# What actors have hardly ever made a bad movie? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [May 31, 2022, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462 "2022-05-31T20:52:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462/1 "2022-05-31T20:52:25Z")
See, so I would not count John Cazale because he died very young and really did not make too many movies. I also don’t have a big number in mind for how many movies someone has to make to count as enough. Just, you know, a good amount of movies and they always seem to have good projects. Who has a great track record? Leonardo Dicaprio, maybe? ---
**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:** [May 31, 2022, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462/2 "2022-05-31T21:02:53Z")
Allowing how some people have different ideas of what “bad” is, I’d nominate Tom Hanks. (hey I liked Bachelor Party, though I can’t remember why anymore.) There’s a career I’d like to have. Maybe the “original Tom Hanks”, Jimmy Stewart, too. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462/3 "2022-05-31T21:03:32Z")
“According to Roger Ebert’s Stanton-Walsh Rule, ‘ **no movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M.** **Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad**.’ Ebert later conceded that this rule was broken by 1999’s _Wild Wild West_ (Walsh) and _Dream a Little Dream_ (Stanton).” > **[M. Emmet Walsh](https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._Emmet_Walsh)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Michael Emmet Walsh (born March 22, 1935) is an American movie, television, stage, and voice actor. He has appeared in over 200 movies and television series. He is known for his roles in The Jerk, Blood Sample, Killer Image, Christmas with the Kranks and in Wild Wild West. > According to Roger Ebert's Stanton-Walsh Rule, "no movie featuring either Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad." Ebert later conceded... ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462/4 "2022-05-31T21:12:07Z")
Alec Guiness. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462/5 "2022-05-31T21:13:56Z")
“Raise the Titanic” blew. So did “The Man With One Red Shoe,” which takes out Hanks. So they aren’t perfect. “Hardly ever” will have to suffice. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462/6 "2022-05-31T21:16:02Z")
Jack Nicholson ever done a stinker? Witches Of Eastwick, maybe? Still, that might count as “hardly ever”. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462/7 "2022-05-31T21:17:39Z")
“Tommy.” ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462/8 "2022-05-31T21:18:27Z")
The Who’s Tommy? Ok, point taken. ---
**Author:** ![teelabrown](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/teelabrown/32/8412_2.png) [@teelabrown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teelabrown)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462/9 "2022-05-31T21:22:17Z")
Jack Lemmon must have laid an egg or two, but I’ve never seen a performance of his that wasn’t stellar. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462/10 "2022-05-31T21:27:15Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > “Raise the Titanic” blew. So did “The Man With One Red Shoe,” which takes out Hanks. So they aren’t perfect. “Hardly ever” will have to suffice. So did The Ladykillers. ---
**Author:** ![FlikTheBlue](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fliktheblue/32/10972_2.png) [@FlikTheBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlikTheBlue)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462/11 "2022-05-31T21:30:41Z")
His movies may not be to everyone’s taste, but I’ve never seen a movie with John Candy that I didn’t like. > [@silenus](#): > > “Raise the Titanic” blew. So did “The Man With One Red Shoe,” which takes out Hanks. So they aren’t perfect. “Hardly ever” will have to suffice. I’m not a fan of Forrest Gump, so I’d add that in as well. > [@bobot](#): > > Jack Nicholson ever done a stinker? Witches Of Eastwick, maybe? Still, that might count as “hardly ever”. He played a good Joker, but overall I’m not a fan of Batman, especially Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne (though he did OK as Batman). ETA: I’m not saying Forrest Gump and Batman are bad movies, just that they aren’t to my taste. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462/12 "2022-05-31T21:30:45Z")
Tom Cruise has done fairly well. His stinker movies are: Jack Reacher 2 Mission Impossible 2 The Mummy I wouldn’t be too harsh on some folks first movies, either. Tom Cruise is in Losin’ It and any clips I saw on TV long time ago made it look very lame. The Mummy wasn’t total trash, mind you, and neither was Jack Reacher 2(though it is boring). Mission Impossible 2 was his huge error. John Woo dropped the ball, but Cruise was an important producer and also had a lot of input to that movie and it is flat out bad. ---
**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:** [May 31, 2022, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462/13 "2022-05-31T21:34:49Z")
Frances McDormand scores pretty high, although she does have a couple stinkers on her resume (_Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon_ and _Johnny Skidmarks_). Is there a difference between being involved in a bad movie and making a bad movie? ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462/14 "2022-05-31T21:37:12Z")
My first thought is **Daniel Day Lewis**. Off the top of my head - Lincoln, Phantom Thread, My Left Foot, There Will Be Blood, Gangs of New York, My Beautiful Laundrette. If he’s been in a stinker, I don’t think I’ve seen it. mmm ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462/15 "2022-05-31T21:38:43Z")
I’ll nominate Daniel Day-Lewis, though his body of work isn’t large – only 20 films over the course of the last 40 years (due, in part, to several retirements). Looking back over his work, I’m not sure that there’s a truly bad movie; a couple of them, such as _Stars and Bars_ (1988), _Eversmile, New Jersey_ (1989) and _The Ballad of Jack and Rose_ (2005) seem to have not been at the level of most of his films, and had more mixed reviews. (Note that the first two of those were comedies, and early in his career.) Edit: Ninjaed by MMM while I was doing research. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462/16 "2022-05-31T21:38:58Z")
Even the times **Alan Rickman** was in a stinker (_Robin Hood:Prince of Thieves_), his performance was usually great. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462/17 "2022-05-31T21:40:04Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > Even the times **Alan Rickman** was in a stinker ( _Robin Hood:Prince of Thieves_ ), his performance was usually great. I haven’t seen that movie in 20+ years. Is it really that bad? We liked it back then and yes, Rickman is the main star of the movie. ---
**Author:** ![ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chockfullofheadygoodness/32/511_2.png) [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462/18 "2022-05-31T21:43:16Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I haven’t seen that movie in 20+ years. Is it really that bad? It’s not as bad as the internet would have you believe, but it wasn’t very good. Coster was definitely the weakest link, along with the out-of-place supernatural witch stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462/19 "2022-05-31T21:44:29Z")
> [@ChockFullOfHeadyGoodness](#): > > It’s not as bad as the internet would have you believe, but it wasn’t very good. Coster was definitely the weakest link, along with the out-of-place supernatural witch stuff. Let’s just say I’ve seen Men In Tights more and man, it holds up! ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2022, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462/20 "2022-05-31T21:45:57Z")
There is a difference between an actor that is always good and an actor that hardly ever made a bad movie. **[Peter O’Toole](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_O%27Toole_on_screen_and_stage)** was almost always great, but he made some bad movies. * * * **[Spencer Tracy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencer_Tracy_filmography)** may not have made a bad movie. At least not after he got established. * * * **[Audrey Hepburn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audrey_Hepburn_on_screen_and_stage#Film)** probably only made one bad movie and it was a prestige project. War and Peace. Oh, wait, also [Green Mansions](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Mansions_(film)). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-actors-have-hardly-ever-made-a-bad-movie/965462.md?page=2)