I have a theory, that although there are bad, even awful movies featuring Gene Hackman, there are no movies featuring a bad or awful Gene Hackman performance.

Even his two most suspect films "Superman IV" and "Heartbreakers" are still roles where he never phoned it in and in the latter, is the only memorable part of the movie.

I'll have to disagree with that...



As for the question at hand, I can't recall a bad performance, although I haven't seen Welcome to Mooseport...

Hackman is one of my all-time favorite actors. I put him in the same league as DeNiro who can play a villan as well as a good guy and make the character beliveable.

I think you might be right. I can't think of a bad Gene Hackman performance. Was "Welcome to Mooseport" a bad performance? I never saw it but since it's his last acting performance, it would be kinda funny if he wasn't good in it.

The fact that any movie starring Gene Hackman can be worth watching solely to see him act should answer that question.

I still can't fucking believe he went out on Mooseport, though.

Kind of like Robert Duvall.

I can't think of a bad performance by him....but one thing I know is he was never a movie star!!

I saw him as a bomber bent on revenge in the old Cosby and Culp 'I Spy' TV series episode 'Happy Birthday to Everybody' the other night, he was magnetic even in that. He made it into film just after that and the rest is history.

His above the title credits in Superman and Superman II would like to have a word with you.

He's so good he even gave a good performance when he showed up on "Diners, Drive-ins & Dives."

He is my favorite actor, but I remember either a Siskel & Ebert review, or Lyons & Gabler review of Target, which I haven't seen in a while, they were tearing the film apart, they showed a clip of a dinner table scene between him & Matt Dillon as an example, and it was really bad...

He made "Mooseport" tolerable.

What about this guy? His name is featured pretty prominently here...but still not a movie star?

Nope. Just a geek star.

Yes, he was AWFUL in this:

Yes, Loose Cannons is the only movie I thought of with a terrible Hackman performance.

I nominate A Bridge Too Far, a film full of bad performances including some terrible shit from Robert Redford and Elliot Gould. Hackman's role as a Polish paratropper fighting with the allies is a good character, but he does a rediculous accent, barks all of his lines, and has almost no funciton in the story.

Mostly he is great, even in many bad films, but looking at his filmography he's made a ton films I haven't seen that sure sound like shit: Lucky Lady from 1975 directed by Stanley Donen sure sounds like a forgoten piece of shit. I'm sure there are several bad performances by him out there but the films are long forgoten.

Has anyone seen Full Moon in Blue Water? I've never seen it but I remember the trailers were dreadful and it has a reputation as being a complete disaster. Is Hackman actually good in it?

I love Full Moon in Blue Water. It feels more like a play than a film, but it is a sweet, fun movie, if you tell yourself that is all it is supposed to be. Great cast, I never understood the panning of the film.

Lucky Lady is a mess, but also somewhat enjoyable.

He was absolutely great in The Birdcage, if you're interested in a lesser-known, fairly recent movie.

The late 80's/early 90's were not kind to Hackman.

I would nominate Marooned, a 1969 chestnut starring Gregory Peck. It's about a 3 man astronaut mission that get's stuck in space. Hackman plays the emotionally weak, headed to a nervous breakdown space voyager. It's got a really solid cast, including three future or then Oscar winners (Peck, Hackman and Lee Grant) but it's really a bit goofy and not as profound as it should have been. Hackman's cuckoo-cuckoo scene is over the top and the main reason I include it here. But I think it's more wrong-headed than Hackman forgetting how to act or phoning it in. The script and director usually play a part in situations like that.

Aside from literally a number of performances that you can count on one hand, Hackman has been an actor's actor throughout his career.

Hackman has a new novel coming out.

http://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-...001314382.html

'funny...I thought Hackman's performance was one of the best in the film. The other performances were good (especially Crenna) but more of the stiff-upper-lip variety. I thought Hackman's character was someone to whom the audience could relate if they were in a similar situation rather than the cool, professional approach that might be more expected. Different strokes.

I thought his performance in Behind Enemy Lines was totally phoned in. Just felt like he was going through the motions.

Behind Enemy Lines