I finally got around to watching The Core, which I’d always avoided because it had such a horrible reputation. I guess I’ll never learn to ignore that kind of thing, because this movie–an old fashioned science fantasy movie–was an entertaining hoot from beginning to end. I’m reminded of the New Yorker review of Babe, in which the reviewer said something like, “If you’re the kind of person who would refuse to see a movie simply because it’s about a talking pig, well then just be that way: it’s your loss.”
If you can’t watch The Core* without focusing on the science that the movie gets “wrong,” well then just be that way.
Another movie where a silly script with an outrageously cliche and still sillier basic premise are rescued by a great cast and great direction is Made in Heaven.
Other movies whose whole is greater than the sum of their parts:* The Hidden, The Borrower, Mad Dog and Glory* . . . what else?
James Whitmore ... Police Sgt. Ben Peterson
Edmund Gwenn ... Dr. Harold Medford
Joan Weldon ... Dr. Patricia 'Pat' Medford
James Arness ... Robert Graham
Onslow Stevens ... Brig. Gen. Robert O'Brien
Sean McClory ... Maj. Kibbee
Chris Drake ... Trooper Ed Blackburn
Sandy Descher ... The Ellinson Girl
Mary Alan Hokanson ... Mrs. Lodge (as Mary Ann Hokanson)
Don Shelton ... Trooper Capt. Fred Edwards
Fess Parker ... Alan Crotty
The Omega Code. Alright, I will admit that it is a Bible movie whose script will make even most Bible-thumpers cringe. I will also admit that I do not expect Casper Van Dien to win an Oscar anytime in the foreseeable future.
But it has Michael York as the Anti-Christ, and Michael Ironside as the False Prophet. Rent it off of the half-price rack, and enjoy the cheese.
Murder by Death was intended to be a comedy, but it’s not one of Neil Simon’s better efforts. Most of the jokes are stale and the plot is (deliberately) utter nonsense, but I enjoy it because of the cast: Alec Guinness, Peter Falk, Peter Sellers, Elsa Lancaster, David Niven, etc., etc. Some of them were past their prime but still a lot of fun to watch, while James Cromwell appears in one of his earliest roles doing an over-the-top Belgian accent (or is it French?).* Clue was a similar movie that was actually better written, but the cast (other than Tim Curry’s bravura performance as the butler) wasn’t that interesting.
*ETA: The villain was Truman Capote, who was most definitely not a great actor, but it was funny because the villain was Truman Capote.
I rented that movie years ago getting it confused with some other movie I can’t think of at the moment. It was, err, interesting to say the least. I had no idea I was in for a Christian movie. All in all though it wasn’t completely horrible for what it was.
This is the film I came in here to mention. I think more highly of its humor than you do – there are lots of lowbrow but funny laughs in here: The butler named Jamessir Bensonmum, for example; and also Lionel Twain carping on the pseudo Charlie Chan’s Engrish pronunciation will never not make me laugh:
Though I do agree it’s not one of Simon’s best by a long shot (actually I forgot until now it was Simon, as it’s pretty atypical). But the cast is stellar and they’re hysterical, especially Sellars, Falk, Smith and Guinness.
Similarly, I’d nominate Evil Under the Sun and Death on the Nile, particularly the former. In the mid-1970s to 1980s there were a few all-star Agatha Christie mystery films that were of varying degrees of quality (Murder on the Orient Express was probably the finest version), and I’m not big fans of them, but Evil Under the Sun rises above its kitschy production thanks to Maggie Smith (again!), Diana Rigg, and Peter Ustinov (although he’s not my ideal Poirot by any means), all of whom are clearly having plenty of fun.
I’ll also add Zorro, the Gay Blade, thanks to terrific scenery-chewing performances by Ron Liebman, George Hamilton, and Brenda Vaccaro. I should be embarrassed to like this movie, but it’s such silly, stupid, good-natured humor that I can’t help myself.
Joe Vs. the Volcano, the entire plot is corny as hell, the audience is beaten over the head with the theme, the dialouge is cheesy but it has Tom Hanks, Meg Ryan, Lloyd Bridges, Nathan Lane, Dan Hedaya and they make is funny and poignant. Or so says me, if you disagree, fuck off.
This would be true of my two favorite Bruckheimer crapstravaganzas, Armageddon and Con Air. Probably true of a lot of his other stuff, too, but those two are such good examples. Bruckheimer may use some of the worst dialogue in Hollywood, but the man has seriously good taste in supporting actors. Usually the “stars” get outshined by the rest of the cast.
Here is the Bruckheimer “recipe:”
Take one super-bankable movie star
Add a couple of other big-name types
Fill up the rest of the cast with some of the best damn character actors in the business. Extra-credit for including people who will become much bigger stars within a few years.
Here’s how it played out.
Armageddon:
Bruce Willis
Ben Affleck, Billy Bob Thornton, Liv Tyler
Steve Buscemi, William Fichtner, Owen Wilson, Will Patton, Peter Stormare, Keith David, Jason Isaacs, that really tall guy who sorta reminds me of Ving Rhames, etc.
Con Air:
Nicolas Cage
John Cusack, John Malkovich
Steve Buscemi, Ving Rhames, Colm Meaney, Dave Chapelle(!), Danny Trejo, M.C. Gainey, Mykelti Williamson, Jesse Borrego, etc.
Oh! I just remembered another one thanks go Green Bean’s post. The Negotiator, which is a fairly by-the-numbers action / suspense movie elevated to popcorny fun thanks to its cast. In fact it seems to work on the same formula as the two Green Bean mentioned, albeit not as flashy.
Samuel L. Jackson
Kevin Spacey
David Morse, Ron Rifkin, John Spencer, J.T. Walsh, Siobhan Fallon, Paul Giamatti, Regina Taylor
The plot’s cheesey as hell (Expert Negotiator Takes Hostages!), but seeing such crackerjack performers acting against one another is a hoot.
I think the funniest scene in the movie is where Bensonmum (Guinness) serves soup to the guests. For anybody who has only seen Alec Guinness in the Star Wars movies and maybe Bridge on the River Kwai, I’d recommend the movie just for this scene alone since it’s a prime example of what a first-class comic actor he could be.
Well regardless, the movie had more of a good cast than just the two you mentioned. Gibbs is great, Calypso is fabulous. Governor Swann and Commodore Norrington were great characters. Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley are the weakest links in that cast.
The Princess Bride. I can’t think of anything corny, with goofier sets, weirder writing, or a lamer plot. But Cary Elwes, Peter Falk, Fred Savage, Robin Wright, Wallace Shawn, Andre the Giant, Christopher Guest, Mandy Patinkin, Billy Crystal, and Carol Kane make it great.
I have to admit, I don’t think The Hidden or Pirates of the Caribbean or Them or even the Princess Bride really qualify for this thread. I thought they all had a LOT more going for them than the actors that were in them – pretty decent writing and good direction.
One film that I think qualifies is The Last Starfighter – the state-of-the-art CGI wasn’t quite up to the challenge, and even though the Creature Design was good, the execution was rubbery. And the writing was pretty hokey. But the performances by newcomers Lance Guest* and Catherine Mary Stewart and old-timers Dan O’Herlihy and Robert Preston (!) really made this worth watching.
*who hasn’t really had a god notable role since, as far as I can tell.
I have a category for films of this nature: Better Than they Have Any Right to Be. Doesn’t need a great cast, but they take a silly premise and make it work.
The recent Underdog movie fits this nicely. It’s a live action version of a second-rate cartoon, but using Jason Lee as Underdog’s voice and Peter Dinklage at Simon Barsinister made it all work.
There’s also the very entertaining The Doberman Gang, about using dogs to pull off a bank robbery. No one of any note in the cast, but it’s a lot of fun.
Johnny Depp’s first mate is fabulous.