# When a great cast rescues a cheesy movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 25, 2009, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-great-cast-rescues-a-cheesy-movie/482959 "2009-01-25T21:16:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-great-cast-rescues-a-cheesy-movie/482959/61 "2009-03-12T17:41:53Z")
Based on the recommendations herein, I watched _Murder by Death_ last night. I would like that hour and a half back, pls. ---
**Author:** ![davekhps](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@davekhps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davekhps)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-great-cast-rescues-a-cheesy-movie/482959/62 "2009-03-12T18:07:56Z")
GREAT call on Sneakers, which is practically the winning definition of the OP. I mean, the movie is as light as a feather, but the cast is fantastic. I mean, Robert Redford, Sidney Potier, and Ben Kingsley? (Yes, Ben Kingsley. . . remember back when the movie was released, he was still the guy from Gandhi, not the guy from “every bad movie ever made in the last decade.”) I will also ditto Armageddon, Con-Air, and add The Rock. I generally hate hate HATE Michael Bay movies with a passion, I recognize and despise his evil, yet. . . those movies are consistently entertaining and watchable every time they show up on TV. The casting has a lot to do with it. Finally, cheers for Old School. I’m growing sick of seeing these guys in every other movie released (not to mention the same Apatow or Apatow-lite formula endlessly repeated), but that movie just clicks, like great jazz. ---
**Author:** ![panamajack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/47e85d/32.png) [@panamajack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panamajack)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-great-cast-rescues-a-cheesy-movie/482959/63 "2009-03-12T18:31:51Z")
Last night I watched **The Ruins** to test my theory that Jena Malone has never sucked, and generally elevates anything she’s in. She, along with most of the rest of the cast, and a sufficiently good director, managed to do that. It doesn’t quite rescue the movie, though. The script is irredeemably bad, but it managed to be just barely entertaining. Based on that theory, I’ve started [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=510090) on actors who rarely/never show up in bad movies. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-great-cast-rescues-a-cheesy-movie/482959/64 "2009-03-12T18:32:04Z")
For once, no one has mentioned my pick yet. [Clue](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088930/), with Madeleine Kahn, Tim Curry, Michael McKean, and Christopher Lloyd (among others). And did I mention Madeleine Kahn? [Here’s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92IkddsjtAA) her signature scene (YouTube). In my family, if you want to convey that you got really angry, you say, “I was SO mad at her – flames. Flames, on the side of my face . . . .” The movie didn’t actually make much sense, but the cast was great. ---
**Author:** ![A\_qui\_profite\_le\_crime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ebca7d/32.png) [@A\_qui\_profite\_le\_crime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_qui_profite_le_crime)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-great-cast-rescues-a-cheesy-movie/482959/65 "2009-03-12T19:59:47Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > I’m gonna say **Midnight Run**. I think if you read the script without having seen the movie, it would seem like a pretty run-of-the mill buddy picture. De Niro and Grodin elevate it to the sublime (with the help of a terrific supporting cast). Could not agree more. IMHO, the scene where they detect the “fake” USD 100 bills is one of the best comic movie scenes of all time. And Yaphet Kotto as Lt. Alonzo Mosely steals every scene he appears in. I gotta watch this movie again soon. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-great-cast-rescues-a-cheesy-movie/482959/66 "2009-03-12T20:24:04Z")
I agree with **Armageddon** and **Independence Day** , among others. But to my mind, one of the great examples of what the OP asks for is [**Tombstone**](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108358/). Could have been a ridiculously hokey retelling of one of the Old West’s cliches: the Showdown at the OK Corral. Saved by the performances of the actors – Sam Elliott and Bill Paxton as the “other” Earp brothers were excellent, but Val Kilmer gave the performance of his life as Doc Holliday – over-the-top, sure, but that seems to be what he was aiming for: a larger-than-life character with nothing to lose being most unmistakably himself at the defining moment of his life. And he pulled it off. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-great-cast-rescues-a-cheesy-movie/482959/67 "2009-03-12T20:28:00Z")
**Ludovic** , I have to agree about Troy. I disliked the movie because of the characters, writing and plot - I can only imagine how much I would have hated it if the cast, and casting, hadn’t been brilliant. My vote is for Josie and the Pussycats. I’m still not sure it was a great movie, but Alan Cumming and Parker Posey sure made it fun to watch. I also adore Hackers, but it’s not just for the cast, which, IMHO, was surprisingly good for a ridiculous no-star film - Angelina Jolie’s debut, Johnny Lee Miller, Matthew Lillard, Jesse Bradford, Lorraine Bracco and Alberta Watson. ---
**Author:** ![Omi\_no\_Kami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a88e4f/32.png) [@Omi\_no\_Kami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omi_no_Kami)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-great-cast-rescues-a-cheesy-movie/482959/68 "2009-03-12T20:36:58Z")
I wanted to throw in another vote for **Con Air**. That movie plays like the writers were actively trying to screw it up: it’s apparently supposed to play like a gritty action flick, yet the actors get the stupidest lines imaginable… and _manage to pull them off_. The [bunny scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRr2OhbXTaE) has to be one of the most surreal moments in popcorn cinema I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-great-cast-rescues-a-cheesy-movie/482959/69 "2009-03-12T22:39:29Z")
I always thought of “Deep Impact” and “Armageddon”, “Deep Impact” was the better movie. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-great-cast-rescues-a-cheesy-movie/482959/70 "2009-03-13T00:39:53Z")
> [@A\_qui\_profite\_le\_crime](#): > > And Yaphet Kotto as Lt. Alonzo Mosely steals every scene he appears in. So does Dennis Farina. “I’m gonna stab you through the heart with a f\*ckin’ pencil.” ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-great-cast-rescues-a-cheesy-movie/482959/71 "2009-03-13T17:11:47Z")
> [@davekhps](#): > > GREAT call on Sneakers, which is practically the winning definition of the OP. > > I mean, the movie is as light as a feather, but the cast is fantastic. I mean, Robert Redford, Sidney Potier, and Ben Kingsley? (Yes, Ben Kingsley. . . remember back when the movie was released, he was still the guy from Gandhi, not the guy from “every bad movie ever made in the last decade.”) It may be frothy, but it gets a lot of love in the hacker community for making a lot more sense than the usual Hollywood nonsense (apart from the McGuffin of a universal decryptor). The existence of blind Phone Phreaks is not part of the mainstream. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-great-cast-rescues-a-cheesy-movie/482959/72 "2009-03-13T19:15:22Z")
Another vote for _Midnight Run_. I usually find Charles Grodin profoundly un-entertaining, but he’s perfectly cast in this movie – and to think that the studio (IIRC) wanted Robin Williams for the part. And, yes, Yaphet Kotto and Dennis Farina steal every scene that they’re in. _Primal Fear_ would have ranked as a mediocre little courtroom thriller without the amazing performance of the then-unknown Edward Norton. Richard Gere is so-so, some of the supporting player are quite good, but this is the movie that made Norton a star. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-great-cast-rescues-a-cheesy-movie/482959/73 "2009-03-13T19:40:38Z")
> [@Jodi](#): > > For once, no one has mentioned my pick yet. > > [Clue](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088930/), I was going to say Clue, but the cast is _ **soooooo** _ good, I honestly can’t judge if the rest of the movie is any good. It might be great, it might be terrible, but they are so damn funny, the movie is perfect. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-great-cast-rescues-a-cheesy-movie/482959/74 "2009-03-13T20:30:51Z")
“Australia” was not laughably bad thanks to the cast. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-great-cast-rescues-a-cheesy-movie/482959/75 "2009-03-13T22:52:38Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > “Australia” was not laughably bad thanks to the cast. Uh, I think you accidentally included a “not” in your post. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2009, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-great-cast-rescues-a-cheesy-movie/482959/76 "2009-03-13T23:26:25Z")
> [@lissener](#): > > Mad Dog and Glory Now that’s a great example of a movie that _could have been_ completely horrible. I’d throw in the first Riddick film (edit: it’s called “Pitch Black”), and Legally Blonde. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-a-great-cast-rescues-a-cheesy-movie/482959.md?page=3)