Last night I watched Superman Returns again, because my wife wanted to, so shut up. I’m sure I posted here at length about the reasons I was disappointed with it, but with this reviewing, one particular flaw – even greater than the fact that Superman is a jackass in the movie–was the simple mis-casting of the two leads. It’s more extreme in the case of Kate Bosworth, who looks less like a Pulitzer-prize winning journalist/working mom than she does the 12-year-old daughter of that journalist playing dress-up–but Brandon Routh was out of place too. He was too pouty, too pretty, and showed no ability to let us in on his interior life. He might have been fine in a less ambitious super-hero movie–but if they were going to tell a story about the Man of Steel undergoing an existential crisis, they should have gone with an actor who could pronounce Sartre.
Kevin Space, Frank Langella, Parker Posey, and Cyclops were great though. And, good lord–Peta Wilson was RIGHT THERE, ready to play Lois. She could place a character who thinks a lot more than she says. And, speaking of the X-men, I couldn’t help thinking that if you shaved Hugh Jackman, he’d have been a wonderful Kal-El; and even better than Peta Wilson as Lois would have been Lauren Graham.
The Star Wars prequels had outstanding casting, except for the lead of Hayden Christensen, who managed to cumulatively out-suck all of the collective goodness that the other actors were bringing.
Yeah, young Anakin (Jake Lloyd) was no Haley Joel Osment either.
One I just saw recently - Mr. Brooks. I thought it was a pretty good movie, and Costner did an admirable job, as did William Hurt. Unfortunately for them the movie also had the misfortune of having Demi Moore as a millionaire detective, (yes), sucking plausibility out of the screen with every second she was on.
Let’s put it this way: you know you’ve got a casting problem when Dane Cook isn’t the least believable person in your movie.
Besides the absolutely abysmal direction, the casting was terrible. Richard Lewis? The man should be banned from showbusiness completely and you give him a major role? Roger Rees and Amy Yasbeck are also badly cast. Ditto Dom DeLuise, Tracey Ullman and Megan Cavanaugh.
This had the potential of being a pretty good movie. Too bad Mel Brooks fucked it up by the numbers.
I think I might have enjoyed The Pelican Brief if the female lead had been played by someone other than Julia Roberts. The gal is supposed to be a whip-smart law student. C’mon now, Julia fracking Roberts? My suggestion for the role: Geena Davis (an actual member of Mensa).
It gets worse, somebody thought that Tom Cruise was a good counter to Jack in “A few Good Men”. The acting abilities contrast was a chasm with no bottom.
Which is ironic considering he was one of the few GOOD choices in Robin Hood: Men in Tights! (Probably just the accent, )
But to be fair, from what I remember reading, all of the “basement” scenes were done in one take, which could account for some of the suck. For what end I don’t know.
I’m glad someone else is saying this. Lois Lane is supposed to be a WOMAN. Bosworth played her as a simpering, wimpy little girl with no confidence. Unbelievable! That movie really sucked octopus nuts.
The Shining. Jack Nicholson can’t play sane. Right from the start, it’s obvious he’s one stubbed toe away from a killing spree, and it’s not the booze, or the hotel, or anything like that, he’s just in-frikkin-sane.
When I heard Parker Posey was in it, I was hoping she would be Lois Lane. That’s the Lois I want to see - sarcastic, bombastic, caustic, screwed up and sarcastic again. (Did I mention sarcastic?)
Parker Posey would have been a perfect Lois Lane, but instead she was wasted as Luthor’s floozy sidekick. Posey can be sexy, tough, and intellectual all at once, and could have channeled the Rosalind Russell/Katherine Hepburn-style 1940s “newshound” dame: a strong, smart female to counterbalance a more soul-searching Superman.
I’ll also agree that Brandon Routh was a poor choice. I was saying for years that Johnny Depp could have played a great Superman, especially if they made the choice to downplay his extreme powers and make him more of a sensitive alien or “stranger at home” type (which they ended up doing, of course). Depp and Posey could have made that execrable movie so much better, although I still think Kevin Spacey was a great Lex Luthor, despite being written like an idiot.
I love Peter O’Toole and Sophia Loren, but who was it who thought that they could or should sing? Dammit, Richard Kiley and Joan Diener were around and had revived the show not long before the film. James coco sang surprisingly well, which , unfortunately, isn’t necessarily a good thing for Sancho Panza.
The rest of the cast was competant but not inspiring. If they’d filled the leads better, it would’ve been a much better film.
Most of these movies would have been bad with any actor in the role, but the best example of a movie that could have been quite good with the right actress is All Night Long.
Barbra Streisand was the female lead. Now, Streisand can be quite good in the right role, but this was just the wrong role for her. Her character was supposed to be a shy, mousy woman. No one has ever accused Streisand as being shy; she is just too brassy for the part.
With a different actress, it could have been a good movie.
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