Ok, this is a kinda new discussion I've been wanting to rouse for a while now. Basically it goes like, you name performances from actors you usually can't stand/ despise/ just about bear, where they really did excellent work. I usually end up giving credit to the script and the director pulling it out, but then that could be just biased - maybe they have it in them, they've just been choosing bad roles for whatever reasons.



I'll start with a few, and carry on later, if this thread picks up..



I've said this before, one hero who can really pull out amazing performances outta very average actors otherwise is the amazing screenwriter Charlie Kaufmann - one of the most original scriptwriters in hollywood today. Pts in case :



1. Nick Cage - never been a fan, most of his movies are bullshit, but then he really excelled in the most brilliant Adaptation in both his rolls. He really fit in.



2. Jim Carrey - ah yes, I don't like him one bit, but his one really neat role in a wonderful film by the name of Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. Also Kate Winslet was pretty decent in that.



Then of course, Oliver Stone in his stoned days could pull out performances from people I would have never liked :



3. Jeniffer Lopez - ooooh yeah... she quite fit the bill in U Turn. Was Sean Penn's coolest role for me, but then he's cool anyway, so he doesn't make this list.



A lot of people in Natural Born Killers, especially :



4. Tommy Lee Jones - yes - I can't usually stand him either, so he was the perfect fit for the jail warden's role in NBK.



5. Robert Downey Jnr - I must admit I never got around to watching too many of his flicks, very few infact, but then he was brilliant in NBK. Even the new "KEWL" Robert Downey Jnr in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang didn't do much for me.



6. Val Kilmer - just a blip on this list, but I think i'll just put him on as he was half decent in Top Gun. He looks a bitch, so he could pull it off, not much credit to the direction or story here.



Will put in more as n when..



p.s. Oh yeah, more kudos for Charlie Kaufmann :



7. Cameron Diaz - really liked her in Being John Malkovich. Pretty wild role for the usual stuff she does commercially.

Also, she was pretty decent n fun in A Life Less Ordinary. Danny Boyle with the credits there!

:D

You should see Val Kilmer's performances in 'Wonderland' or 'Tombstone'.



I liked Downey Jr. in 'Wonderboys' too.

JacksRevenge Escribi�:

2. Jim Carrey - ah yes, I don't like him one bit, but his one really neat role in a wonderful film by the name of Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind. Also Kate Winslet was pretty decent in that.

I definiatly agree with you there. I can't stand him overwise but this movie totally changed the whole stereotypical view you had of him and I think he was better for it.



Charlize Thereon was absolutly a shocker in Monster. I couldn't believe it was actually her. The really made her look damn ugly and she did a pretty good job in the movie.





Also I really really can't stand Tom Cruise. MM3 is coming out soon, oh dear lord!! That reglion of his have gone straight to he's head but I do love vanilla sky though...maybe not for him, i just really enjoyed the whole movie, even though it wasn't that much of a hit with the critics or boxoffice........

Hehe, I don't mind Tom Cruise much, he's in pretty ok flicks.. nothing to write home bout, and yes, I've gotta see Vanilla Sky, heard a lot from like minded friends.



And I just can't stand Carrey's rubber faced standard set of pull my face this way pull my face that way antics. Regular everytime.

Except this brilliant Kaufman film that made him look like a real actor. And pretty decent.

I genuinely like Jim Carrey. Not all of his flicks are good, but Eternal Sunshine is one of my favourite movies and I also enjoyed him in The Truman Show.



Top Gun is a guilty pleasure of mine. I should've watched that last night, come to think....

One th springs to mind immediately is Tori Spelling - crap actress generaly, hated 90210, daddy got her most of her jobs but she was excellent in the film House of Yes.



Another one is Will Ferrell. I'm sorry, but he is not funny. But his part in the film Zoolander (ridiculous movie, but a guilty pleasure) fit the bill. His only tolerable role imo.



One actor I want to bring up is Tom Hanks. The movies he's been in weren't necessarily bad, he's not a bad actor but I just don't find him to be as great as everyone thinks him to be. He's just sort of "there". I liken him to tofu - he just sort of soaks up whatever flavor is thrown at him.

whirlygirl Escribi�:

One actor I want to bring up is Tom Hanks. The movies he's been in weren't necessarily bad, he's not a bad actor but I just don't find him to be as great as everyone thinks him to be. He's just sort of "there". I liken him to tofu - he just sort of soaks up whatever flavor is thrown at him.

Agreed wholeheartedly. Bland as all get out. Sometimes that works for him, though. Other times it doesn't.

I want Will Farrell to die in pain.

kwiddle Escribi�:

Also I really really can't stand Tom Cruise. MM3 is coming out soon, oh dear lord!! That reglion of his have gone straight to he's head but I do love vanilla sky though...maybe not for him, i just really enjoyed the whole movie, even though it wasn't that much of a hit with the critics or boxoffice........

Tom Cruise is on my shit list. I refuse to support him now.



He's in the same dingy as that asshole Mel Gibson as far as I'm concerned. Was good in some movies but lately he and Mr. Cruise can go to hell as far as I'm concerned.

whirlygirl Escribi�:

kwiddle Escribi�:

Also I really really can't stand Tom Cruise. MM3 is coming out soon, oh dear lord!! That reglion of his have gone straight to he's head but I do love vanilla sky though...maybe not for him, i just really enjoyed the whole movie, even though it wasn't that much of a hit with the critics or boxoffice........

Tom Cruise is on my shit list. I refuse to support him now.



He's in the same dingy as that asshole Mel Gibson as far as I'm concerned. Was good in some movies but lately he and Mr. Cruise can go to hell as far as I'm concerned.

SCIENTOLOGY AMBASSADOR

mX. Escribi�:

whirlygirl Escribi�:

kwiddle Escribi�:

Also I really really can't stand Tom Cruise. MM3 is coming out soon, oh dear lord!! That reglion of his have gone straight to he's head but I do love vanilla sky though...maybe not for him, i just really enjoyed the whole movie, even though it wasn't that much of a hit with the critics or boxoffice........

Tom Cruise is on my shit list. I refuse to support him now.



He's in the same dingy as that asshole Mel Gibson as far as I'm concerned. Was good in some movies but lately he and Mr. Cruise can go to hell as far as I'm concerned.

SCIENTOLOGY AMBASSADOR

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA

Totally agree on Tom Hanks this end also. Just can't stand his bullshit goody good roles.

The only guilty pleasure i had a long time back was Forrest Gump, but lookin back, he was playing a dumb retard anyway, so fit his personality.

My favourite Tom Hanks movie, sadly, is You've Got Mail. :-// I think the fact that it's on TV twice daily has affected my judgement.

Haha, another one of his goody good too good typical roles.

Decent movie, but Tom Hanks is just Tom Hanks, he's never different, the characters are written with just one mindset always.



Another guy I despise out n out is that jerk Jef Goldbum, but then he was like a friend pointed out, pretty good in just one film, The Fly, which was an amazing film no doubt.

I wanna see Tom Hanks play a seriel rapist and murderer.

I wanna see Mickey Rourke play a kindergarten teacher. :D

toomuch'stash Escribi�:

I wanna see Tom Hanks play a seriel rapist and murderer.

hahahahahahaahaha!! good one there!

he'd prolly be stammering, apologising down on his knees everytime he killed someone for the next fifteen minutes tryin to redeem his goody shoes.

tho, it is a cool idea, comin from stash. hats off. it would be a pleasant surprise, if he can pull it off, but i don't think he can kill lookin that good, not even grimace to himself at the end of the flick or something, would be too much "acting" for him.

Slipvin Escribi�:

You should see Val Kilmer's performances in 'Wonderland' or 'Tombstone'.



I liked Downey Jr. in 'Wonderboys' too.

Sorry missed that one. I have to admit I saw Wonderboys a very long time back, and don't really remember Downey Jnr in it, though I did absolutely loved the movie, and remember the young Tobey McGuire and Michael Douglas distinctly.



Another good Val Kilmer movie with Douglas was Ghost and the Darkness - quite a cinema experience - but then he still being the same stone face dude, nothing different. Just fit in decently. Douglas on the other hand did a commendable job of his role.

Val Kilmer's finest performance was Top Secret. ;)

Tom Hanks...i like him. I loved him in The Terminal - one of my guilty pleasures! Love that movie! and in Cast Away ( That's the name right ? Stuck on an island with a football as a friend ) .. that movie made me cry... :(



One of my favorite roles of all time is Jake Gyllenheal as Donnie Darko. It's superb , the whole movie is superb , but that role is just halleluja good.



I never found Jim Carrey funny. But like Kwiddle said - Eternal Sunshine totally made me look in a a different way at him. i LOVED him in that movie.



I cant stand fucking Tori Spelling. And that chick from Charmed - dunno wich one , the most bitchy looking one.