That is to say what individual performance is the farthest above the actor’s remaining body of work? What bad actor (or actress) delivered a money performance that would incline a person to think an alien with actual acting skill inhabited that actor’s body for the duration of filming?
A notable example of this is Kim Basinger in LA Confidential. Kim Basinger, who is normally the consensus of a pretty bad actress, and a barely decent actress on her best day, was great in LA Confidential, holding her own against some great actors (Crowe and Pearce) bringing their “A” game in a great film. Truly a memorable fluke performance.
But in my estimation, the ultimate example of this is Stephen FREAKING BALDWIN in The Usual Suspects. This waste of space, who his own brother Billy must see at family reunions and scoff derisively and say “Hey Stevie, good to see ya, nice actin’ chops you got workin’ *sarcastic laughter*” somehow gets cast in one of the great movies of the 1990’s, and he absolutely BRINGS IT. He shares the screen with a motivated Byrne, Spacey, Postlethwaite and an emerging Del Toro, and ends up nailing every scene in sight. He is utterly fantastic, for once in his worthless life, and for my money OWNS the best scene in the film (“There’s nothing that can’t be done”)
This performance, coupled with some career choices that could be described as “questionable” at best (“Bio Dome” springs most immediately to mind), make me wonder, but for some good career advice (and for the love of GOD staying away from Paula Shore), what might have been.
Chewers? Any other great performances from actors we all dismiss?
A notable example of this is Kim Basinger in LA Confidential. Kim Basinger, who is normally the consensus of a pretty bad actress, and a barely decent actress on her best day, was great in LA Confidential, holding her own against some great actors (Crowe and Pearce) bringing their “A” game in a great film. Truly a memorable fluke performance.
But in my estimation, the ultimate example of this is Stephen FREAKING BALDWIN in The Usual Suspects. This waste of space, who his own brother Billy must see at family reunions and scoff derisively and say “Hey Stevie, good to see ya, nice actin’ chops you got workin’ *sarcastic laughter*” somehow gets cast in one of the great movies of the 1990’s, and he absolutely BRINGS IT. He shares the screen with a motivated Byrne, Spacey, Postlethwaite and an emerging Del Toro, and ends up nailing every scene in sight. He is utterly fantastic, for once in his worthless life, and for my money OWNS the best scene in the film (“There’s nothing that can’t be done”)
This performance, coupled with some career choices that could be described as “questionable” at best (“Bio Dome” springs most immediately to mind), make me wonder, but for some good career advice (and for the love of GOD staying away from Paula Shore), what might have been.
Chewers? Any other great performances from actors we all dismiss?
