Surprisingly good performances in film

Vanillaphant · Nov 10, 2017

Hello, hello!

Ever been surprised by the quality of an actor’s performance in a film? Maybe someone you hadn’t rated suddenly came up with the goods? Or instances of “unusual” casting proving fruitful? You know where you’re thinking, “Oh no… Why would they cast him/her in this kind of a role? They’re obviously not up to it. This is gonna be terrible. Why am I even – Oh actually, this is pretty good!” lol

I watched The Lobster recently. Pretty weird film. A good one though, IMO. One could loosely describe it as a romantic black comedy. Colin Farrell’s in it. I’m not saying he does anything amazing, but his performance certainly took me by surprise: understated, subtly comedic. And I just thought, “Well I’ll be darned… I didn’t know he had it in him!” lol

Anyone?

TMF Jeff · Nov 10, 2017

I agree about Colin Ferrel in The Lobster, he gave a surprisingly good performance - subtle and layered.

I'd also say Sylvester Stallone in Copland, where he put on a bunch of weight and played a beat-down loser.

Vanillaphant · Nov 11, 2017

TMF Jeff said:
I'd also say Sylvester Stallone in Copland, where he put on a bunch of weight and played a beat-down loser.

Must have been a good performance for him to have held his own acting with De Niro and Keitel!

b0xr · Nov 12, 2017

I would say Marisa Tomei as Mona Lisa Vito in My Cousin Vinny. She won the Oscar for that role and then went on to more juicy roles such as Cassidy in The Wrestler. She's obviously also a gorgeous woman.

Laughthirsty Lr · Nov 12, 2017

b0xr said:
I would say Marisa Tomei as Mona Lisa Vito in My Cousin Vinny. She won the Oscar for that role and then went on to more juicy roles such as Cassidy in The Wrestler. She's obviously also a gorgeous woman.

My Cousin Vinny was great and she was so cool in it. I liked how the judge and prosecutor where mesmerized by her knowledge of cars. And you're right. Marisa Tomei is a lovely woman. I can still remember when she was on the sitcom, A Different World. She was so cute and funny on that show.

BlasterMaster · Nov 15, 2017

I loved John Candy as an actor. He could be seriously sad, completely hilarious, and even downright intimidating/angry when he wanted to be.

Others include Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, John Travolta, Jeff Goldbloom, and a few others I can't name off the top of my head right now.

Laughthirsty Lr · Nov 15, 2017

Yeah, John Candy was a cool dude. Murray and Aykroyd are funny guys too. I also like Jeff Goldbloom. He was great in "The Fly".

Fat Bastard · Nov 15, 2017

Vanillaphant said:
I’m not saying he does anything amazing, but his performance certainly took me by surprise: understated, subtly comedic. And I just thought, “Well I’ll be darned… I didn’t know he had it in him!” lol

That same thought came to mind for his performance in "Ondine".

Vanillaphant · Nov 15, 2017

Fat Bastard said:
That same thought came to mind for his performance in "Ondine".

Haven't seen that one. Maybe he's a better actor than I thought and it's just that I tend to associate him with a certain type of film that I'm not keen on. :shrug:

Surprisingly good performances in film

Vanillaphant

TMF Master

TMF Jeff

TMF owner and co-founder

Vanillaphant

TMF Master

b0xr

2nd Level Red Feather

Laughthirsty Lr

TMF Regular

BlasterMaster

1st Level Yellow Feather

Laughthirsty Lr

TMF Regular

Fat Bastard

1st Level Orange Feather

Vanillaphant

TMF Master