# Your favorite movie starring the particular actor **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 16, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948 "2011-08-16T20:45:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2011, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948/21 "2011-08-18T20:43:48Z")
> [@Bob Ducca](#): > > Wait, are we posting our favorite roles of a certain actor or the movie we like best regardless of how good they were in it? Favorite movies that the actor starred in. The example I’m thinking about is in the OP, because I usually don’t watch or like much Kurt Russell movies, but I loved Big Trouble in Little China. Everything else he’s in (except The Thing) is just meh. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948/22 "2011-08-19T01:48:55Z")
> [@Arnold\_Winkelried](#): > > Bruce Willis’s best leading man role is _12 Monkeys_. Otherwise I can’t think of any other movies starring Bruce Willis that I would go out of my way to watch or re-watch. One of my favorite movies. Whooda Thunkit that Bruce Willis could _act_? He’s very damn good in that one. . ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948/23 "2011-08-19T02:36:45Z")
I like Peter O’Toole in just about anything, but especially in _My Favorite Year_, in which he plays a tipsy, flamboyant actor (the role was based upon Errol Flynn) and in _The Ruling Class_, in which he’s a looney British aristocrat who thinks he is Jesus Christ. O’Toole can do anything: high drama, action thrillers, romance. Yes, I loved _Lawrence of Arabia_. But his comedic side is a weird and wonderful thing. ---
**Author:** ![Agnostic\_Pagan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c4cdca/32.png) [@Agnostic\_Pagan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agnostic_Pagan)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948/24 "2011-08-19T05:45:40Z")
I really don’t care that much for Will Ferrell and his comedies, but he was perfectly cast in _Stranger Than Fiction_. I would like to see him try more dramatic roles. Second (or third) Jim Carrey in _Eternal Sunshine_… and in _The Truman Show_. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948/25 "2011-08-19T08:51:32Z")
marlon brando - godfather1 (best performance by an actor in a movie.) robert de niro - have trouble deciding between taxi driver and godfather2 jack nicholson - the witches of eastwick (a role only jack can play --honest) gene kelly - singing in the rain omar shariff - dr. zhivago michael keaton - beetlejuice lawrence olivier - hamlet kurt russel - tombstone john voight - midnight cowboy dustin hoffman - the graduate paul newman - cool hand luke gary oldman - immortal beloved jean reno - the professional samuel jackson jr - pulp fiction john travolta - pulp fiction bruce willis - pulp fiction harvey keitel - pulp fiction ving rhames - pulp fiction ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948/26 "2011-08-19T10:50:47Z")
I really dislike Owen Wilson. However, I enjoy both of the _Shanghai Noon_ films. He was perfectly cast as the anachronistic idiot self-absorbed cowboy. I also think Will Ferrell is outstanding in _Elf_, but not in much else. ---
**Author:** ![Hogfather65](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/7bcc69/32.png) [@Hogfather65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogfather65)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948/27 "2011-08-19T11:14:18Z")
Loved the movie but dislike the actor. Tim Allen in Galaxy Quest Kurt Russell in Big Trouble in Little China Bruce Willis in The Seventh Element Sly Stallone in Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot ---
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 11:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948/28 "2011-08-19T11:17:50Z")
I really loathe Richard Gere in almost anything but he was perfect both in _Primal Fear_ & _Chicago_ ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948/29 "2011-08-19T11:35:09Z")
you could play it differently, the best actor for a role: james bond - sean connery batman - i still thought michael keaton preserved adam west’s comic bruce wayne and inserted a 90s action flare king of siam - chow yun fat (a surprise winner over legends rex harrison and yul bryner) king arthur - richard harris superman - chris reeve henry VIII - robert shaw jack ryan - harrison ford wyatt earp - kurt russel haven’t decided on the following: robin hood tarzan flash gordon ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948/30 "2011-08-19T13:19:40Z")
Peter Sellers–The Party. I have never laughed so hard in my life. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948/31 "2011-08-19T18:53:36Z")
Speaking of Michael Keaton…I can’t remember the name of the movie, but he was in the looney bin. He & the others got out to attend a ballgame. When he stepped outside of the building he took a deep breath & said, “Ahhh, to be young and insane!” I love that line. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948/32 "2011-08-19T19:00:43Z")
Randy Quaid, “The Last Detail” – I guess he was OK in a small role in “The Last Picture Show,” but aside from those two movies, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in anything on purpose. He was just outstanding in “TLD,” though. Don’t know what happened to him, really. Paul Newman, “The Color of Money.” He really made that movie what it is, IMO, but that’s different from Quaid, since Newman did so much else that was truly extraordinary. Karl Malden, “Patton.” Alan Arkin, “Catch-22.” I only saw it a few years ago, and thought, “damn, that guy looks familiar.” Well, that’s him – and he was just fine at carrying the whole (truly fine) movie. Dustin Hoffman, “Straw Dogs.” Never thought he was all that as an actor, but he nailed it. Now for the big guns: Susan George in “Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry.” Ditto for Petey Fonda in that one. Long-standing confusion between an uncle and me if they were trying to be awful, or they just were born that way. Lee Remick in “Telefon” – meh as an actress, never even thought she was that hot, but she did fine work in that fine movie. Patricia Neal in “Hud” – never better. Gene Tierney in “Laura” – never did much that I rate too highly, but when she got the right role, she was perfect. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948/33 "2011-08-19T19:03:59Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > Speaking of Michael Keaton…I can’t remember the name of the movie, but he was in the looney bin. He & the others got out to attend a ballgame. When he stepped outside of the building he took a deep breath & said, “Ahhh, to be young and insane!” I love that line. _ **The Dream Team** _ With Christopher Lloyd as a mental patient who believed he was a psychiatrist, Peter Boyle as a former ad exec who walked around naked and believed he was Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948/34 "2011-08-20T15:22:36Z")
> [@mac\_bolan00](#): > > jack nicholson - the witches of eastwick (a role only jack can play --honest) Ditto Randle Patrick McMurphy And nobody has mentioned Gregory Peck as Atticus Finch? ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948/35 "2011-08-21T00:44:19Z")
I’ll give the Pecker that one. And, provided I (and avid Ava Gardner “fan”-“wanker”) can remove “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” from list of horrible films Peck ruined, he can return to his place as Hollywood icon. (Still beat off to Ava Gardner – fuck you, I know you’re listening. I CAN’T. No, you’re not listening.) ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948/36 "2011-08-21T03:21:31Z")
> [@Jaledin](#): > > Randy Quaid, “The Last Detail” – I guess he was OK in a small role in “The Last Picture Show,” but aside from those two movies, I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in anything on purpose. He was just outstanding in “TLD,” though. Don’t know what happened to him, really. > > Paul Newman, “The Color of Money.” He really made that movie what it is, IMO, but that’s different from Quaid, since Newman did so much else that was truly extraordinary. > > Karl Malden, “Patton.” > > Alan Arkin, “Catch-22.” I only saw it a few years ago, and thought, “damn, that guy looks familiar.” Well, that’s him – and he was just fine at carrying the whole (truly fine) movie. > > Dustin Hoffman, “Straw Dogs.” Never thought he was all that as an actor, but he nailed it. > > Now for the big guns: Susan George in “Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry.” Ditto for Petey Fonda in that one. Long-standing confusion between an uncle and me if they were trying to be awful, or they just were born that way. > > Lee Remick in “Telefon” – meh as an actress, never even thought she was that hot, but she did fine work in that fine movie. > > Patricia Neal in “Hud” – never better. > > Gene Tierney in “Laura” – never did much that I rate too highly, but when she got the right role, she was perfect. Wasn’t Susan George in “Straw Dogs” too? ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948/37 "2011-08-21T03:58:51Z")
Yes to all the other Paul Newman movies. I like lots of actors, but I can’t think of a single bad movie he’s been in. ---
**Author:** ![Jaledin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jaledin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaledin)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948/38 "2011-08-21T23:08:04Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > Wasn’t Susan George in “Straw Dogs” too? Damnit, you’re right – I think. She was the hottie wife, IIRC, and she was pretty good if I remember right. Only seen it a few times a few years ago, though, and too lazy to google it, so YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948/39 "2011-08-21T23:19:09Z")
Nicholas Cage-“Bringing Out the Dead” This Martin Scorcese film about a burned out NYC ambulance driver (Cage) was a break from Scorcese’s usual style and didn’t receive as much attention as some of his other work. But I really liked Cage in this movie; I really enjoyed the movie as a whole, I _felt_ the experiences in the film. Most of Nicholas Cage’s other roles come in movies that are made in high-budget, low-sophistication manner to bring in the bucks. But this movie was good, in an obscure, aesthetic way. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2011, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948/40 "2011-08-21T23:35:25Z")
> [@Becky2844](#): > > Yes to all the other Paul Newman movies. I like lots of actors, but I can’t think of a single bad movie he’s been in. Admirably few for such a long career, but they’re there. “The Silver Chalice” was an early misfire, as was “The View from the Terrace,” later a cowboy-theme remake of “Rashamon,” and some pretentious post-apocaptalyptic drama where he and some other actors wander in and out from the snow. Another of my favorites from the past is the British actor **Dennis Price**. He made his career playing well-bred cads, of which the best was “Kind Hearts and Coronets.” (also in that was Joan Greenwood, who could sit on a block of ice reading the phone book aloud and still sound like she was having an orgasm). To our horror, a few years ago it was announced that KH&C would be remade as a Will Smith vehicle. Luckily this didn’t happen, though I can imagine the kill meeting: “We’ve made great advances in race relations in America, but I don’t think we’re ready for a revenge comedy where a black man kills off a rich white family.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-favorite-movie-starring-the-particular-actor/592948.md?page=3)