# Otherwise good/great movies stolen by a terrible performance? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 1, 2012, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498 "2012-05-01T12:28:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498/41 "2012-05-01T20:48:50Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > **Dungeons and Dragons** may not have been a good movie without Jeremy Irons, but it would have been watchable fluff. He looked, _and acted_, like nothing so much as a modern day corporate vice president. Which might be evil, but isn’t very dark wizard-y! Oh come on. It was a terrible movie. ---
**Author:** ![RikWriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/49beb7/32.png) [@RikWriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RikWriter)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498/42 "2012-05-01T20:59:16Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#): > > I liked him in Aliens, but in everything else I’ve seen him in, I always think, “He’s just doing the same character from Aliens again.” So while I didn’t mind him in Aliens, I agree with your overall point. He didn’t seem to be doing the same character in Tombstone or Frailty. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498/43 "2012-05-01T21:00:07Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > He didn’t seem to be doing the same character in Tombstone or Frailty. Haven’t seen Frailty, but I will give you Tombstone. I’d forgotten he was in it. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2012, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498/44 "2012-05-01T23:09:01Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > The only thing I hated was that the movie had Paris (rather than Aeneas) leading the Trojans to safety at the end. While not leading the Trojans, Aeneas is included in Paris’ group of escaping Trojans at the end of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498/45 "2012-05-02T00:10:00Z")
> [@Tom\_Scud](#): > > Oh come on. It was a terrible movie. Right up ( or down ) there with Highlander 2 as one of the worst of all time if you ask me. I figured Jeremy Irons was just trying to wring some personal entertainment out of the time he had to spend on the set. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498/46 "2012-05-02T00:20:43Z")
I was impressed with its minimalism in world setup and stunning for the time visuals. Had it not been for the shockingly modern Irons I it would have been the worst movie I had ever enjoyed myself in the theatre for in the past 20 years. I certainly would have liked it better than Titanic (as it stands, its so-bad-that-its-bad Irons was balanced out by the so-bad-that-its-good homoerotic “Give me the ROD!” so that I simply enjoyed it as much as Titanic – that is, not very much at all.) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498/47 "2012-05-02T01:20:34Z")
> [@awldune](#): > > Nobody has mentioned Rebecca Pidgeon yet? **The Spanish Prisoner** comes to mind. Oh, hells yes. I think it’s safe to say that if you’re the current Mrs. David Mamet and you’re in [a David Mamet film](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093223/combined), you’re the worst thing about it. ---
**Author:** ![gatorslap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gatorslap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gatorslap)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498/48 "2012-05-02T04:30:02Z")
I think The World is Not Enough was a fine Bond film, except for Denise Richards. ---
**Author:** ![Feyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@Feyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feyrat)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498/49 "2012-05-02T04:47:00Z")
> [@Maastricht](#): > > I thought I was the only one thinking that! :eek: FARRR from it. I came here to post this! ---
**Author:** ![Critical1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Critical1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical1)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498/50 "2012-05-02T05:41:45Z")
Keanu Reeves in the Matrix? in every thing? wait, other than Bill and Teds Excellent Adventure he has pretty much made the movie unwatchable for me. “I know kung fu” yeah and I know your mom dropped you on your head, repeatedly as an adult. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498/51 "2012-05-02T06:16:53Z")
_Devil’s Advocate_ also needed some trimming- it was about 30 minutes too long- but with said trimming and without Keanu Reaves it could have been a classic. _Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves_could perhaps have been enjoyable as an ‘ignore the plotholes and previous versions’ popcorn movie had it not been for Kevin Costner; I’d also have taken out Christian Slater, but his role wasn’t large enough to wreck it. _Butterfly Effect_ might have worked without Ashton Kutcher. ---
**Author:** ![judikium](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9adbd/32.png) [@judikium](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/judikium)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498/52 "2012-05-02T06:48:47Z")
This is probably an unpopular opinion (considering her Oscar) but I thought Kim Basinger was lifeless and dull in the otherwise pretty good L.A. Confidential. And I vehemently disagree with the Shelly Duvall bashing. It’s a weird performance, but I don’t think anyone in that film fares particularly well (especially the mug-tastic Nicholson). ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498/53 "2012-05-02T07:03:18Z")
> [@judikium](#): > > This is probably an unpopular opinion (considering her Oscar) but I thought Kim Basinger was lifeless and dull in the otherwise pretty good L.A. Confidential. > > And I vehemently disagree with the Shelly Duvall bashing. It’s a weird performance, but I don’t think anyone in that film fares particularly well (especially the mug-tastic Nicholson). I agree with you on both of these points. Kubrick could have fired her but didn’t. Why? Because she was doing what he wanted. And of all those people in L.A. Confidential _Kim Basinger_ wins the Oscar?!?!!?!?! ---
**Author:** ![Scupper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Scupper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scupper)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498/54 "2012-05-02T07:06:43Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > He didn’t seem to be doing the same character in Tombstone or Frailty. Also: Near Dark - Sociopath vampire. Big Love - Troubled polygamist patriarch. (Four Golden Globe nominations.) Apollo 13 - Astronaut, Hero Weird Science - Completely over the top and hilarious bully/older brother A Simple Plan - The voice of reason, trying in vain to keep greed from destroying his friends and family. ---
**Author:** ![Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@Sleeps\_With\_Butterflies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sleeps_With_Butterflies)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498/55 "2012-05-02T08:55:16Z")
> [@RikWriter](#): > > He didn’t seem to be doing the same character in Tombstone or Frailty. Frailty is a creepy movie not enough people have seen! He directed it as well. I do think he’s a good actor but I always see him as Chet from Weird Science just because I thought he did a good job as an awful character in that silly movie. So for me he’s Chet goes to Space (Aliens), Chet in the old West (Tombstone), Chet goes to the bottom of the ocean (Titanic), Chet has three wives (Big Love), and on and on. ---
**Author:** ![LaurenIpsum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@LaurenIpsum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LaurenIpsum)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498/56 "2012-05-02T16:42:22Z")
I have to mention the original _Psycho_ (1960). All the actors were great, except for John Gavin as Marion’s boyfriend. He is the very definition of wooden, and I don’t really see how someone like Marion would risk everything to run away with him. I read somewhere a while back (can’t remember where) that Hitchcock was forced by the studio to cast him, and that he was not happy at all with Gavin’s performance. The only thing I liked about Gus Van Sant’s remake in 1998 was Viggo Mortensen in the boyfriend role. Although he had a bit of a weird take on it, playing him with a laid-back southern drawl, at least he gave the character some personality and life. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498/57 "2012-05-02T16:57:45Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > **Peggy Sue Got Married** was a nostalgia picture that the writers tried to keep from becoming a typical 80’s teen tits & zits comedy. Nicholas Cage behaved like a cartoon character to drag it back to that level. Dude, it’s Nicholas Cage. He does that to every movie he appears in. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498/58 "2012-05-02T18:03:47Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > _Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves_could perhaps have been enjoyable as an ‘ignore the plotholes and previous versions’ popcorn movie had it not been for Kevin Costner; I’d also have taken out Christian Slater, but his role wasn’t large enough to wreck it. Yup. Kevin Costner has always bugged the hell out of me for some reason. He’s the reason I disliked _Dances With Wolves_. I was okay with Christian Slater, though. (Also, that movie is the reason I know what the Bayeux Tapestry is.) > [@Clothahump](#): > > Dude, it’s Nicholas Cage. He does that to every movie he appears in. Which, oddly, worked very well in _Kickass_. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498/59 "2012-05-02T18:26:24Z")
I thought Mariel Hemingway was easily the worst part of “Manhattan”. ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498/60 "2012-05-02T18:37:43Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > Oh, hells yes. I think it’s safe to say that if you’re the current Mrs. David Mamet and you’re in [a David Mamet film](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093223/combined), you’re the worst thing about it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Rebecca Pidgeon in anything else, so I can’t speak to her acting ability, but I’ve read David Mamet’s manifesto on acting (_True and False: Heresy and Common Sense for the Actor_), and that style seems to be his ideal. His belief is that actors are simply vehicles for translating the written word onto the screen or stage. To him, the written word is paramount and acting is basically a matter of mechanics. So when I saw **The Spanish Prisoner** , my reaction to Pidgeon’s wooden (at best!) acting was, “Oh, so that’s what he was talking about!” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/otherwise-good-great-movies-stolen-by-a-terrible-performance/620498.md?page=4)