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Movie Stars That Are Not Good Actors

sheeeit

By sheeeit
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OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys

OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys 2078

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18 hours ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

Has anybody mentioned Gary Oldman yet?

It ain't white boy day.

 

Re: all the Cruise talk on his early career, I always thought he was great in this scene starting when he starts to lose it about 2 minutes.  It isn't something he really does in his other movies.  The first half isn't great.  One line that I mimic a lot is the way he says "It's over." I like how that was a simple line in the script and he's able to put such belittling amusement into it.  

 

Courtroom scene gets all the praise, but I like this one.

(watching this though makes me want to consider Demi for this thread).

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South Austin

South Austin 52521

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I know Tom Cruise isn't for everybody, but I think the knock on him is that since the early 90's it seems like he's taken on more of the action/box office blockbuster roles, and within that genre there's not a lot of range.  One notable exception is Magnolia, one of his best performances, imo.

But in the 80s and early 90s I thought he was killing it.  In addition to a Few Good Men, he showed off his acting chops in films like The Color of Money, Rain Man, and Born on the Fourth of July. 

Edited by South Austin
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Onboard 2.0

Onboard 2.0 9083

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13 minutes ago, South Austin said:

I know Tom Cruise isn't for everybody, but I think the knock on him is that since the early 90's it seems like he's taken on more of the action/box office blockbuster roles, and within that genre there's not a lot of range.  One notable exception is Magnolia, one of his best performances, imo.

But in the 80s and early 90s I thought he was killing it.  In addition to a Few Good Men, he showed off his acting chops in films like The Color of Money, Rain Man, and Born on the Fourth of July. 

The last entries for sure were some of his best work. A few good men isn't what I'd call great acting for him, he was good in the role, but his character is nothing really memorable, it's Cruise playing a lawyer.  Bacon has more range in his wire brush haircut, and Sutherland was pretty strong in his minor I'm a prick role.

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Onboard 2.0

Onboard 2.0 9083

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3 minutes ago, Underdog said:

I thought he was very good in All the right Moves.  

One actor I couldn't stand early on and he's grown on me since is Matt Dillon.  He always seemed to play the punk(and was good at it) but he's rounded out to be an excellent actor.  

I always liked Dillon. He was great in the outsiders IMO. He's played some weird roles as he's gotten older for sure. Check out the House That Jack Built for a strange serial killer movie, and role.

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83Horn

83Horn 1642

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13 hours ago, Bateshorn said:

Clint is the epitome of this thread.  i fucking love Clint.  I’ve seen all of his movies, including Bridges of Madison County. I can quote Unforgiven word for word.  But Clint’s range is tiny.  He can play a medium variety of Clint,sometimes mean, sometimes kind, sometimes charming, but it’s always Clint.  He’s no Philip Seymour Hoffman. And that’s okay. 

 

1 hour ago, Carl Spackler said:

Clint Eastwood might be my favorite actor, and I'm the first to agree that he's not a great actor by any stretch.  I'm a fan for other reasons -- the types of movies he produces and directs, the persona that he projects, etc. 

I was going to post these exact sentiments.  Clint is one of my favorite actors, but is quite limited.  The Man With No Name...even when his character has a name, such as Harry Callahan, he is still playing The Man With No Name.  It's a great character, and nobody plays it better than Clint.  He's a pretty good director, too.

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mchookem

mchookem 16337

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1 hour ago, Dbeasy said:

Brad Pitt can’t be on the list after being in Burn After Reading. I crack up every time I think about him in that movie. “Is this Osborne Cox?”

"i thought you might be worried. about the security. of your shit." 🤣🤣🤣

 

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Mileslong

Mileslong 4728

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Pacino, De Niro, Daniel Day Lewis, Hanks, DiCaprio, Denzel, Streep, Blanchett, Jodie Foster are all bad actors/actresses.  This is the bit we are doing in this thread right?
 
Hayden Christensen is probably the right answer.  Maybe Josh Hartnett. 

Hayden Christensen is so wooden, he is an affront to puppets everywhere.

First actor that came to mind was Keanu yet I always enjoy seeing him on film, can’t explain that. I agree that the main problem is his voice inflection.

A good actor that can almost make a good performance bad due to his voice alone is Kevin Costner. Every time he tries an accent it’s horrible.
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GhostOfTomJoad

GhostOfTomJoad 9339

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I wish I could remember the name of the director who said of Clint Eastwood, "his acting range is hat on or hat off" or something similar. Chef's kiss.

Cruise gets a bit of a pass in my book. He certainly had more range when younger, or more accurately took on more challenging parts. But when you're as much of an industry as he's been for 40 years it's about playing the roles that will get the financing needed for those huge productions. I wonder how many thousands of jobs his movies have created over the years? He's probably already optioned & developed his Oscar project he can turn to when he decides he wants to go out on top.

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RomaVicta

RomaVicta 29936

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On 4/20/2021 at 6:13 PM, Neonmoon said:

Oh and Scarlet Johansson has two best actor nominations because she sucks at acting so much 

Yeah. I only agree with the mob here on Will Smith who bores the shit out of me.

I also don't believe it's as easy as some of you think to lift an actor's performance out of a movie for judging with no other considerations. It's popular to say the movie stars of old weren't good actors, they just played themselves. You try to play yourself in a scripted movie. Guess what? That's acting.

You must consider two other factors as well: script and direction. It is difficult to gauge when an actor is hung out to dry by lame dialogue or an overbearing director or both. Studio scripts have to pass through the intestines of executive offices where you'll be lucky if a few intact kernels of corn are present among the dumbed-excrement that plops into the actor's hands.

Tom Cruise is excellent in movies. In that string of movies he made where he is the son of a wrongfully shamed father who he must redeem through his own excellence are schlock as far as dramatic range. The wrong guy in the lead of Top Gun or A Few Good Men (a pale reflection of The Caine Mutiny) sinks both of those movies. Top Gun becomes a Fag Fest filled with unintentional laughs. The material is that bad.

A Few Good Men would be elevated by Nicholson, but, again, the cornball motivations and habits of the lead would sink a great many leading men. 

Arguably, it takes greater skill for an actor to raise a project from schlock to something better than to inhabit a well-written role within a well-structuted drama.

 

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Don Johnson

Don Johnson 4754

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18 hours ago, mchookem said:

i have one...Bruce Willis.

definite movie star, many good movies, more than a few clunkers...but he has basically one facial expression lol. and i can't even recall...has he ever played an emotionally heavy role?

Don't y'all act like you didn't cry at the end of Armageddon.

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GhostOfTomJoad

GhostOfTomJoad 9339

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2 hours ago, HiggyBaby said:

I like all of Denzel’s movies but never think of him as a great actor. All the good actors are character actors that would never be confused for a movie star.

Civil War Army GIF by Narcissistic Abuse Rehab

 

Denzel made his bones with that scene. It burned a hole through every screen in America. And he made Russell Crowe look like a hack in 'American Gangster.' He will always deliver what is expected of him, but as others have pointed out, you have to separate the actor from the content & director.  Philadelphia has not aged well at all. The soundtrack might be the only thing that has held up (people always sleep  on Neil Young's achingly beautiful track). Tom Hanks winning the Oscar for Andy Beckett was a Hollywood layup. Laurence Fishburne as Ike Turner would have been my choice by a hair over Anthony Hopkins as Mister Stevens in Remains of the Day. 

 

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Surly Bevo

Surly Bevo 25062

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200.gif
 
Denzel made his bones with that scene. It burned a hole through every screen in America. And he made Russell Crowe look like a hack in 'American Gangster.' He will always deliver what is expected of him, but as others have pointed out, you have to separate the actor from the content & director.  Philadelphia has not aged well at all. The soundtrack might be the only thing that has held up (people always sleep  on Neil Young's achingly beautiful track). Tom Hanks winning the Oscar for Andy Beckett was a Hollywood layup. Laurence Fishburne as Ike Turner would have been my choice by a hair over Anthony Hopkins as Mister Stevens in Remains of the Day. 
 

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Onboard 2.0

Onboard 2.0 9083

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9 hours ago, GhostOfTomJoad said:

Civil War Army GIF by Narcissistic Abuse Rehab

 

Denzel made his bones with that scene. It burned a hole through every screen in America. And he made Russell Crowe look like a hack in 'American Gangster.' He will always deliver what is expected of him, but as others have pointed out, you have to separate the actor from the content & director.  Philadelphia has not aged well at all. The soundtrack might be the only thing that has held up (people always sleep  on Neil Young's achingly beautiful track). Tom Hanks winning the Oscar for Andy Beckett was a Hollywood layup. Laurence Fishburne as Ike Turner would have been my choice by a hair over Anthony Hopkins as Mister Stevens in Remains of the Day. 

 

Denzel is like Tom Hanks who's like Jimmy Stewart. He's that every man. He can play a role, and he's believable because he always seems to be so comfortable.  He's likable, and you're comfortable with him like a favorite friend or family member. 

Edited by Onboard 2.0
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Patrick Bateman

Patrick Bateman 3917

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2 hours ago, GhostOfTomJoad said:

Civil War Army GIF by Narcissistic Abuse Rehab

 

Denzel made his bones with that scene. It burned a hole through every screen in America. And he made Russell Crowe look like a hack in 'American Gangster.' He will always deliver what is expected of him, but as others have pointed out, you have to separate the actor from the content & director.  Philadelphia has not aged well at all. The soundtrack might be the only thing that has held up (people always sleep  on Neil Young's achingly beautiful track). Tom Hanks winning the Oscar for Andy Beckett was a Hollywood layup. Laurence Fishburne as Ike Turner would have been my choice by a hair over Anthony Hopkins as Mister Stevens in Remains of the Day. 

 

A Soldier's Story, Glory, Cry Freedom, Mo Better Blues, Mississippi Masala, Malcolm X, Philadelphia, Courage Under Fire, He Got Game, The Hurricane, Antwone Fisher, Man on Fire, Inside Man, American Gangster, Flight, Fences, Roman J Israel, etc.  I didn't even mention some of his bigger, more action oriented roles.  Imagine someone thinking he can't act or doesn't have range?  These people simply have poor opinions about movies.

 

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OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys

OneOfTheOutOfFocusGuys 2078

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5 hours ago, 52-80 said:

Outside of Raz al Goul in Batman, Liam Neeson is fucking terribly cast in every action role. His permanently pouty, quizzical look and persona doesn’t match action movies, and rarely match other movies either. 

His career arc is funny.  Goes from Oskar Schindler to doing Jason Bourne type roles as an old man. 

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Tom

Tom 2959

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Doesn't the OP describe most actors?  Once they get established as stars, most of the time they're hired to bring their personality and brand to the screen.  They might have more range than they show, but aren't hired to show it.  

It'd be more difficult and a much shorter thread to name actors who do have a huge range and don't always play themselves in film.  The Gary Oldmans, Daniel Day Lewises, Bryan Cranston, Christian Bale, John Lithgow, etc.

I think Dwayne Johnson is a pretty good example of the OP.  I'm not sure I believe he could show range even if he wanted to.

Liam Neeson probably still has acting range, but casting, directors, and producers know that him playing a retired cop/veteran/letter agency curmudgeon who's "too old for this shit" and is coming for vengeance and to save the day has been a successful formula since "Taken." 

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UncleSonny

UncleSonny 6573

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4 hours ago, Tom said:

It'd be more difficult and a much shorter thread to name actors who do have a huge range and don't always play themselves in film.  The Gary Oldmans, Daniel Day Lewises, Bryan Cranston, Christian Bale, John Lithgow, etc.

Joaquin Phoenix too. His characters in Gladiator, HER, the Master, Inherent Vice, and You Were Never Really Here are all pretty wildly different in what he’s asked to do and he’s always great. He’s also done the “play a really famous person in a biopic” thing and was great in that as well. 

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Wade

Wade 464

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On 4/21/2021 at 3:23 PM, sheeeit said:

This is also close to what I am using as a barometer of acting ability.  Stallone can be good in very, very simple roles with limited dialogue and limited range.  So when he is in those roles he does well.  But watch him in roles where he actually tries to act and he sucks.  Really sucks.  he is a bona fide movie star for certain but not a great actor by any stretch.

Agree Stallone is not a good actor, but he was just about perfect in Rocky.

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mr. sunshine

mr. sunshine 2827

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On 4/23/2021 at 11:16 AM, Onboard 2.0 said:

I always liked Dillon. He was great in the outsiders IMO. He's played some weird roles as he's gotten older for sure. Check out the House That Jack Built for a strange serial killer movie, and role.

I probably haven’t seen Over the Edge in 40 years but I’m about to dig around in my VHS bin 

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sheeeit

sheeeit 129

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I fucking love it that this topic has garnered so much attention. If you really want to get into what I was trying to do, watch some of these movies when you are stoned. It makes the wooden actors stand out like sore thumbs.

On someone like Clint Eastwood, he certainly has played a ton of roles that are similar. However, the criteria for this particular thread is famous actors that can’t really act.  The only way we really know that they can’t act is when they take on a roll and they’re acting is poor in it. I don’t think I have ever seen a Clint Eastwood film where I thought, wow he really just doesn’t have the ability to pull off this particular role. Based on that, I don’t think he is a good fit for this topic.
 

we have all seen movies where the acting is cringe worthy. And I’m not talking about bad movies or bad screenwriting or bad directing or anything else. You can just tell when someone can’t act in a particular role. but the great ones can be in bad movies with bad directing and bad screenwriting and yet their performance is still solid.

I keep going back to Mark Wahlberg and I apologize to him and his family for it, but he was in a movie called the Gambler.  It is actually a pretty solid movie but he is just fucking awful in it. Go watch a clip of it. There is a scene where he is a college professor talking to his class that is dialogue heavy and it is absolutely cringe worthy.

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UncleSonny

UncleSonny 6573

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2 hours ago, sheeeit said:

On someone like Clint Eastwood, he certainly has played a ton of roles that are similar. However, the criteria for this particular thread is famous actors that can’t really act.  The only way we really know that they can’t act is when they take on a roll and they’re acting is poor in it. I don’t think I have ever seen a Clint Eastwood film where I thought, wow he really just doesn’t have the ability to pull off this particular role. Based on that, I don’t think he is a good fit for this topic.

Agreed, this is a good point. I think of Sandler that way too even though he’s obviously a really different type of actor. I’ve seen some god awful Sander movies but I’ve never thought while watching them that his acting was the problem or wondered who thought he could pull that off. And when he’s stretched himself like in Uncut Gems he’s been good.

I guess she’s mostly retired now but how about Cameron Diaz? She was fine in lighter rom-com stuff but then in Gangs of New York, surrounded by incredible actors, she’s so distractingly bad. She just clearly wasn’t on the level for that part. 

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