Wait, is this the same Nicole Kidman from The Invasion?

[Ja'moke]

This isn't a thread about The Invasion, nor is it specifically about Nicole Kidman. This is a thread to discuss surprise turns by actors that are usually distinctly average or in some cases downright awful, those tedious thespians who you would rarely give the time of day, but then, seemingly out of no where, for one film, perhaps even just one scene, they suddenly make you sit up and take notice, and have you scratching your head wondering if this is the same person. My theory is that every actor has the ability for at least one great performance. I highlight Nicole Kidman because I personally think her acting skills are wooden to the point of Pinocchio, in pretty much every film I've seen her in she draws that same blank expression and icy delivery (although it kind of works for The Stepford Wives, I guess). But, one of my favourite films is To Die For, in which Nicole Kidman gives a genuinely great performance, quirky, vibrant, sexy, and even slightly chilling, I couldn't believe it was the same Nicole Kidman the first time I saw it.

The other one that stands out is Adam Sandler in Punch Drunk Love, I'm not sure if it's so much Sandler's acting ability or the direction of Paul Anderson, who takes Sandler's penchant for over-the-top, angry, man-child characters and tones it down just enough to make it work in this odd little love story.

There's another one that springs to mind, but I'll stop hogging the thread and let others join in...

[Nobody Soup]

I personally can't stand nicholas cage, I think he's wooden in everything but in Wild At Heart that bit where he delivers the line

"this here's a snakeskin jacket and for me it's a symbol of my individuality, and my belief... in personal freedom."

and it made me think, 'ok, he's really, really good in this film' it's so deliberately hammy and blunt, he over-acts all the minot bits and plays the serious bits down. this is from a guy that would later verge into awful meme territory with "not the beees!"

[lipsink]

Jean Claude Van Damme in JCVD. Sure, he's playing himself, but still. He's bloody brilliant in that film and in that one scene in particular.

[Ja'moke]

I personally can't stand nicholas cage, I think he's wooden in everything but in Wild At Heart that bit where he delivers the line

"this here's a snakeskin jacket and for me it's a symbol of my individuality, and my belief... in personal freedom."

and it made me think, 'ok, he's really, really good in this film' it's so deliberately hammy and blunt, he over-acts all the minot bits and plays the serious bits down. this is from a guy that would later verge into awful meme territory with "not the beees!"

Good call! I love Wild At Heart, and I love Nicholas Cage in Wild At Heart, but I'm not particularly a Nicholas Cage fan, not in any serious kind of way anyway, although I do think he is also very good in Adaptation.

[El Unicornio, mang]

I can't stand Nicolas Cage, but loved him in Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans. Also, Sharon Stone in Casino. Totally breathtaking.

[Small Man Big Horse]

I thought Nicole Kidman started off fairly well (discounting BMX Bandits) but around the time she married Cruise it started to go down hill and she seems horribly wooden now. Tis strange, as I think he's improved as an actor over time.

Nick Cage is great in any film that allows him to be batshit crazy, but I don't get on with him in serious roles, at least not since the mid-nineties.

I'd nominate Richard Gere - I can't stand him in 99% of films, but think he's fantastic in Internal Affairs.

[chocolateboy]

I thought Nicole Kidman was also great in Birth. I hated the film, but it certainly wasn't her fault. As for Nic Cage, he's utterly amazing in Leaving Las Vegas. But...

Nick Cage is great in any film that allows him to be batshit crazy

This is one of the most luridly untrue statements I've ever read on the Internet, and you should be forced to watch Deadfall on a loop for a day (longer would be inhumane) as punishment.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R82yvQ72vJo

I like to "collect" good/great performances by actors I don't like. I despise Johnny Depp's "actings" (I thought we had rigorous safeguards to prevent supermodels being taken seriously as actors), but he's great (and funny) in Sleepy Hollow. I loathe Tom Hanks, but he was perfect in the throwaway frathouse comedies that were his staple before he became Worthy McWorthington.

Occasionally an actor will accumulate so many of these "surprisingly fab" performances, that I'm forced to think of them as good actors who consistently and systematically phone in paycheck shite. Tom Cruise is so good in Jerry Maguire, Born on The Fourth of July and Magnolia, that I just feel sorry that the batshit couch-jumper can't find another script worthy of his talents.

The only actor I dislike who I haven't seen a truly great performance by is Brad Pitt. He's OK in the few seconds he's in Thelma & Louise, and he's kinda suitable for his undemanding role

Spoiler alert

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[close]

in Meet Joe Black, but I've found him to be a laughable Grange Hill/Acorn Antiques-level performer in everything else (the lowest of low points being Twelve Monkeys), despite finding him likable enough as a celeb. The best I can come up with is Snatch, where I thought he was almost unrecognizable and consistently funny (again, he's only in it for a few blinks), but it doesn't compare to something like Kidman's preternaturally spot-on performance in To Die For.

[Small Man Big Horse]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R82yvQ72vJo

But but but that trailer makes it look like the best film of all time!

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

The only actor I dislike who I haven't seen a truly great performance by is Brad Pitt...

You do not talk about Fight Club?

[chocolateboy]

You do not talk about Fight Club?

I think directors have informally developed techniques to work around his shortcomings. One way is to restrict his screen time; another is to cast him in a broad or cartoony role. Result: glorified cameos that hover between not good (Inglourious Basterds) and not bad (Fight Club, Burn After Reading &c.).

[Ginyard]

I remember when Pitt appeared in Friends, gloriously exposing his shortcomings as an actor. He was that episode's eye candy amateur.

I can't stand Diane Keaton. She's shite. But she is pretty good in Morning Glory even though its an inconsequential but amiable movie at best.

[Noodle Lizard]

Good surprises:

Robin Williams in One Hour Photo
Nick Cage in Wild At Heart (as has already been suggested)
Jim Carey in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Robert Pattinson in Remember Me
Keanu Reeves in Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure/Bogus Journey

Bad surprises:

Robert De Niro in pretty much everything from 2000 onwards (especially Rocky & Bullwinkle)
Johnny Depp in pretty much everything from 2005 onwards (notable exception of Sweeney Todd)
Christian Bale in Terminator Salvation

My brain's not working properly this morning.  I have tonnes of these.

[Absorb the anus burn]

Also, Sharon Stone in Casino. Totally breathtaking.

Yes! Great call. She is usually terrible, but Scorsese got a fine performance out of her in Casino.

[Phil_A]

Pitt was good in Tree Of Life.

[rjd2]

And he was even better in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

[chocolateboy]

[Noodle Lizard]

I'm not sure how anyone could knock Pitt's performance in Fight Club, I think he was perfect for that character.  Especially as up until that point he'd been more or less confined to "the sensitive type" roles (with the possible exception of the insipidly dreadful The Devil's Own).

[Nobody Soup]

Pitt's alright, I actually thought he was really fun in inglourious besterds. (and I want my scalps) not quite sure what people's problem is with him in that.

he's quite good in any role that requires the character to have a certain degree of magnetism. No one could have played Jesse James like him, because the character was supposed to be someone that transfixed people and no one else could have played tyler durden because no one could quite have pulled off the role as the man every man wants to be so well (it would have hardly worked if tyler durden was flouncing about like johnny depp or pulling nervous tom cruise smiles all the time.) same with interview with the vampire, he's a bit wooden in that, but certainly doesn't ruin the film because the character is meant to be beautiful but kinda naive. (interview is my favourite tom cruise role by the by)

[Noodle Lizard]

with interview with the vampire, he's a bit wooden in that, but certainly doesn't ruin the film because the character is meant to be beautiful but kinda naive. (interview is my favourite tom cruise role by the by)

Likewise.  Although I think both of them were outdone by Kirsten Dunst on that occasion.  Or at least matched.

[alan nagsworth]

lots of mentions of nicolas cage in surprisingly good roles and yet no mention of 'raising arizona'? for shame. that film's aces and he's brilliant in it.

[Ja'moke]

Some good suggestions here. I actually don't mind Brad Pitt, I think he's great in both Fight Club and The Tree of Life.

Now here's one out of left-field...Mischa Barton. Yes, the same Mischa Barton from The OC and falling out of cars drunk. She is a poor actress, beyond poor you could say, and if you look at her list of film credits there is nothing in recent years that suggests she is anything other than poor, but you have to travel all the way back to 1997 and the film Lawn Dogs, in which a 10/11 year old Barton gives an absolutely adorably impressive performance alongside the always excellent Sam Rockwell. It's a shame that so much potential at a young age was squandered in to nothingness.

[Nobody Soup]

another, squandered potential one would be eric bana, he's been pretty under-whelming in most hollywood films he's done, mostly just ok, and you can see the studios think this too if you see the level of films he's beginning to appear in. gone are the days were spielberg would use him as a lead or he'd be considered a worthy co-star to brad pitt. Rewind to Chopper, his first film I think, and he was magnificent. One of the best ever performances I think, he just owned that role and pulled a de niro esque transformation off too.

[Dead kate moss]

I'd never been impressed with Heath Ledger until The Dark Knight.

And Val Kilmer was only good in Top Secret. And maybe Heat.

[Whug Baspin]

And Val Kilmer was only good in Top Secret. And maybe Heat.

I always thought he stunk up films, but was fantastic in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

[Icehaven]

Michael Douglas in Wonder Boys and Falling Down. I didn't really give him much thought at all before that, just knew him as the Fatal Attraction and Gordon Gekko bloke famous for getting his arse out in every film he's in, but he's terrific in Falling Down (even though the film hasn't aged all that well).
In WB he plays completely against the type I thought of him as, as he's a shabby, slightly pathetic failing writer with a limp and a pot problem. He's the main character but he's very low key, and has to just try and muddle through all the madness happening around him and to him. I'd previously have doubted he'd be very convincing as that kind of character, as he seemed too alpha and/or too strong a personality to carry it off, but he does being dragged along for the ride surprisingly well. (and he doesn't get his arse out but Robert Downey Jnr. gets his out, so good news all round.) Bit like when Jim Carrey had to be all quiet and shy in Eternal Sunshine, you wouldn't think he had it in him, but lo.

edit; just discovered MD is going to play Liberace too, ha!

[Junglist]

And Val Kilmer was only good in Top Secret. And maybe Heat.

And Felon.

[kidsick5000]

And Felon.

He's not bad in Spartan. Also heard good stuff about him in Tombestone.

Another anomoly for the list is Hayden Christensen in Shattered Glass. Great performance. Since then...hmm

[El Unicornio, mang]

I'd never been impressed with Heath Ledger until The Dark Knight.

I thought he was really good in Brokeback Mountain

[Dead kate moss]

I thought he was alright... didn't stink up the screen or anything. Overrated film imo also.

[biggytitbo]

Harrison Fords obviously is one of the great movie stars, but his 'serious' acting has always been a bit insipid and dour, (Regarding Henry, Random Hearts, K19, urg).


But then there's the Mosquito Coast, where he gives one of the great performances of the 80s and was scandalously denied an Oscar.