great films with one notably shite performance

[neveragain]

I've always thought Natasha McEhlone is a bit off in The Truman Show (she's the former cast member who became a Free Truman activist). Not shite but just not natural, a bit forced, in a sense that always takes me out of the film.

[Campbell Soupe]

Not "shite" as such, but I find Nicholson's performance to be both the best and worst thing in The Shining. All the brooding menace of the first 3/4 is thrown out the window when he starts going full-tonto, pantomime villain schtick with the axe...

[Sebastian Cobb]

[mjwilson]

Tom Hanks in Elvis

(not totally sure it is a great film but I hate whatever Hanks is doing)

[the science eel]

Tom Hanks in Elvis

(not totally sure it is a great film but I hate whatever Hanks is doing)

That seems to be the consensus, but for me he was the best thing about the film (which I thought was disappointing)

[Phoenix Lazarus]

Not "shite" as such, but I find Nicholson's performance to be both the best and worst thing in The Shining. All the brooding menace of the first 3/4 is thrown out the window when he starts going full-tonto, pantomime villain schtick with the axe...

That moment where he stares through the hole in the door with that big grin is a moment of comedy not horror.

[gmoney]

Edward Furlong in Terminator 2. Fuck off, you tit.

[beanheadmcginty]

Chris Tucker in The Fifth Element

[SweetPomPom]

Chris Tucker in The Fifth Element

Tricky is also shit but at least they don't give him much to do.

Someone actually wrote this:

https://www.tvguide.com/news/features/chris-tucker-fifth-element-ruby-rhod/

Too niche to be clickbait, I think they actually mean it.

[Pete23]

Chris Tucker in The Fifth Element

Could have been worse, could have been Prince:
https://consequence.net/2016/04/prince-was-originally-cast-as-ruby-rhod-in-the-fifth-element/#:~:text=%22Purple%20Rain%22%20singer%20thought%20the,a%20sci%2Dfi%20cult%20classic.

I love Prince but can't see how this would have been anything but a disaster.

[Ron Superior]

Don't know if this is a widely held opinion but I was always so thrown by how shit Cara Seymour was in Adaptation. I thought for years it must be some acting choice or plot point I was missing but she was just so shit. Was I missing anything?

[SweetPomPom]

Could have been worse, could have been Prince:
https://consequence.net/2016/04/prince-was-originally-cast-as-ruby-rhod-in-the-fifth-element/#:~:text=%22Purple%20Rain%22%20singer%20thought%20the,a%20sci%2Dfi%20cult%20classic.

I love Prince but can't see how this would have been anything but a disaster.

The thought of a 90s Prince & Eric Serra soundtrack makes my blood run cold. He couldn't have been worse than Tucker, definitely would have been quieter if nothing else.

[Keebleman]

I haven't seen it, but the 1970 film of Julius Caesar with Gielgud as Caesar and Charlton Heston as Marc Antony, was by many accounts wrecked single-handedly by Jason Robards as Brutus.  Robards was already a well-established character actor and just a few years away from winning consecutive Best Supporting Actor Oscars, but here he seemed to be working through some personal grudge against the filmmakers, or maybe against Shakespeare himself.  Roger Ebert had fun describing his 'efforts':

He stares vacantly into the camera and recites Shakespeare's words as if he'd memorized them seconds before, or maybe was reading from idiot cards. Each word has the same emphasis as the last, and they march out of the screen at us without regard for phrases, sentences or emotional content.

[beanheadmcginty]

Randy Quaid in Independence Day

[Catalogue Trousers]

Edward Furlong in Terminator 2. Fuck off, you tit.

A little unfair. Furlong isn't great by any means but the main problem is how the teen John Connor is written in the most obvious, teeth-grittingly annoying 'Bart Simpson spliced with Macaulay Culkin' way. Hindsight is a great thing, but the character should have been written as a quieter, more thoughtful, somewhat embittered figure.

Given what he was told to do, Furlong's performance is reasonable.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Randy Quaid in Independence Day

Nah, the real bad one is Harry Connick Jr as Will Smith's pilot mate, the annoying "comic relief" fuckheaded cunt. I cheer when he loses his bottle and dies.

Or maybe Judd Hirsch as the most stereotypical Jewish Dad the world has ever seen.

[George White]

I haven't seen it, but the 1970 film of Julius Caesar with Gielgud as Caesar and Charlton Heston as Marc Antony, was by many accounts wrecked single-handedly by Jason Robards as Brutus.  Robards was already a well-established character actor and just a few years away from winning consecutive Best Supporting Actor Oscars, but here he seemed to be working through some personal grudge against the filmmakers, or maybe against Shakespeare himself.  Roger Ebert had fun describing his 'efforts':

Also has a decent performance from a bearded, unrecognisable Robert Vaughn, who I initially mistook as some vaguely recognisable British character actor.

[shoulders]

Stephen Lack in Scanners and, briefly, Dead Ringers. What did you see in him, Mr Cronenberg?

Was coming here to say this.

However, in a weird way he is so bad that it fits his character.

[Thomas]

I adore almost everything about 28 Days Later - all its film grain and lonesomeness, the perfect soundtrack. An absolute horror fave.

Unfortunately I always have to compartmentalise Hannah's line delivery. Have to imagine it being better than it is. It naturally improves when later on when she's supposed to be sleepy on drugpills.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I adore almost everything about 28 Days Later - all its film grain.

But it was shot on video.

[buzby]

Stephen Lack in Scanners and, briefly, Dead Ringers. What did you see in him, Mr Cronenberg?

There's a very good interview with Stephen Lack here that explains how all that came about. The script was being written on-set and he was being given pages of dialogue to read immediatly before a scene was to be filmed with no rehearsal.

[Thomas]

But it was shot on video.

video fur, then

[Dave The Triffids]

I adore almost everything about 28 Days Later - all its film grain and lonesomeness, the perfect soundtrack. An absolute horror fave.

Unfortunately I always have to compartmentalise Hannah's line delivery. Have to imagine it being better than it is. It naturally improves when later on when she's supposed to be sleepy on drugpills.

I'm sure I read somewhere that she's a Scouser in real life and her struggles with putting on a London accent hampered her delivery of the lines.

[idunnosomename]

Adolf Hitler in Triumph of the Will

[Ignatius_S]

I read - though may have mis-remembered - that McMurray didn't like Double Indemnity and thought Wilder some kind of Commie.

I think McMurray had qualms about the role of Neff - that he was a murderer and one who dies at the end - but wasn't aware of him disliking the film, but in any case, when he spoke about it later, he appreciated how the role broke him out of type - something that he did with Wilder again with The Apartment.

[Ignatius_S]

Mickey Rooney in Breakfast at Tiffany's. An otherwise perfect film, in my view, but Rooney's racist caricature of a Japanese man is utterly horrendous.

And he doesn't even need to be in the film, his role serves no purpose whatsoever. Its sole point is this: "Haha! It's Mickey Rooney pretending to be Japanese!!" Awful.

I don't know if you saw, but Channel 5 recently broadcast the film with Rooney excised from it; cue claims of censorship.

Ultimately, for me, the blame really rests on Blake Edwards and suspect no matter who had been cast, they would have done something along the lines of Rooney.

Edwards and Rooney had worked on a television show starring the latter, and presumably the casting here indicates that they got on very well.  Rooney has been quoted as saying because Edwards was a comedy director, that's why he went opted for that tack. Although that's true of films, Edwards did have experience of directing and writing less comedic work - he created the private detective shows, Richard Diamond Private Eye and Peter Gunn; the former was a big hit for Dick 'the romantic tough guy' Powell on the radio, but television adaptation with a new lead, wasn't able to compete with the more modern Peter Gunn and Edwards would direct some episodes.

[Ignatius_S]

That seems to be the consensus, but for me he was the best thing about the film (which I thought was disappointing)

Admittedly, I haven't read that many reviews - probably, around eight - but none had criticised Hanks, whereas around half or so were quite critical of other elements. In one Guardian review, Kermode loved the film and Hanks got a good write-up, whether in another, Bradshaw who didn't like the film, said Hanks' performance was wasted and took that the issue was how he was utilised and his turn was good.

Personally, I thought Hanks was great in it.

[Ignatius_S]

I haven't seen it, but the 1970 film of Julius Caesar with Gielgud as Caesar and Charlton Heston as Marc Antony, was by many accounts wrecked single-handedly by Jason Robards as Brutus.  Robards was already a well-established character actor and just a few years away from winning consecutive Best Supporting Actor Oscars, but here he seemed to be working through some personal grudge against the filmmakers, or maybe against Shakespeare himself.  Roger Ebert had fun describing his 'efforts':

I would take such claims with a pinch of salt. Although there are clear issues with Robards' performance, he gets better as the film goes on and in the second half or so of the film, is pretty good and think that's reflected in a lot of online write-ups of the film.

It's quite an decent film, the notion that it's a great or very good film ruined by one performance isn't the strongest. Personally, I didn't think Gielgud was outstanding as Caesar and feel it's fair to say, I'm not alone in that. For me, it's a little like when he played Holmes on the radio, not bad, quite interesting but you know others would be more compelling.

[the science eel]

Admittedly, I haven't read that many reviews - probably, around eight - but none had criticised Hanks, whereas around half or so were quite critical of other elements. In one Guardian review, Kermode loved the film and Hanks got a good write-up, whether in another, Bradshaw who didn't like the film, said Hanks' performance was wasted and took that the issue was how he was utilised and his turn was good.

Personally, I thought Hanks was great in it.

That's reassuring. I definitely read a few reviews saying TH's portrayal was silly, or a caricature, or something along those lines.

[Ignatius_S]

That's reassuring. I definitely read a few reviews saying TH's portrayal was silly, or a caricature, or something along those lines.

As says I haven't read that many and although I can see how Hanks might not be to everyone's taste here, I found it interesting that the poorer reviews didn't hone into him.

A couple of friends want to watch the film and will likely be seeing it with them so will see if I change my mind but one things I liked about the film were the performances.