Great Movies Almost Ruined By A Single Performance (1 Viewer)

[Jeffrey D]

My first thought was Jack Nicholson in The Departed. I couldn’t accept his Bawston accent.

 

[Robin9]

I am not certain where this thread is going to go and how many films and performances we can come up with...

I have been thinking about a film that I only saw once, thought it was absolutely terrific, but ultimately due to a single performance, I am not in a hurry to ever watch it again.

That movie would be BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S

Mickey Rooney ruins that film with his role as Mr. Yunioshi. It's not just over-the-top bad, but it's so offensive by today's standards that I feel sorry that the performance exists on film, let alone a film of this caliber.

I am just wondering if there are any other great films out there that are almost ruined by a single performance. This was the only one I could come up with off the top of my head.

Immediately we have a problem of semantics and meanings. Many people find the characterisation done by Micky Rooney as offensive, but their objection is not to his performance but to the screenplay and intention of the writer and director. In my opinion, Micky Rooney did what he was hired to do.

Entirely different is the issue of an actor not being right for the part and weakening the film. There are numerous reasons why an actor might not be right and there are countless movies that would have been better with a different cast. In my opinion, several of these films should be re-made with more suitable actors.

 

[Thomas T]

Teresa Wright in Hitchcock's Shadow Of A Doubt. When Joseph Cotten was attempting to push her off the train, I was cheering him on!

 

[Jack P]

Tony Curtis in "Spartacus" giving us another "yonda lies da castle" performance.

Stuart Whitman in "Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines." He was a totally dislikable "hero" lead that he ended up taking me out of the movie completely.

Catherine Hicks in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home." A lot of things I didn't like about the movie but her character and performance was whiny and annoying on all levels to me.

I can handle most of the star cameos of "The Greatest Story Ever Told" but we could have done without John Wayne and Shelley Winters.

Eva Marie Saint in "Grand Prix." The best of the 60s racing movies has one slight problem in its lead because James Garner is playing a role that literally screams "This is a Steve McQueen part" all through the movie but Saint is an absolute embarrassment as Yves Montand's lover who goes over the top at the end.

 

[Worth]

I liked Holmes fine in Batman Begins. But I was happy to see the character recast for The Dark Knight. Maggie Gyllenhaal had the gravitas to play the character in that film; Katie Holmes didn't.

It's not so much a terrible performance as it is terrible casting - but I think that's true for a lot of these examples.

 

[Keith Cobby]

Audrey Hepburn in MFL.
Rex Harrison in everything (ok, except for MFL).

 

[Malcolm R]

Talking about Winona Ryder, it's not a film but she nearly ruined the first season of Stranger Things for me. I didn't seem to mind her as much in the second season.

 

[dpippel]

Even though I wouldn't classify it as a GREAT movie - Steve Railsback in Lifeforce. Yikes.

 

[Tino]

Even though I wouldn't classify it as a GREAT movie - Steve Railsback in Lifeforce. Yikes.

Waitaminnit!! It IS a great movie!! Mathilda May!

 

[Tino]

Quentin Tarantino in pretty much any film he’s directed.

 

[Bryan^H]

Easy:

Jimmy Stewart- It's a Wonderful Life

 

[mskaye]

Quentin Tarantino in pretty much any film he’s directed.

But does he RUIN the whole movie ? Pulp Fiction is hardly ruined by his scene (I actually get a kick out him in Django-his demise is pure Yosemite Sam.)

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I agree at the time I could not stand Keanu Reeves in Dracula. Now, I like the picture so much I have softened on him being in it. He's a weak point in the film, no question, and yes, not crazy about Ryder in it either but I guess in the end, they did not ruin it for me.

My choice may be a surprise for some people but in terms of good actor giving what I feel is a bad totally over the top performance...Al Pacino in Scarface. Good god, that performance is like nails on a chalkboard for me. It's like a parody. I don't really like many of the other performances in the film but Pacino, who I loved in everything up until this film, was just out of control ridiculous. He does ruin that film for me.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

I am not certain where this thread is going to go and how many films and performances we can come up with...

I have been thinking about a film that I only saw once, thought it was absolutely terrific, but ultimately due to a single performance, I am not in a hurry to ever watch it again.

That movie would be BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S

Mickey Rooney ruins that film with his role as Mr. Yunioshi. It's not just over-the-top bad, but it's so offensive by today's standards that I feel sorry that the performance exists on film, let alone a film of this caliber.

I am just wondering if there are any other great films out there that are almost ruined by a single performance. This was the only one I could come up with off the top of my head.

That's obviously a performance that would never be done today. I look at it as meant to be goofy intentionally and I believe we are not supposed to be watching it as an honest portrayal of a person but rather as an intentionally clownish Mickey Rooney. Mickey always wanted to be a scene stealer and I think he wants us to see the character as him, not as a performance of a person from another culture.

I take it as a comedy performance not one meant to insult or offend anyone. It looks horrid when you look at it in light of how things are today, but back then, they hired a comic actor to do a comic part.

 

[Winston T. Boogie]

Ryan O’Neal in Barry Lyndon

I actually like O'Neal in Barry Lyndon. He gave, what I thought, were a bunch of good performances in the 1970s. What's Up Doc?, Paper Moon, The Driver, and Lyndon I thought were all really good. Helps that I loved all those pictures as well, but I really did not think he did anything to ruin them. He's also good in The Big Bounce and I really liked him in Nickelodeon.

 

[Thomas T]

Eva Marie Saint in "Grand Prix." Saint is an absolute embarrassment as Yves Montand's lover who goes over the top at the end.

Actually, Eva Marie Saint is the best thing about the movie! Different strokes for different folks and why perhaps this post while quite interesting is an exercise in futility since we all bring our own baggage to a film.

 

[BobO'Link]

The Conqueror (1956) - John Wayne horribly miscast as Genghis Khan.

 

[Robert Crawford]

The Conqueror (1956) - John Wayne horribly miscast as Genghis Khan.

After the fact, but I bet the entire cast wished they weren't cast in that movie including the director and his film crew.

 

[mskaye]

After the fact, but I bet the entire cast wished they weren't cast in that movie including the director and his film crew

The Conqueror (1956) - John Wayne horribly miscast as Genghis Khan.

not a great movie.

 

[Robert Crawford]

After the fact, but I bet the entire cast wished they weren't cast in that movie including the director and his film crew.

I’m not trying to be funny, but that movie was filmed on a location where nuclear blasts occurred so many cast and crew members died from cancer years later.