Actors who were great in one thing but terrible in everything else
- Thread starter Squarehard
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Thread has some strange takes. My go to for this is definitely Adam sandler and not for uncut gems (which I think is pretty overrated, though he's fine). It's this:
And even this film just more knows how to use Sandler appropriately.
this thread is really about great scripts overcoming merely competent if charismatic actors.
And even this film just more knows how to use Sandler appropriately.
this thread is really about great scripts overcoming merely competent if charismatic actors.
I note you wrote "I have seen him in" - have you seen adaptation?
Nicolas Cage's only good role (H. I. McDunnough from Raising Arizona.) He is absolutely terrible in everything else that I have seen him in.
Blade Runner?
The reason, I think, is he was almost too good in that. But to think of it, I dig the guy in most his movies. Crazy stupid love, Little miss sunshine, Foxcatcher, Seeking a friend..., The Big Short.
I mean he has an aura and routines, but he is able to pull certain roles very well.
I think the problem is not many terrible actors have a stand out role. There are certainly a lot of "ok" actors who have a couple noteworthy performances and manage to hang in there.Thread has some strange takes. My go to for this is definitely Adam sandler and not for uncut gems (which I think is pretty overrated, though he's fine). It's this:
And even this film just more knows how to use Sandler appropriately.
this thread is really about great scripts overcoming merely competent if charismatic actors.
I note you wrote "I have seen him in" - have you seen adaptation?
Blade Runner?
Stallone was good as Rocky but he was a shit actor in every other film he did. Except maybe Copland and Cliffhanger.
The only role in which Jai Courtney really shined was Varro in Spartacus: Blood and Sand.
I wouldn't call him terrible otherwise, just kinda plain.
I wouldn't call him terrible otherwise, just kinda plain.
Everyone in James Cameron movies
Edit: Sorry all. I some how interpreted the title as not really doing anything else after James Cameron, but even then was being hyperbolic. All around this was a bad take. Examples in my head of people that were under utilized after Cameron were Linda Hamilton Michael Biehn and Edward Furlong.
Edit: Sorry all. I some how interpreted the title as not really doing anything else after James Cameron, but even then was being hyperbolic. All around this was a bad take. Examples in my head of people that were under utilized after Cameron were Linda Hamilton Michael Biehn and Edward Furlong.
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Harrison Ford was good in Star Wars too. Come on, people. He doesn't belong in this thread.
BTW, he doesn't have to be as impressively complex as Mark Hamill in TLJ to be considered good. He perfectly embodies Han Solo. It's not a role that calls for Daniel Day-Lewis's acting chops, and that's perfectly fine.
Brent Spiner as Data on Star Trek TNG, he was only good in that role and only in that specific role, he also played Lore, Soong, various holodeck characters in A Fistful of Datas and a bunch of different personalities in Masks and they were all various kinds of bad with Lore being the least bad one but was a kind of moustache twirling villain.
Then in the movies they gave Data emotions and he started sucking as Data too, every time Data showed emotions it was just awkward.
Outside of Star Trek he never did anything impressive.
Cera is the worst part of Scott Pilgrim by several country miles. The whole movie doesn't work because of him, really.
A lot of good and a lot of bad choices in the thread. I would add Jason Sudeikis, whom I absolutely loathe, but who was good enough in Colossal. Maybe great would be an overstatement, but it's a really well turn by an actor that I hate
It honestly is surreal how incredible Jon Hamm was Mad Men and how completely unremarkable his career outside of it is. I always get excited for a moment when he shows up in any film and then immediately disappointed.
That's an idiotic take, unless you honestly think DiCaprio and Winslet peaked with Titanic
It honestly is surreal how incredible Jon Hamm was Mad Men and how completely unremarkable his career outside of it is. I always get excited for a moment when he shows up in any film and then immediately disappointed.
That's an idiotic take, unless you honestly think DiCaprio and Winslet peaked with Titanic
Paul Dano detractors also need to watch Love & Mercy.
My suggested actor for this thread would be Steven Seagal... what else has he done that was decent aside from Under Siege?
I'll also second the suggestion of Jesse Eisenberg... although casting him to play Zuckerberg was inspired.
This was a cool topic/thread but then I read through it and all these god awful takes/responses and I just don't have it in me to respond to all of them. There is a few good choices in the thread but not many.
I haven't seen Miles Teller have a good role in anything other Whiplash.
This is my vote as well.
You literally named two movies when the title of the thread says 1.
Is Charlie Hunnam good in anything besides The Lost City of Z? I've seen him listed alongside the likes of Taylor Kitsch and Sam Worthington as a prime example of the typical Hollywood mediocre white guy so he might fit the bill cause he's definitely fucking great in Z. I've only seen him in Pacific Rim besides that and he's pretty forgettable there.
I think it's because he tries to play out of type, which is admirable, since he's an actor and doesn't want to be pigeonholed. But, he was perfect as a sniveling, underachieving underling in organized crime.
Michael Imperioli was pretty great in The Sopranos, but for some reason, just couldn't get going in anything else thereafter. Every work he was associated with after, it was just pretty awful.
Hell no. Kick-Ass alone proves that Cage has the goods whenever he's used appropriately.
Nicolas Cage's only good role (H. I. McDunnough from Raising Arizona.) He is absolutely terrible in everything else that I have seen him in.
Uh, what? Wilder was brilliant in just about every film he was in. Stir Crazy. Silver Streak. Young Frankenstein.
Saying this when Young Frankenstein is a thing should be a crime.
Too often when people think they are judging acting, they are actually judging writing.
That being said, Mark Wahlberg was the first person I thought of for this thread, but he has a few amazing performances (Boogie Nights, I <3 Huckabees, We Own the Night, specifically) among his catalogue of poop.
What a doofus.
he was well received in several recent movies (patriot day, deep water horizon).
also really liked him in the departed and fighter
Malon Wayans in Requiem for a Dream.
Very, very wrong. Nicolas Cage is often goofy, but when he wants to he can be legit great.
Nicolas Cage's only good role (H. I. McDunnough from Raising Arizona.) He is absolutely terrible in everything else that I have seen him in.
Just watch:
Leaving Las Vegas
Wild at Heart
Bringing Out the Dead
Adaptation. (his magnum opus IMO)
Matchstick Men
The Weather Man
Mandy
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
The Specular NowI haven't seen Miles Teller have a good role in anything other Whiplash.
War Dogs
Thank you for your service
Only the Brave
He good in the gentleman, pacific rim, sons of anarchy, crimson peak, children of men
It's just voice work but he was fantastic in Where the Wild Things Are. And he played the warden in that one movie where Robert Redford was imprisoned in a military prison to perfection.
Let's be honest, that was an entirely undeserved Oscar. She was carried through by Billy Bob Thorton, crazy though he was. Terrible performance by her.
