Kermode Uncut: Great Acting in Bad Films

last week to celebrate the opening of Madonna's new film w/e I did a blog saying what's the best performance in the worst film you've ever seen because Andrea Riseborough is great but w/e is a real clunker of a movie there have been loads of responses from you get to them in a minute several of you have also posed what you think is a rather more interesting question which I will get to at the end of this blog so firstly best performances in worst films this frumpy buggy Gary Oldman in the Matthew mahogany Kate Beckinsale straight to the bin film tiptoes now this is interesting as tiptoes was described to me by the director Matthew bright when he was making it and he tried to tell me all about you know the plot which was basically the Gary Oldman is Matthew mahogany's brother and he described it in very um PC terms as the dwarf love story movie according to this he's very good in the role described on the DVD as the role of a lifetime but since that role is effectively him walking around on his knees what you end up with is pretty grotesque and a truly bizarre film the presence of the reliably brilliant Peter Dinklage as an estranged relative serves to make the casting decision even more bizarre I read the IMDB and one that if it was a joke I've now seen it and I'm still not convinced that it exists well when Gary Oldman came on the radio first show I asked him about it and he said he hasn't seen it either and when I was doing my recent book tour not one but two people gave me DVD copies of tiptoes and I have to confess they're sitting in my house and I'm scared to watch them but I am reliably informed that Gary Oldman is the head of the pack for best performance in the worst film ever there were in fact loads of votes for Gary Oldman being great in bad movies as indeed there were for Paul Bettany here just some examples from Claire Paul Bettany superb performance means that I've sat through The Da Vinci Code about five times even though it's terrible this from morgue I know it's been raised several times already but Paul Bettany is undoubtedly the best actor to ever appear in virtually every single bad movie of the last decade I mean seriously what has he done to annoy every casting director in Hollywood to the point that he only ends up in rubbish films such as Wimbledon Da Vinci Code Priest the list could go on now I have to say I disagree I think Bethenny's done some really really great movies I would refer you for example to gangster number one in which he's absolutely fabulous but I do also agree that there are several clunking Li terrible films which I have watched more than once because Paul Bettany Xin them here's another name that just kept popping up Christopher Walken has been brilliant in more bad movies than any other actor says Little Big John personally I'd go for communion the one about how the writer Whitley Strieber discovered that he'd been abducted by space aliens a scarlet red right sir Michael Sheen was great in Tron yes he was film was a total stinker from Jordan Sam Riley in Brighton Rock rubbish film but great performance by him and as you pointed out Andrea Riseborough Huey Dewey and Louie Andy Garcia in the Godfather Part three and I know I shouldn't do this I'm one of the few people that thinks that The Godfather Part three is nothing like as bad as everybody else's I know it's not great but I actually rather liked it now here's one that's very close to my heart this from her saying Emma Thompson in Love Actually to be honest she's wonderful in everything and was the heart and soul of that film I completely agree the moment in the bedroom when she cries broke my heart and it's no surprise that it's the scene that everyone remembers you completely bang on the money there this room Pete giggles my favourite example of a thesp riding to the rescue has to be Peter O'Toole in Troy his commitment never lets up even when faced with the insurmountable obstacle of Orlando Bloom Arthur Burke writes it's always been a mystery to me how malcolm mcdowell managed such a good performance as Caligula considering everything that was going on around him I completely agree I think he's great in Caligula as of course is Peter O'Toole the movie itself is a complete mess although somewhere in there I think there is a good movie struggling to get out of course if you listen to Malcolm Adele's commentary on the DVD of Caligula it came out a few years ago it begins as the titles come up we hear Malcolm at the hells voice going oh my god now here's another popular choice this post from Ghostface I really love David Lynch and it pains me to say this but I hated Inland Empire it's like he deliberately set out to make the most dull painful pretentious movie imaginable just because he could however Laura Dern is outstanding in a number of you wrote in to say absolutely you can't stand Inland Empire but you really thought Laura Dern was fabulous remember that when David Lynch was campaigning for Laura Dern to be oscar-nominated for that film he campaigned by taking a cow onto Sunset Boulevard for reasons which remain shall we say enigmatic moving on this from cinephile spoilers I've been outspoken about my hatred for Lars von Trier's last two films Antichrist and melancholia both which I like in study but Charlotte Gainsbourg was excellent in both Willem Dafoe was also great in the former and this from film pundit like you mister Kermode I thought von Trier's breaking the waves was a weak movie I hate that film but Emily Watson's performance is beyond stunning I completely agree I think that that may be the definitive best performance by an actress in the worst movie a couple of last comments from this thread firstly thanks very much to Megan a for being the only person to have the guts to write in and say I actually really liked w/e I know I'm sure I'm wrong cuz you know best but I had such low expectations going in to see it I was blown away by how much it didn't suck I got free tickets to see it early and I asked all my friends to go and see it but since it was a movie by Madonna no one would thanks also to Cornish Amy for this which I love I might be alone in this but the clip from w/e used on your own simon's radio show in which Edward said that he would abdicate and Wallace said that she would be reviled had me thinking chubby hmm all of which brings me to your question a number of you posted say yes yes yes it's all very well saying what's the best performance in the worst movie a more interesting question however will be what's the worst performance in the best movie so your homework for this week what's the worst performance you've ever seen in the best movie you've seen and I'll start the ball rolling with something which I think will be very hard to top Julian Sands in leaving Las Vegas

Channel: kermodeandmayo

Views: 354,609

Rating: 4.8815913 out of 5

Keywords: Mark Kermode, FIlm reviews

Id: n52z9Vc9XHA

Length: 6min 27sec (387 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 27 2012