Most overrated actors/actresses.
Submitted by Bobo LaTuque on Thu, 10/21/2004 - 01:26
Tags:
- 10. Barbara Stanwyck. Why was she ever given any roles? She was always unpleasant to watch.
- 9. Ernest Borgnine. Another one who almost always played an unpleasant character. EXCEPTION: As the voice of "Mermaid Man" on Spongebob Squarepants. His best role.
- 8. Charlton Heston. Wooden, dull, ponderous.
- 7. Jack Nicholson. Just a walking self-parody. Hasn't had a good part since Chinatown.
- 6. Al Pacino. Not really a bad actor, but directors allow him far too much leeway and he just chews up the scenery and spits out pap. Scarface: Laughably horrible or horribly laughable? Scent of a Woman: "Hooah" is the sound of someone vomiting as he watches this one.
- 5. Marlon Brando. His only good role was as Vito Corleone; everything else was self-absorbed, pretentious crap.
- 4. Robert De Niro. Plays the same character over and over, just doesn't realize it. Last good role was Vito Corleone... hmmm.
- 3. Julia Roberts. She's not actually a bad actress, but pretty she ain't! She is one of the homeliest women in Hollywood. BEST ROLE: Alice Sutton in Conspiracy Theory.
- 2. Jack Lemmon. Used to be first on my list. I am still agog when this guy is spoken of so highly. If you were watching a Jack Lemmon movie, you could be sure at least one character (his) would be supremely annoying and unfunny, especially in his incredibly depressing so-called "comedies". Just want to heave a brick through the screen anytime he's on it. EXCEPTION: His role as Jack Godell in China Syndrome was the best part of the movie.
- 1. Johnny Depp. Why does anyone hire this guy? This rat-faced little creep couldn't act himself out of a restaurant that just served him a deep-fried kitten with a fly on it. As for his part in Chocolat, he was obviously only in it to provide the de rigueur American presence so it could play in the U.S.A. Almost ANYONE else would have been better in the part. A cardboard cutout (not even necessarily life-size) would have been at least as good. Was his ludicrous slurring in Pirates of the Caribbean supposed to be an "accent"? BEST ROLE: Mort Rainey in "Secret Window". Not a great movie, and terrible hairdo, but he wasn't actually too bad in this one.
Author Comments:
To be fair, even some of those actors whom I hate have had good roles from time to time, and I have noted that where warranted. I could come up with more, but this is my top-ten most-hated list.
My list, my opinion. Of course.
Great list!
(even if I disagree with most of it :-)
Stanwyck in The Lady Eve is the best one-movie refutation I can come up with. Loved her in that. I remember Borgnine playing likeable characters, but then again I grew up watching that show where he played the mechanic for that superplane, can't remember the name of it. Heston - Amen, baby. Nicholson has managed to get better roles than peers De Niro or Pacino. I agree on Brando, although it embarrasses me. I do think he was good in Streetcar Named Desire though. De Niro should retire. I don't think I'd go so far as to call Roberts "homely", but to each his own. Lemmon: too many good roles to list (IMO, of course), and Depp is the real deal, for his Burton movies alone, but for plenty of others also.
Again, love the list! Next you need to make an overrated movies list.
Hi Jim:
Thanks for the response. OK, couple of admissions- I tend to overstate my case at times. I haven't seen The Lady Eve yet, so Stanwyck might posthumously redeem herself (I detested Katherine Hepburn in general but liked her in The Philadelphia Story) ; to me, Borgnine was the quintessential stereotypical "ugly American"- loud, fat, obnoxious, ignorant; Julia Roberts isn't actually ugly, but when she smiles I want to gouge my eyes out (dang, still overstating my case). I know, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder", etc.
Depp: "the real deal"? GAK! Depp, along with Jodie Foster, can be seen studiously ignoring the camera. He knows the camera's there; the camera knows he's there; he knows the camera knows he's there, I know that he knows that... I couldn't even watch more than 30 minutes of Edward Scissorhands, and by the time I hit rewind I was actually angry at the idiocy of the film. Anyway, I'm not a real big Burton fan to begin with.
Thanks again for the response.
"Bobo LaTuque"
New Brunswick
Canada
Very interesting, I've never noticed Depp "studiously ignore the camera", so I'll have to watch for that next time. I can certainly see where such behavior, if noticed, would make it impossible to get lost in the story.
I should have defended Lemmon a bit more in my last post: I thought he was excellent in Mister Roberts, Some Like it Hot, and Glengarry Glen Ross. On the other hand, I can see where he might grate on some folks. Something in the tone of his voice. Happily he doesn't have that affect on me.
Oh, do check out The Lady Eve. It's a keeper. I'd be curious to hear your thoughts, especially given your Stanwyck stance.
- Concerning Charlton Heston: He IS wooden, dull and ponderous. By the way, have you seen 'Bowling for Columbine'?
- Ernest Borgnine and Julia Roberts: OK
- Barbara Stanwyck: Not OK.
- Johnny Depp: ditto
- Jack Nicholson: Nicholson, a self-parody? No good part since Chinatown? Come on, what about 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' or 'The Shining'. Btw, you are not the only one who does not like him. I know many other people who can't stand him.
- Al Pacino: Together with Jack Nicholson one of the best American actors still alive.
- Marlon Brando: He was surely a great actor, but by far not my favourite.
- Robert De Niro: OK, you are right: he always plays the same character. He is one of those actors you like or dislike.
- Jack Lemmon: Ever seen 'The Apartment'? A great film with a great Jack Lemmon. And together with Walter Matthau he was just hilarious.
Nevertheless, a cool and, above all, extraordinary list. ;-)
P.S.: I am really pleased to see that you like Sir Alec Guinness very much. So do I.
Hi: Thanks for the response.
I have seen "Bowling for Columbine" and actually thought Heston had more credibility than Moore; especially after learning how Moore manipulated Heston's speeches at the NRA meeting(s).
Barbara Stanwyck: I've just always hated her. Can't stand to look at her or listen to her. What's left?
Johnny Depp: To tell the truth, I cannot understand why this guy is so well liked. He is, at best, an average Hollywood actor, and his pinched rat-face is rather repellant. Is it just me?
Jack Nicholson: I didn't particularly care for him in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (although I will admit it was a good role), and I hated what Kubrick did to The Shining so much (he totally eviscerated the soul of King's novel and made Tad's "shining" gift irrelevant by killing off Scatman Crother's character, etc.), that even if Nicholson did turn in a good performance, I was prejudiced against it.
Al Pacino: I like Al Pacino, I just think some directors give him too much freedom to overact, which he takes whenever he can. He was great as Michael Corleone and in Donny Brasco as Ben "Lefty" Ruggiero and in other things; but Scarface, Scent Of a Woman and a couple of others that don't readily spring to mind were horrible. Truly horrible to watch, because of Pacino, or rather, because the director allowed him free reign.
Marlon Brando: One of my most detested actors. Aside from Vito Corleone, I have never seen him in a role in which I thought "Dang, he's good!". Great actor? Maybe, but you'll never be able to prove it to me! :)
Jack Lemmon: The Apartment is precisely one of the Lemmon movies I hate the most! I really don't care what anyone else thinks about it, it is depressing, and Lemmon is supremely annoying. In almost all his supposed "comedies", Jack Lemmon is simply grating, overwrought and depressing. Nope. Sorry, but I will always be convinced he has been one of the most overrated actors in Hollywood history.
Anyway, these lists are, for the most part, just personal opinion after all. As to Guinness, I am expecting delivery of "The Alec Guinness Collection" from BBC Canada this week. Can't wait!