Good Movies thanks to Casting | Page 2 | The Boneyard

Good Movies thanks to Casting

nelsonmuntz said:
Good thread idea. I will tweak it a bit and go with non-obvious actors. For example, I agree that Joe Pesci was excellent in My Cousin Vinny, but he was an obvious actor for the role. Same with Tom Hanks and Forrest Gump (although I believe he wasn't the first choice for the role). I think Robert Downey was not an obvious choice for Iron Man, and I think that casting choice was really interesting, and ultimately successful.

Two that jump to the top of my mind:

Ricardo Montalban - Khan in Star Trek II. The Star Trek franchise wasn't even a franchise, and was on life support after a lackluster Star Trek - The Motion Picture. If II flopped, there wouldn't be a III, and the studio wasn't even sure they wanted to do II. It was a ballsy choice to bet the franchise on making a feature length sequel to a single episode that broadcast 14 years earlier, with the villain a B/C level TV star whose show was widely mocked. Montalban crushed the part, and started a franchise.

Courtney Love - The People vs. Larry Flynt. I know she was basically playing herself, but I thought Love was fantastic in this movie.
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Honestly, Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes wasn't obvious either, and it also worked.
 
I've mentioned before that I am a fan of old classic movies. The one that sticks with me for casting is Charles Laughton in Ruggles of Red Gap, where he plays a British butler who's aristocratic employer loses him in a poker game to an American couple who live in a rustic western town in 1908. This wonderful comedic movie is filled with some great character actors, but it is hard to imagine it working without the great Laughton in the lead role. Laughton had a bunch of great performances, and this is certainly one of them.
 
G0UCONN said:
It would have been great anyway but Jaws with Robert Shaw as Quint was perfect.
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Do some reading on Frank Mundus, the man on whom the Quint character was based. Probably more eccentric than the fictional character.
 
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I think this thread is drifting to great casting choices vs. Movies that are good/great solely based on casting.

Brando and Nicholson were iconic in these roles but those are good movies even with a lessor actor.

Nicholson in a Few Good Men is a better example than the Shining. Without him you have Tom and Demi tryng to do who knows what. Heck, Kevin Bacon and Kevin Pollack done better job of carrying that movie.
 
HuskyHawk said:
Honestly, Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes wasn't obvious either, and it also worked.
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I think you are missing the obvious one. Iron man. Does the entire MCU happen if Jake Gyllenhall is Tony Stark? Ryan Reynolds (Green Lantern edition)?
 
SubbaBub said:
I think you are missing the obvious one. Iron man. Does the entire MCU happen if Jake Gyllenhall is Tony Stark? Ryan Reynolds (Green Lantern edition)?
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Not missing, it was mentioned. I was replying to that post.
 
8893 said:
The Shining, Jack Nicholson.
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I might agree, but I resent everything about how Kubrick destroyed the novel. I also think Nicholson hammed it up in a few parts (e.g. with Lloyd the bartender).

I wouldn't mind seeing a remake done that stays true to the ending (Halloran doesn't get axed in the gut but saves the day, and there's no stupid maze but the topiary goes ballistic, which they can now do via CGI).
 
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Rico444 said:
Dudley Moore in Arthur. John Gielgud was also fantastic, but Moore completely carried the movie.
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I thought Dudley Moore was terrible in the original. In fact, I just can't stand him as an actor, period. I actually liked the Russell Brand take on it better. Moore glorified alcoholism, while Brand's take was much more pathetic and unlikable, which made more sense. I also thought Liza Minelli was terrible for that role, in part because she is not remotely attractive enough to pull that part off, and in part because she is so annoying.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
I thought Dudley Moore was terrible in the original. In fact, I just can't stand him as an actor, period. I actually liked the Russell Brand take on it better. Moore glorified alcoholism, while Brand's take was much more pathetic and unlikable, which made more sense. I also thought Liza Minelli was terrible for that role, in part because she is not remotely attractive enough to pull that part off, and in part because she is so annoying.
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You obviously hate alcoholics. What did they do to you?
 
I feel I have to throw Jason Mewes in here in any Jay and Silent Bob movie. Because he's not acting. Therefore, irreplaceable. Discuss.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
I thought Dudley Moore was terrible in the original. In fact, I just can't stand him as an actor, period. I actually liked the Russell Brand take on it better. Moore glorified alcoholism, while Brand's take was much more pathetic and unlikable, which made more sense. I also thought Liza Minelli was terrible for that role, in part because she is not remotely attractive enough to pull that part off, and in part because she is so annoying.
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I am not a Dudley Moore fan, but there is one movie I have seen that is partly great because of him. That would be "Bedazzled" (1967), the comic retooling of the Faustian selling your soul to the devil legend. The film stars Moore and Peter Cook, who were a highly regarded British comedy team at the time, and directed by Stanley Donen, best known for movie musicals such as Singin' in the Rain. Both my wife and I love this film for all its crazy happenings. Plus, the movie features Raquel Welch as "Lust" (one of the seven deadly sins), so what's not to like?
 
So a director like Spielberg can generally pull together any sort of cast he wants including getting bigger stars for smaller roles but one of my favorite casts of his would be Munich. I usually find Eric Bana to be too dry in most roles, but he and the rest worked really well there. Catch Me If You Can was another.
 
SubbaBub said:
I think this thread is drifting to great casting choices vs. Movies that are good/great solely based on casting.

Brando and Nicholson were iconic in these roles but those are good movies even with a lessor actor.

Nicholson in a Few Good Men is a better example than the Shining. Without him you have Tom and Demi tryng to do who knows what. Heck, Kevin Bacon and Kevin Pollack done better job of carrying that movie.
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I disagree. I can't see anyone else playing Nicholson's role in The Shining; although his courtroom scene in A Few Good Men is legendary, I think Cruise was terrific (and I'm not a huge Cruise fan), and Kiefer Sutherland was excellent and essential, too. Hell, Dawson and Markinson were great.
 
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nwhoopfan said:
Billy Crudup was another good casting choice as Russell Hammond, the rock star.
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I have mixed feelings about that one. I thought he was great in the role and as the character. My problems with him are strictly the stage performances. Not believable at all on stage as a guitar hero. With Cameron Crowe, Nancy Wilson and Peter Frampton coaching the actors through that I expected more, but Crudup was the least believable on stage of the bunch. The movements and guitar positioning were all wrong.
 
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nelsonmuntz said:
I thought Dudley Moore was terrible in the original. In fact, I just can't stand him as an actor, period. I actually liked the Russell Brand take on it better. Moore glorified alcoholism, while Brand's take was much more pathetic and unlikable, which made more sense. I also thought Liza Minelli was terrible for that role, in part because she is not remotely attractive enough to pull that part off, and in part because she is so annoying.
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I thought Dudley hit a home run in "10"
 
August_West said:
I have mixed feelings about that one. I thought he was great in the role and as the character. My problems with him are strictly the stage performances. Not believable at all on stage as a guitar hero. With Cameron Crow, Nancy Wilson and Peter Frampton coaching the actors through that I expected more, but Crudup was the least believable on stage of the bunch. The movements and guitar positioning were all wrong.
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I'm a big Crudup fan. Guitar playing aside, I thought he carried the movie. Also terrific as Dr. Manhattan.

I also thought Hudson was horrible in it. Overacted the entire movie. Hard to get why everyone was into her.

Lots or other great performances in it as well. PSH was great, as were Fairuza Balk, Fugit, McDormand, Deschanel, and the entire Stillwater band. Even Jimmy Fallon didn't suck.
 
8893 said:
I disagree. I can't see anyone else playing Nicholson's role in The Shining; although his courtroom scene in A Few Good Men is legendary, I think Cruise was terrific (and I'm not a huge Cruise fan), and Kiefer Sutherland was excellent and essential, too. Hell, Dawson and Markinson were great.
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I agree, and that's simply a really good play/movie script. Nicholson vaulted the thing into legendary status with the lunch & courtroom scenes, but otherwise still very good. Demi Moore was the only casting misstep, she was more pretty than smart and the latter is what she was supposed to do in the movie.
 
SubbaBub said:
I'm a big Crudup fan. Guitar playing aside, I thought he carried the movie. Also terrific as Dr. Manhattan.

I also thought Hudson was horrible in it. Overacted the entire movie. Hard to get why everyone was into her.

Lots or other great performances in it as well. PSH was great, as were Fairuza Balk, Fugit, McDormand, Deschanel, and the entire Stillwater band. Even Jimmy Fallon didn't suck.
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The key to the Penny Lane role was that she was obviously acting, overhyping everything that wasn't necessarily real to keep the party going + she was very pretty (you have to get that... why do you think she was on the damn poster?!) & innocent looking so we all bought it (lynchpin is we could all feel the William Miller aspirational crush). Every single movie role since proves BOTH that she's not a good actress and it was perfect casting
 
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Dogdeacon said:
Wow! More please. Did he call your wife and tell her you were bringing home stripers for dinner?
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I was in my late teens. It was my father, brothers and I and a couple of my dads friends.. On his charter boat. Pretty uneventful day. Went Mako fishing, didnt get a sniff of a Mako all day. Hooked a couple blue dogs. He was colorful, but at that point seemed burned out on people expecting him to be quint.
 
August_West said:
I was in my late teens. It was my father, brothers and I and a couple of my dads friends.. On his charter boat. Pretty uneventful day. Went Mako fishing, didnt get a sniff of a Mako all day. Hooked a couple blue dogs. He was colorful, but at that point seemed burned out on people expecting him to be quint.
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I believe that he's the guy who landed the largest Great White ever caught on a rod and reel, off of Montauk.
 
August_West said:
I have mixed feelings about that one. I thought he was great in the role and as the character. My problems with him are strictly the stage performances. Not believable at all on stage as a guitar hero. With Cameron Crowe, Nancy Wilson and Peter Frampton coaching the actors through that I expected more, but Crudup was the least believable on stage of the bunch. The movements and guitar positioning were all wrong.
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Anyone can shine next to Jason Lee. Eric Roberts is the UConn Women's Basketball Team of bad acting and Jason Lee might be distant, but he is #2 in the coaches poll.

Beautiful Girls was a standup double, but there is no way it could have been better (and probably much worse) without Timothy Hutton, Noah Emmerich, Natalie Portman, Matt Dillon, and especially Michael Rappaport ("Alcoholic high school buddy s-hi-t for brains") Though it was obvious that most of the actors were older than the 28-ish age frame for which they were cast (10th year high school reunion) and Rosie O'Donnell acted like my mother, who was approaching 50 at the time. Her role could have been filled by a Janeane Garofalo type, but that would have further type-cast her in her Truth About Cats and Dogs and Bye, Bye Love roles. It also would have necessitated a change to the Andera character. I don't normally have a high opinion of Uma Thurman in the looks department, who was also in Truth About Cats and Dogs, but she pulls off the working-class 9 nicely and Annabeth Gish is every bit the "good solid seven and a half" as Willie describes her. The personalities written for these two characters make the actresses more attractive than their looks alone.
 
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Dogdeacon said:
I agree, and that's simply a really good play/movie script. Nicholson vaulted the thing into legendary status with the lunch & courtroom scenes, but otherwise still very good. Demi Moore was the only casting misstep, she was more pretty than smart and the latter is what she was supposed to do in the movie.
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The Real Villain of “A Few Good Men”
 
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