this role. She somehow won the part on her own merits! Somebody should have been fired over that.
It seems as if, with TOD, the concept was to take the love interest as a complete pendulum swing from Karen Allen & Marion… but what that wrought as a character definitely could be nails on a chalkboard for some.
When the character you’re trying to be different from is brunette, self-confident and self-reliant, rugged, world-weary… good in a fight…
the flip side of that coin could always potentially be shrill.
Is the fault more the character of Willie Scott or how Kate Capshaw played it? Ehhh… I call on another George Lucas sequel for context. I don’t think Hayden Christensen did a particularly bad job WITH what he was handed for Anakin in Attack of the Clones. I don’t know anyone can make “I don’t like sand. I’m so in love with you.” work.
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### Author:  [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2020, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360/112 "2020-06-04T09:10:12Z")
> [@johnspartan](#):
>
> I feel like you could take almost any still closeup of her or even any clip in isolation and you’d have honestly no sense if she’s looking & talking to someone she is supposed to like, love, hate, be scared of, intrigued by, admire, mourn…
>
> It’s also weird because people often before and since lament Katie Holmes in Batman Begins in the same role. Admittedly I’m biased because I always thought her cute, but I don’t think with her performance in BB you could say “Well I just don’t get what she’s supposed to be playing here. She looks like she’s at the table read.”
That’s a good way of assessing her acting. She’s good in other roles, too, just not this one.
Katie Holmes was pretty good really. I assume the hate was just because she was dating Tom Cruise or something like that, because she didn’t do anything wrong. And she is cute, but for that role, she was supposed to be.
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### Author:  [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)
#### Post date: [June 4, 2020, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360/113 "2020-06-04T18:28:45Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#):
>
> That’s a good way of assessing her acting. She’s good in other roles, too, just not this one.
>
> Katie Holmes was pretty good really. I assume the hate was just because she was dating Tom Cruise or something like that, because she didn’t do anything wrong. And she is cute, but for that role, she was supposed to be.
I once heard Senator Tom Cruz’s simultaneous frown-smile ([https://3fojcc1leuzj9dmih15q1u11-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/cruz.jpg](https://3fojcc1leuzj9dmih15q1u11-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/cruz.jpg)) described as an expression that says “Oh. I _like_ lasagna… but I didn’t _order_ lasagna.”
I feel like watching Dark Knight again and seeing if that’s what Maggie Gylleeennhaaall (side note I refuse to learn where the double letters are) is thinking.
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### Author:  [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)
#### Post date: [June 5, 2020, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360/114 "2020-06-05T09:45:15Z")
> [@johnspartan](#):
>
> It seems as if, with TOD, the concept was to take the love interest as a complete pendulum swing from Karen Allen & Marion… but what that wrought as a character definitely could be nails on a chalkboard for some.
>
> When the character you’re trying to be different from is brunette, self-confident and self-reliant, rugged, world-weary… good in a fight…
> the flip side of that coin could always potentially be shrill.
Capshaw’s entire script: “Look, Kate, just scream whenever we point at you.”
She’s not a great actress but it’s still a badly-written role in a badly-written film.
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### Author:  [@LLCoolL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LLCoolL)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2020, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360/115 "2020-06-06T10:24:21Z")
> [@johnspartan](#):
>
> …
>
> I feel like watching Dark Knight again and seeing if that’s what Maggie Gylleeennhaaall (side note I refuse to learn where the double letters are) …
Last name starts with two G’s. The first one is silent.
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [June 6, 2020, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360/116 "2020-06-06T23:26:17Z")
> [@wanderer2575](#):
>
> Matthew Broderick was horribly miscast as Professor Harold Hill in the 2003 made-for-TV remake of The Music Man, especially when compared to the golden standard that is Robert Preston. No way could one suspend disbelief to buy into the idea that Broderick’s character was an experienced, authoritative smooth-talker and con man. He looked and sounded like one of the kids he was conning.
It’s the reverse of why Broderick was badly miscast as Leo Bloom in the remake of “The Producers”. He came across as a lovable rogue instead of a painfully introverted guy seduced by the opportunity to take part in a big-time scam.
Of course, most of the actors in that remake detracted from the movie, with the possible exception of Uma Thurman.
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### Author:  [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2020, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360/117 "2020-06-07T01:40:51Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> It’s the reverse of why Broderick was badly miscast as Leo Bloom in the remake of “The Producers”. He came across as a lovable rogue instead of a painfully introverted guy seduced by the opportunity to take part in a big-time scam.
>
> Of course, most of the actors in that remake detracted from the movie, with the possible exception of Uma Thurman.
Nathan Lane was good- but no Zero Mostel. (Nathan is **FABU** in City of Angels). I love Broderick - but not here. Will Ferrell was horrible.
Gawd yes, Uma was fantastic!
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### Author:  [@johnspartan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnspartan)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2020, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360/118 "2020-06-07T21:57:38Z")
Am I the only one who finds Bruce Willis’s French (?) girlfriend in Pulp Fiction insufferable?
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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### Author:  [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)
#### Post date: [June 7, 2020, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360/119 "2020-06-07T23:32:28Z")
Just watched “Signs” again last night and whoever the actor was who played the Army recruiter - hoo boy - what the hell was he going for with that performance?
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### Author:  [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)
#### Post date: [June 8, 2020, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/great-movies-marred-by-one-bad-performance/853360/120 "2020-06-08T07:53:32Z")
> [@Stephe96](#):
>
> Just watched “Signs” again last night and whoever the actor was who played the Army recruiter - hoo boy - what the hell was he going for with that performance?
He thought he was in a David Lynch movie.
(FTR, I didn’t have a problem with his performance. I did have some problems with the movie but they had more to do with direction.)
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