Terrible Movies Elevated By Good Acting?

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 5:36pm

My Fellow Americans is definitely one.


The way Jack Lemmon said "Did REAGAN EVER FOX TROT WITH A FRIGGIN PANDA?!?" automatically raised its status to a **1/2 film and when he said "Ahh the crust on her pizza was like a wet dream", I threw in another half a star.

[sweetestsiren]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 5:56pm

I LOVE that movie!! Lemmon and Garner were great in it. I don't think it's a terrible movie, but it wouldn't have been that good without them.

I would also have to say "Constantine" for Rachel Weisz's performance. It didn't make the movie anything approaching good, but definitely did elevate it.

[orangeskittles]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 5:57pm

Almost anything with Johnny Depp. Seriously, do you think a movie about a ride at Disney World would have made as big a splash and received Oscar nominations if he wasn't involved?

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 11/13/05 at 6:01pm

certainly not when two of the other headliners in that movie are Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley.

[broadway86]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 4:56pm

I can safely say that The Notebook wouldn't have been half as powerful without that AMAZING cast.

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 5:16pm

Boys Don't Cry. Ok, it's not terrible but I watched it again recently and it's actually not terribly interesting until the very very end and without those 3 S's (Swank, Sarsgaard and Sevigny) it would have been dire.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 8:25pm

The always underrated Elizabeth Perkins didn't exactly save MOONLIGHT AND VALENTINO...but she gave a robust tour-de-force nonetheless. She's great!

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 11/27/05 at 8:35pm

Don't just single out Perkins! Gwyneth Paltrow and Kathleen Turner are also on hand to help out.

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 11/30/05 at 5:50pm

I just thought of one. The Upside Of Anger. DEATHLY boring film, made watchable by Joan Allen's breathtakingly brilliant turn.

[EponineThenardier]

Posted: 11/30/05 at 6:23pm

Robin Hood Prince of Theives. Alan Rickman and Morgan Freeman saved that film.

[broadway86]

Posted: 11/30/05 at 7:09pm

DEATHLY boring film, made watchable by Joan Allen's breathtakingly brilliant turn.

I agree about Allen, but I TOTALLY disagree about the film.

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 7:22am

Of course you do. Your taste in films is, to say the least, VERY different to mine. But please tell me you were sat there going "he's in the back yard" for the whole movie.

[RobbO]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 8:19am

i'm sure i'll get flamed for this but....

angelina jolie in alexander. there's something about her performance that really stands out among the dreck that is alexander. (and i have absolutely no respect for ollie now that he released this "director's cut" of alexander which basically removes many "controversial" homoerotic scenes.)

[Marquise]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 8:23am

oliver stone is a sell out.
his decision to release a "director's cut" of alexander was done to appease the homophobes.
it's a prime example how many still do not accept homosexuality
to all of them i say:

WE'RE HERE. WE'RE QUEER. GET. USED. TO. IT!

[Plum]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 11:47am

To be fair, I doubt it was entirely Stone's decision. He wasn't releasing it; the studio was. They probably told him to cut down on the HoYay or they'd do it themselves.

And Taxi Driver is a loathsome screenplay elevated by great acting and direction. :)

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 11:56am

THE MORNING AFTER is a drag, but it did contain one of Jane Fonda's best perfs.

[Carl Magnum]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 12:04pm

From Hell is bad but Depp definitly makes it watchable

Flawless was crap too if not for Deniro, Hoffman and Wilson

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 2:14pm

I wouldn't say that it was terrible because it wasnt it was simply a good movie but MONSTER would not have been the must-see film of that year for me if not for Theron's bone-chilling, monumental, frighteningly perverse yet true and heart-felt performance. It was one of the best performances in the history of cinema. Roger Ebert said it and I couldnt agree more. Without her, the film would have been good but she made it phenomenal.

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 2:22pm

A friend of mine was saying that Charlize is SO good in Monster it all but pulls you out of the movie because everyone else in the cast doesn't match up. As she put it:

"That's FANTASTIC, but what the hell are you people doing?"

[lildogs]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 2:46pm

I agree about MY FELLOW AMERICANS...I would also say the same about OLD SCHOOL and MEET THE FOCKERS...

[broadway86]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 2:52pm

Of course you do. Your taste in films is, to say the least, VERY different to mine.

Is it? Not sure how to respond to that, so I'll leave it alone.

But please tell me you were sat there going "he's in the back yard" for the whole movie.

Actually, no. The first time I saw it, none of the discussions about the developments in the backyard raised any flags. Every other time I saw it, I smacked myself for not figuring it out. I still think it's a great movie.

[popcultureboy]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 2:56pm

We have different tastes in movies and appreciate different films for different things. No need to leave the comment alone at all. I didn't mean it in a nasty way, I was simply stating a fact.

[jrb_actor]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 4:30pm

My first thought was Just Like Heaven. Mark Ruffalo, in particular, raised the level of that film and made me

1. believe in the ridiculousness of events in the film

2. care about his character

I like Reese, so I think she was a part of this as well.

I agree about The Notebook--a lil dull and cliched subject matter, but the actors made that film bearable and moving.

[WOSQ]

Posted: 12/1/05 at 4:47pm

Lady Sings The Blues - Diana Ross