Slow your role: 20 actors who brought down the whole film

Ridley Scott’s Napoleon has many things that are worth celebrating. The director knows how to produce a beautiful and epic piece of cinema. But it’s marred by Joaquin Phoenix’s performance as the title character leaves much to be desired. Phoenix portrays him as spoiled, self-indulgent, and, at times, even foolish. While this is in keeping with Scott’s film and its desire to cut the dictator down to size, the performance also makes one wonder how it is that anyone would have seen fit to follow such a silly and ridiculous figure.

Rebel Moon  is definitely an ambitious project, and it is clearly something close to director Zack Snyder’s heart. While the film is very entertaining as a whole and shows the director’s ability to create big-budget spectacle, it’s really marred by Ed Skrein’s portrayal of the villainous Atticus Noble. It’s one of those roles, and one of those performances, that is just so excessive — one might even go so far as to say campy — that it’s impossible to take seriously. Whatever gravitas the movie might ever attain is ultimately stymied by a performance that is just too over-the-top.

Even though the animated version of Super Mario Bros. captures a lot of the magic of the original video games, it has to be said that Chris Pratt is simply the wrong person to voice Mario. He doesn’t have the cadences that one expects from this particular character. More to the point, there’s really no moment in the film in which one isn’t aware of the fact that this is Chris Pratt providing the voice. As a result, his performance punctures the escapism that should be one of the movie’s key appeals.

Death on the Nile has all of the sumptuousness that one expects of a Kenneth Branagh adaptation of a beloved Agatha Christie novel. However, while some parts work very well, one glaring problem is the casting of Gal Gadot as Linnet Ridgeway-Doyle, the ultimate murder victim. The role isn’t a particularly complicated one, but it does command a bit more charisma and acting prowess than Gadot is able to summon, and her delivery of the line, “enough champagne to fill the Nile” is arguably the worst in the entire film.

Jesse Eisenberg had a thankless task in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, since he not only has to contend with the heaviness of the script but also has to try to inhabit one of the most famous villains in the world of superheroes. Unfortunately, his rather twitchy performance of the tech-bro super genius never really lands. He never becomes the looming and powerful threat that he should be in a film like this one, and it’s not really possible to believe that he could ever be a real threat to someone like Superman.

There’s much to enjoy about The Devil Wears Prada , including the exchanges between Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep) and Andy Sachs (Anne Hathaway). The film’s Achilles’ Heel is Andy’s boyfriend, portrayed by Adrien Grenier. Not only is the character very annoying and a major impediment to Andy’s professional efforts, Grenier often seems to be phoning it in when it comes to his performance. Even though it’s a thankless part, the lack of dynamism in his performance is particularly glaring when held up against those of Streep and Hathaway.

Kevin Costner might be able to deliver a powerful and grabbing performance in westerns like Dances with Wolves, but he’s out of his depth in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. The film around him seems to work well enough as a retelling of one of the most famous thieves in the history of western literature. Among other things, Costner doesn’t even attempt to do an English accent, which makes him feel very incongruous in the film as a whole. He ends up bringing the whole thing down with him, and not even the enormously talented Alan Rickman is enough to save it. 

The live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast may not be the best the studio has ever produced, but it has some nice production values and makes some interesting additions to the original story. While Emma Watson was adept at portraying Hermione Granger in Harry Potter, she is remarkably stilted and not as compelling as Belle. However, the real Achilles’ heel of her performance is that she can’t sing, and the autotuning is so glaring that it ends up bringing the whole film down around her.

Even though Orlando Bloom made quite an impression in Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings, he’s very out of his depth in Kingdom of Heaven. He plays Balian of Ibelin, a young man who ends up playing a key role in the affairs of the Crusader States. Rather than an epic hero as one might expect from a film of this kind, Bloom comes across as more brooding and petulant than heroic. Even though Ridley Scott brings his remarkable directorial vision to this film, and even though it’s filled with other great performances, it can never overcome the weak performance of its central character.

Sofia Coppola might have earned many plaudits for her directorial efforts. Still, she also has the unfortunate distinction of sticking out like a sore thumb in her father’s The Godfather Part III. It’s clear from the moment she appears that acting is not her forte, and it can be quite painful to watch her stumbling through her lines. One can’t help but feel a bit sorry for the younger Copola, particularly since her performance has done a great deal to mar the film’s general reception, both at the time and in the years since it was released. 

Quentin Tarantino might be one of his generation’s most visionary and acclaimed filmmakers, but he often leaves much to be desired when it comes to his performances. This is particularly evident in Django Unchained, in which he seems to be doing some sort of Australian impression. It’s truly a baffling performance, and though the film as a whole is a remarkable.

There are many things to love about the 2012 film adaptation of Les Miserables,  but one notable exception to this is Russell Crowe’s performance as Javert. Crowe might be a great actor in most of his films, but his lack of anything even remotely resembling a singing voice makes him an odd choice for a musical. He often sticks out like a sore thumb in many of his scenes, and his deficiencies are even more glaring even when juxtaposed to the undeniable talents of Hugh Jackman. It’s a reminder of why casting actual singers in musical films is important.

Road House is one of those remakes that seem to be all the rage in Hollywood these days, but it is still elevated by Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance as Dalton, a UFC fighter who becomes the defender of a road house in Miami. Unfortunately for Gyllenhaal and the film, Conor McGregor’s performance as the enforcer is excruciating. To call it cartoonish would probably be an understatement, and it ends up distracting from what is otherwise a very serviceable remake of a classic piece of 1980s action cinema.

Blake Edwards’ Breakfast at Tiffany’s is widely considered a Hollywood classic, and it is particularly beloved thanks to Audrey Hepburn’s performance. However, another performance in this film is notable for a different reason: Mickey Roony’s Mr. Yunioshi. Though Hollywood history is filled with embarrassing incidents of racial caricature, this has to be one of the most egregious, and there are times when it threatens to bring the whole film crashing down and is, from the standpoint of the modern era, incredibly difficult to watch. 

At first glance, Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci seems to be a piercing look at the famously fraught marriage between Patrizia Reggiani and Maurizio Gucci. While it has moments of genuine dramatic heft — and more than a little camp — the whole thing is brought down by Jared Leto’s embarrassing performance as Paolo Gucci. His performance is about as stereotypical as one can possibly imagine, and there are times when it seems he’s channeling Mario from Mario Bros. than anything resembling an actual person. He seems to have helicoptered in from a different, and far campier, movie. 

Cameron Diaz is one of those actors who does very well in certain kinds of films, particularly comedies and romantic comedies. Where she doesn’t excel, however, is in period dramas. She is, when it comes down to it, woefully miscast in Gangs of New York,  the historical drama by Martin Scorsese.

Elvis is in many ways a typical Baz Luhrmann film, with frantic editing and a joyous quality to its production. While Austin Butler gives a soulful and committed performance as the title character, it’s hard to tell exactly what Tom Hanks is supposed to be doing as the sinister and manipulative Colonel Tom Parker. With his truly bizarre accent and the fat suit, he never elevates the character into anything other than a rather embarrassing stereotype. It’s the type of performance that often derails the entire film, and it renders what is otherwise a thoughtful, if exuberant biopic into something verging on camp.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald is an odd film in many ways, and it’s clearly trying to make the most out of the enduring popularity of the Harry Potter franchise. In many ways, it works, thanks in large part to the endearing performance of Eddie Redmayne as Newt Scamander. However, one glaring problem is Johnny Depp’s hammy and not very convincing performance as Gellert Grindelwald. He’s just a bit too campy to ever be as threatening as Grindelwald is supposed to be.

There are many reasons to dislike the Star Wars prequels, but arguably one of the most notable is the casting of Hayden Christensen as an older version of Anakin Skywalker in Attack of the Clones. It’s clear that he’s trying to capture some measure of the young Skywalker’s tortured psyche, but he is far too frequently little more than a petulant teenager. It’s a performance misfire that’s all the more glaring when compared to his co-stars, particularly Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor, both of whom deliver layered performances.

Keanu Reeves is an undeniably talented actor, but he has had some misfires throughout his career. Arguably, the most notable and egregious of these is Bram Stoker’s Dracula,  in which he portrays Jonathan Harker. For all of Reeves’ undeniable talent and charisma, he just feels outclassed in the role, particularly since he is surrounded by such phenomenal talents as Gary Oldman and Anthony Hopkins. It’s ultimately easy to see why Mina would prefer the dashing (if also sometimes monstrous) Count Dracula to him.