Actors who are bigger stars than they should have been

[G0UCONN]

I like James Woods, but I realized that my two favorite movies with him, True Believer & Best Seller, were made almost thirty years ago.

I don't dislike him. I just don't get the stardom.

He was good in that HBO movie about the McMartin child abuse case.

Plus good on Family Guy...

 

[nwhoopfan]

There are any number of people in Hollywood that are such one trick ponies that I don't think they're even acting, they're just playing themself. Hugh Grant and Seth Rogen are two that I find particularly guilty of this. I even enjoy them some of the time, but not much range for them.

Sam Worthington is a guy I find fairly limited in terms of talent that was a pretty big star, at least for a while.


edited--Jason Segel is another guy that has been exactly the same character in a bunch of different roles. Again I like him sometimes, but not much variety.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Christopher Mintz-Plasse! That guy is painfully untalented. He got a hell of a lot of mileage out of his McLovin role.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Not really a big Jonah Hill fan either. I think most of the guys I'm picking on are in the same posse. There was the Brat Pack, and then the Frat Pack. What are these guys, the Stoner Pack?

 

[8893]

Not really a big Jonah Hill fan either. I think most of the guys I'm picking on are in the same posse. There was the Brat Pack, and then the Frat Pack. What are these guys, the Stoner Pack?

Jonah Hill has otherworldly swearing talent. He’s also pretty good at physical comedy imo.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Jonah Hill has otherworldly swearing talent. He’s also pretty good at physical comedy imo.

I think my favorite performance by him is a non-comedy, in a supporting role in "Money Ball."

You know what it might be? I thought "Super Bad" was tremendously overrated and overhyped. Maybe association with that flick has soured me on a bunch of people. Throw Michael Cera in that pool of limited, one trick pony actors. Cera, Hill, Mintz-Plasse and Rogen were all in that movie. Only good thing about it in my opinion was Emma Stone.

 

[dbmill]

I think my favorite performance by him is a non-comedy, in a supporting role in "Money Ball."

You know what it might be? I thought "Super Bad" was tremendously overrated and overhyped. Maybe association with that flick has soured me on a bunch of people. Throw Michael Cera in that pool of limited, one trick pony actors. Cera, Hill, Mintz-Plasse and Rogen were all in that movie. Only good thing about it in my opinion was Emma Stone.

I was about to suggest Money Ball as well. I thought Jonah Hill was good in that as well. Often you can find at least one role an actor had a good showing in that you liked. As for the previously mentioned Michael Cera, I thought he was really good in Juno.

 

[Chin Diesel]

Donald Sutherland- Indifferent on his acting but his voice is like Morgan Freeman's. You can be doing something completely away from whatever is on TV and you instantly recognize his voice.
Marky Mark- Lots of penis envy from the crowd here. Thought he was funny in Departed.
Jane Fonda- Nepotism defined. It's America, It happens.
Nicholas Cage- Agree with Nelson. Sums up this topic.
John Wick- Are these supposed to be good movies? I thought they were random, shoot 'em, grab a bucket of popcorn and tune out for a bit.

 

[Waquoit]

John Wick- Are these supposed to be good movies? I thought they were random, shoot 'em, grab a bucket of popcorn and tune out for a bit.

I think they have been "critically reevaluated".

 

[Waquoit]

I just thought of one after reading another thread - Ryan O'Neal. That loser just sucks the life out of every scene. Even the good movies he was involved in would have been better with someone else.

 

[Husky25]

James Woods was fantastic in Diggstown pretty good in The Specialist, and decent in Any Given Sunday. Average at best in pretty much everything else, including The Family Guy, where he appears in only to be made fun of.

This thread was created for Keanu Reeves and Nicolas Cage (The Rock, notwithstanding). I remember watching ConAir and Face/Off back-to-back one rainy college Saturday. That pretty much suppressed my Nic Cage appetite for the next 21 years. Small doses from there on in, though I did like him in National Treasure.

Speaking of National Treasure, I'm putting Justin Bartha in the other thread.

 

[Excalibur]

Jonah Hill has otherworldly swearing talent. He’s also pretty good at physical comedy imo.

I thought he was great in the Wolf of Wall St. as well.

 

[Excalibur]

One that stands out to me is Helen Hunt. She's been cast in some pretty major films after her TV stint -- As Good as it Gets, Pay it Forward, and Castaway come to mind. Yet she can't act worth a damn and wasn't good looking enough to make up for it.

 

[G0UCONN]

Donald Sutherland- Indifferent on his acting but his voice is like Morgan Freeman's. You can be doing something completely away from whatever is on TV and you instantly recognize his voice.
Marky Mark- Lots of penis envy from the crowd here. Thought he was funny in Departed.
Jane Fonda- Nepotism defined. It's America, It happens.
Nicholas Cage- Agree with Nelson. Sums up this topic.
John Wick- Are these supposed to be good movies? I thought they were random, shoot 'em, grab a bucket of popcorn and tune out for a bit.

John Wick are very good action revenge movies. Check them out.

 

[dbmill]

James Woods was fantastic in Diggstown pretty good in The Specialist, and decent in Any Given Sunday. Average at best in pretty much everything else, including The Family Guy, where he appears in only to be made fun of.

This thread was created for Keanu Reeves and Nicolas Cage (The Rock, notwithstanding). I remember watching ConAir and Face/Off back-to-back one rainy college Saturday. That pretty much suppressed my Nic Cage appetite for the next 21 years. Small doses from there on in, though I did like him in National Treasure.

Speaking of National Treasure, I'm putting Justin Bartha in the other thread.

Nicolas Cage is also very good playing the Kaufman twins in Adaptation. That was before all quality control was removed from what movies he would appear in.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Natalie Portman's first three films were the Professional, Heat, and Beautiful Girls. It is hard to go anywhere but down after that debut. I think she is still really good.

 

[Chin Diesel]

I think they have been "critically reevaluated".

John Wick are very good action revenge movies. Check them out.

I have no idea what "critically reevaluated" means.

I saw the second one. I'll look for the first one.

 

[storrsroars]

Sam Worthington is a guy I find fairly limited in terms of talent that was a pretty big star, at least for a while.

I just finished watching Manhunt: Unabomber on Netflix. I don't know the real backstory of the agent he played, but sheesh, across 8 episodes Worthington showed less range than John Cena. Maybe that's what the role required, but after awhile I was looking forward to seeing anyone else on screen but him.

He seems eminently replaceable. I looked at his IMDB profile and really only his role in Man on a Ledge stands out as one where I actually recall him being useful in the role.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I can't point to where Emily Browning broke out and started getting leads in big budget movies, but it happened. She has a similar problem to Sophie Turner in that her normal expression is mouth-open-stupid-face. She is distinctive looking, but there are thousands of pretty actresses. On top of that, she keeps making awful movies and yet she keeps getting more parts.

 

[meyers7]

One that stands out to me is Helen Hunt. She's been cast in some pretty major films after her TV stint -- As Good as it Gets, Pay it Forward, and Castaway come to mind. Yet she can't act worth a damn and wasn't good looking enough to make up for it.

I've always found her quite attractive. But then I do like the girl next door look. Thought she was very good in As Good As It Gets (she got an Oscar for it, so it couldn't have been that bad).

 

[Husky25]

I've always found her quite attractive. But then I do like the girl next door look. Thought she was very good in As Good As It Gets (she got an Oscar for it, so it couldn't have been that bad).

And she looked awful in that movie (Credit to the makeup dept.). Certainly a far cry from Twister or the Mad About You era.

 

[John]

I've always thought James Franco was completely over-rated and always looks like a stoner no matter what role he's in. I did like him as the stoner in Freaks & Geeks, but he's never really moved beyond that - he just tries to do different characters but he's still "the stoner guy".

 

[HuskyHawk]

Swingers and Wedding Crashers were pretty good imo.

And Dodge Ball, and Starsky and Hutch

 

[HuskyHawk]

Reeves is a star based on Point Break alone. He was also really good in Parenthood.

Mark Wahlburg ruins every movie he is in, including Boogie Nights.

Reeves was big from Bill & Ted, even before Point Break.

Totally disagree on Mark Wahlburg. The guy makes otherwise bad movies good. I like almost all of his movies. One of the most likable guys in Hollywood.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Reeves was big from Bill & Ted, even before Point Break.

Totally disagree on Mark Wahlburg. The guy makes otherwise bad movies good. I like almost all of his movies. One of the most likable guys in Hollywood.

The Other Guys could have easily sucked if not for Farrell and Wahlberg.