Great Performance in a Bad Movie?

[roquat]

Posted: 12/23/06 at 1:27am

Are there great performances you treasure in otherwise lackluster movies--to the point where the actor almost redeems the badness?

My examples:

Diana Rigg and Lesley-Anne Down in A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC
Marisa Tomei in MY COUSIN VINNY
Diane Wiest in PARENTHOOD
Bryce Dallas Howard in THE VILLAGE
Minnie Driver in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA

Hmm, all women. That must mean something...

[Caroline-Q-or-TBoo]

Posted: 12/23/06 at 1:41am

Anette Bening in Running With Scissors.

I didn't find it as bad as all that, but apparently many folk adamantly hate it

[StageManager2]

Posted: 12/23/06 at 1:56am

*threadjack alert*

I hated the RUNNING WITH SCISSORS and THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA posters. The scissors-clutching-fist with legs and the red pump with the pitchfork heel are stupid. Couldn't they be more creative?

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 12/23/06 at 1:57am

Ben Stiller in HEAVYWEIGHTS

[StageManager2]

Posted: 12/23/06 at 2:00am

Ben Stiller was in HEAVYWEIGHTS? Whom did he play? I haven't seen that movie in soooooo long.

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 12/23/06 at 3:03am

He was the evil new camp leader, SM2! The one they tied and locked up.

He was so funny.

I can think of a couple Johnny Depp movies.

[StageManager2]

Posted: 12/23/06 at 3:07am

Oh, okay. You forgot to mention they punch him in the balls after they tie him to a tree.

Updated On: 12/23/06 at 03:07 AM

[wickedrentq]

Posted: 12/23/06 at 3:10am

Noo, wasn't that one of the new counselors he brought with him? The guy with the accent or something?

[StageManager2]

Posted: 12/23/06 at 3:12am

I vaguely remember him. Like I said, it's been a long time. Ten years, I think.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 12/23/06 at 3:13am

Christopher Walken - ENVY

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 12/23/06 at 4:28am

Nathan Lane - At First Site and Trixie.

Estelle Getty - Stop! Or my Mom Will Shoot

Johnny Depp - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Robin Williams, Kristin Chenoweth, and Jeff Daniels - RV

many others.

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 12/23/06 at 7:12am

Never diss Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or The Phantom of the Opera in my presence.

[Holly Therese]

Posted: 12/23/06 at 9:11am

I love Heavyweights! Tony Perkis Jr!

[tmm_fan]

Posted: 12/23/06 at 1:50pm

Robin Williams in House of D

Will Farell, Nicole Kidman and Michael Cain in Bewitched

Freddy Bartholomew, Spencer Tracy and Lionel Barrymore in Captain Corageous

Reese Witheraspoon in Legally Blonde 2

Diane Lane, Christopher Plummer and John Cusack in Must Love Dogs (God, that's a terrible movie; dreadful sense of timing between dialogue)

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 12/23/06 at 2:06pm

Alec Baldwin in 'The Cooler.'

[tmm_fan]

Posted: 12/23/06 at 2:12pm

Whoa... did somebody dare to diss Alec Baldwin?????

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 12/23/06 at 2:14pm

No, I said he gave a great performance in a bad movie.

[tmm_fan]

Posted: 12/23/06 at 2:16pm

lol OK I got mixed up with the other thread about bad performances in good films; my apologies

[Mattbrain]

Posted: 12/24/06 at 10:29am

Jason Isaacs in Peter Pan.

[Funny Face]

Posted: 12/24/06 at 12:58pm

I always find 101 Dalmatians rather boring when Glenn Close isn't onscreen.

[roquat]

Posted: 12/26/06 at 12:23am

Jennifer Coolidge in AMERICAN PIE, LEGALLY BLONDE 2, and FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION.

[Johnnytoc]

Posted: 12/26/06 at 12:45am

Roger Bart's the only redeeming quality to The Stepford Wives.

[dirty rotten guy]

Posted: 12/26/06 at 7:29am

Most critics considered Johnny Depp's performance the weak link in an overall excellent film in reference to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 12/26/06 at 2:31pm

99% of what Cate Blanchett does. There are only a handful of films she's been in that haven't sucked as good narratives:

Aviator
Elizabeth
Talented Mr. Ripley
Charlotte Grey
Veronica Guerin

Everything else she's done has been cliche-driven bad story-telling.

[ShbrtAlley44]

Posted: 12/26/06 at 6:43pm

David Rappaport and Clancy Brown in The Bride.