what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

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perfection.

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

I really enjoyed Will Ferrell's performance in Everything Must Go.

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

Jean Claude Van Damme in the movie Bloodsport. The last scene which he was maliciously blinded and he started crying, confused and lost knowing so much is at stake. Then the dramatic symphony music coupled with the crowds chants. Van Damme screaming his heart and lungs out you can feel the emotional presence. The pain the agony of near defeat.

Shocked he didn't win an Oscar for his great and natural performance.

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

Clark Gable in The Misfits.

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

The end of that movie, when he went to visit Ogre from Revenge of the Nerds in the hospital & said 'I love you, my friend", I swear, it had me in tears.

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

Rubbish. Denny Crane is the man.

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

Jean-Claude Van Damme in JCVD. JCVD was my #2 movie of 2008.

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

That scene was very moving!

(rotfl)

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

Since when has JCVD been a mediocre actor?

If the thread was amazing performances from shitty actors it would be Adam Sandler in Punch Drunk Love and Sylvester Stallone in Copland.

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

Matthew Lillard in SLC Punk - he's an actor that can be good when used just right.

Marlon Wayans in Requiem for a Dream - How did this happen? I wouldn't call him mediocre. Just way out of his norm. It's like "character performance as a vulnerable junkie" and "black cop goes undercover as a white woman". Though, for whatever reason, Aronofsky was able to get lots of oddball talent for that movie. Christopher McDonald, Bill Buell, Dylan Baker are in there too.

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

Van Damme's very good in REPLICANT (2001). The scene where he's "born" in a lab and has to try to comprehend the world around him from the standpoint of a newborn in an adult's body was quite harrowing and I found him quite believable. In addition to the fear and incomprehensibility on his face, he moved very awkwardly the way such a character would move, trying to learn how he's supposed to use these arms and limbs which he's never used before.
And he carries that for a long time as Michael Rooker takes him out into the world and he has to adjust. It's very difficult for him and Van Damme makes it look as uneasy as it must be. He also plays the bad guy from which the Replicant was cloned. One of his best movies, IMHO.

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

Ashley Judd in Bug is the one that immediately comes to mind.

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

Great idea for a topic and I'm sure there are a half dozen performances I'd consider for the topic...but none are coming to mind. :lol:

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

Linda Blair - The Exorcist
Tatum O'Neal - Paper Moon

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

it could just be one scene... or one line... not even the entire movie.

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

J Lo - Out of Sight
Burt Reynolds - Boogie Nights
John Travolta - Pulp Fiction

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

I agree! I've heard others say the same thing about Replicant and Van Damme's acting in this movie.

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

Ricardo Montalban in "Wrath of Khan". I don't know if he was considered mediocre in his heyday or if that's a fair assessment of his career, but he was doing "Mr. Roarke" at this point , and it was a surprisingly dynamic performance.
On a similar note, Lawrence Luckinbill was terrific as Spock's brother in "Star Trek 5".

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

You know, I've never understood the charge of over acting or scenery chewing against any type of Trek actor. These are larger than life characters in amazing situations, of course they're not going to be doing "scene from an Ingmar Bergman movie, where they sit and stare at a falling leaf for 10 minutes".

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

I realize he's had plenty of stinkers, but Travolta has Saturday Night Fever and Blow Out, as well as some solid performances in Ladder 49, Primary Colors and Get Shorty.

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

Robert De Niro in Deer Hunter.

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

Ben Affleck in Gone Girl. He played the smarmy, douchey asshole very well. He may have just been playing himself though.

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

Nicholas Cage in Lord of War

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

or Leaving Las Vegas would be better since he won a Oscar and it was downhill from there.

Re: what is that one amazing performance from an otherwise mediocre actor?
 

"Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada."

-- Tweeted by DT