# The greatest "inconsistent " actors, of all time! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 21, 2003, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482 "2003-05-21T03:08:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482/41 "2003-05-22T08:08:36Z")
> [@](#): > > lopez. decent in out of sight, unwatchable in anything else shes ever been in. > you couldnt physically force me to watch enough or the wedding planner. “The Wedding Planner” was bad in a bland tv-ish way, and “Enough” is actively awful, but Jennifer Lopez has given good performances other than in “Out of Sight”. She was engaging and convincing in “Selena”, and was a consistently good character actress before she hit it big, with small, but well-performed roles in “Mi Familia” and “Blood and Wine”. “Blood and Wine” is a very good, overlooked movie with fine perfomances by Jack Nicholson and Michael Caine, also mentioned earlier in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Nader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Darth\_Nader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Nader)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482/42 "2003-05-22T10:06:13Z")
What about these guys? F. Murray Abraham Lou Gossett Jr. ---
**Author:** ![Payton\_s\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@Payton\_s\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Payton_s_Servant)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482/43 "2003-05-22T20:26:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Darth Nader \* > \*\*What about these guys? Lou Gossett Jr. \*\* Gossett gets a pass in this category because he **was** Drill Instructor Foley in _An Officer and a Gentleman_. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482/44 "2003-05-22T22:22:14Z")
Is it me or does F. Murray Abraham get type-casted as bitter guys meant to be the baddies in all of his movies since playing Salieri in **Amadeus**? He certainly does in **Finding Forrester** anyway. Add Sean Connery. Hell, you could make a whole catagory of “Actors From Great Britain Who Will Act in Anything” (so far Michael Caine, Malcolm McDowell, and Richard Burton have been mentioned). I’ll add Richard Harris as well. And you could throw in Anthony Hopkins. I always like Hopinks’ performances, but some of the actual movies aren’t that good ( **Bad Company** for instance). ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482/45 "2003-05-22T22:33:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bean\_shadow \* > **Is it me or does F. Murray Abraham get type-casted as bitter guys meant to be the baddies in all of his movies since playing Salieri in Amadeus? He certainly does in Finding Forrester anyway.** And in **Sneakers**! ---
**Author:** ![SnugTheJoiner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@SnugTheJoiner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnugTheJoiner)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482/46 "2003-05-22T22:52:44Z")
Richard Burton! There’s no such thing as a pretty-good Richard Burton performance or an okay Richard Burton performance. They were all either terrific or terrible. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482/47 "2003-05-22T23:17:00Z")
F. Murray Abraham wasn’t in _Sneakers_, I believe you mean Ben Kingsley as Cosmo. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2003, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482/48 "2003-05-22T23:22:38Z")
Aren’t they the same guy? Cmon. I mean, really. ---
**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:** [May 22, 2003, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482/49 "2003-05-22T23:32:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Wumpus \* > \*\*There can be only one, and that one is Marlon Brando. Like Nicholson and Pacino, he’s often over-the-top. But unlike the other two, he’s always over-the-top in a _different_ way in each movie. \*\* I came in here to mention Brando. There’s a great take on his varying performances in Sidney Lumet’s book Making Movies, which is a great read. I’ll quote the reference in [Ebert](http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1995/04/973641.html)’s review of _Don Juan DeMarco_: > [@](#): > > In a new book about how he makes movies, director Sidney Lumet speculates that Marlon Brando has a way of testing his directors. Brando does a scene twice, he writes, once really putting his soul into it, the second time using only technique. He waits to see if the director can tell the difference between the two takes. If the director fails the test, Brando walks through the rest of the movie. > I don’t know if that speculation is true, but maybe Jeremy Leven, the director of “Don Juan DeMarco,” failed the rest. Brando doesn’t so much walk through this movie as coast, in a gassy, self-indulgent performance no one else could have gotten away with. Having long since proved he can be one of the best actors in movie history, he now proves he can be one of the worst. ---
**Author:** ![Avalonian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ee7513/32.png) [@Avalonian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avalonian)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482/50 "2003-05-23T04:46:45Z")
**Julia Roberts** is my pick for this… I’m not a big fan of hers, but she _can be_ good. I really enjoyed her performance in _Mary Reilly_, for example, in which she had to put away all of her usual “acting” tricks in order to turn in a real performance. She even held her own with John Malkovich on the same screen. And yet, in most of her movies (_Notting Hill_, _Pretty Woman_, _Erin Brockovich_, etc.), she turns in the same stock performance. Pretty much the same deal for **Meg Ryan**. Usually she just plays the same sort of character, but she was pretty good in _Courage Under Fire_ and _Restoration_. ---
**Author:** ![Katisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bcef8e/32.png) [@Katisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Katisha)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482/51 "2003-05-23T05:06:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bean\_shadow \* > \*\*Hell, you could make a whole catagory of “Actors From Great Britain Who Will Act in Anything” (so far Michael Caine, Malcolm McDowell, and Richard Burton have been mentioned). I’ll add Richard Harris as well. And you could throw in Anthony Hopkins. I always like Hopinks’ performances, but some of the actual movies aren’t that good ( **Bad Company** for instance). \*\* I nominate David Warner – _Star Trek V_? _Quest of the Delta Knights_ for crying out loud? :eek: 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Vorae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@Vorae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vorae)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482/52 "2003-05-23T05:55:04Z")
**paulberserker** , I second all of those. I also nominate John Malkovich, if only because I can’t understand why he subjects himself to dreck like _Man in the Iron Mask_, _The Messenger_, and - excuse me - _Knockaround Guys_? ---
**Author:** ![sirtonyh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@sirtonyh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sirtonyh)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482/53 "2003-05-23T06:30:52Z")
I’ll nomiate Val Kilmer. He should have got an oscar for his performance in Tombstone & he was exceptional in The Doors. He has a reputation for being incredibly difficult to work with and his work is, at best, very uneven. But, he can be terrific. ---
**Author:** ![jimmmy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/73ab20/32.png) [@jimmmy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimmmy)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2003, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482/54 "2003-05-23T14:06:10Z")
I came to say Michael Caine but seen him done to death. So I’ll echo two other previous mentions but not expanded upon Sylvester Stallone who turned in a trully great (maybe a top 75 all time) performance in Rocky & then went all action star on us (until Copland +20 yrs later where he acted well). Sir Anthony Hopkins post Silence of the Lambs to fair – he didn’t need to do this to put bread on the table, instead he took roles that any journey man movie character actor might play & he didn’t steal the show and outshine to the point of being a HUGE reason to see the movie: Road to Wellville, MI-2, Mask of Zorro, Freejack ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482/55 "2003-05-24T00:21:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jimmmy \* > \*\*Sir Anthony Hopkins post Silence of the Lambs to fair – he didn’t need to do this to put bread on the table, instead he took roles that any journey man movie character actor might play & he didn’t steal the show and outshine to the point of being a HUGE reason to see the movie: Road to Wellville, MI-2, Mask of Zorro, Freejack \*\* Actually **Freejack** was made just after **Silence of the Lambs** (although it wasn’t released until after SOTL–probably to cash in on his new fame). SOTL was made in early 1990 and wasn’t released for another year, in Feb. 1991. During that time Hopkins made three or four movies before becoming famous for his Lecter role. But, yeah, **Freejack** wasn’t one of the best (he said he was in it simply because he wanted to meet Mick Jagger). Some of his pre-SOTL stuff wasn’t that good either, like **A Change of Seasons**. But there was a ton of good performances like **The Lindbergh Kidnapping Case** , **The Bunker** , **The Elephant Man** , **A Lion in Winter** (to name a few) to even it out. I second David Warner, **Katisha**. He was good in movies like **The Omen** and **Time After Time** , but stank in **Tron** and has been type-casted as the British Baddie, like the butler in **Titanic**. ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482/56 "2003-05-24T00:31:16Z")
Yeah, and he was cool in **The Man with Two Brains** , too! ---
**Author:** ![Mayor\_McJesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce73a5/32.png) [@Mayor\_McJesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mayor_McJesus)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482/57 "2003-05-24T01:00:28Z")
If this discussion is about inconsistent acting and not the ability to always pick decent scripts, then I nominate Vince Vaughn. The guy phones-in every other performance. Did anybody else see _The Cell_ or _Domestic Disturbance_? You can imagine him refusing to do a second take… “Come on Vince. Once more, but this time act like you’re not reading it off a damn cue card.” “Screw you. I already cashed my check.” On the other hand, he was totally money in _Swingers_ and _Old School_. ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482/58 "2003-05-24T01:42:00Z")
Half of my brain says Kevin Spacey – though the other half of my brain says it’s from thinking about that _Life of David gale_ dreck, the very unbelievable _K-Pax_ and the woeful adaptation of _The Shipping News_ where his performances aren’t bad (in the case of TSN his performance was really terrific, in fact) but the films themselves are just Not So Good. I think I’m just so much of a fan that I want him to always turn out high caliber performances in highly enjoyable movies. I have to say, without reservation: Renee Zellweger: electric in _Chicago_ and _Bridget Jones_, one-note cutesy pie in just about everything else. Albert Brooks: _Broadcast News_ and _Defending Your Life_, terrific. _Mother_ (Debbie Reynolds notwithstanding) and _The Muse_, not so much. (I won’t even address _I’ll Do Anything_.) Tim Robbins: compare [i[Shawshank Redemption\* to _Hudsucker Proxy_. Alicia Silverstone:compare _Clueless_ and _The Crush_ to everything else she’s done. Fluffy though _Clueless_ may be, she _owned_ that role. I’m looking forward to seeing if she can acquit herself with her upcoming television series. Michael Douglas: He’s on more than not, but that makes his stunning lowlights stand out all the more, like _Disclosure_ and his recent thing with his father (_Family Affair_?) and probably, I’m afraid, _The In-Laws_. Ice Cube: wooden in _Anaconda_, captivating in _Boys in the Hood_. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2003, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482/59 "2003-05-24T02:40:57Z")
I agree with De Niro and then shake my head piteously over Glenn Close, both of whom I love but can produce some of the most awful dreck. I’m sure there are others that make me feel this way that I just can’t think of now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-greatest-inconsistent-actors-of-all-time/176482.md?page=2)