A reversal of TallGuyMe's thread: Which films would be simply unbearable if not for the presence of a particular actor, or which performances of lousy material elevate the entire production? I thought Paula Prentiss was absolutely wonderful in the otherwise soapy, ridiculous Stepford Wives. Funny, sexy, and utterly natural, she seemed so genuine, which made her all the more sinister and creepy. Vincent Price could always be depended on to provide enthusiastic, charismatic work in the most uninspired of B-movie fodder. There are probably similarly themed threads already in existence, but so it goes.

/thread

This is a horrible picture to use....

both of them.

The Transporter and Crank movies if Jason Statham wasn't in them.

Transformers 2 if Megan Fox wasn't in it. (It was still terrible, but she made it more bearable.)

Now just think how much better so many horrible movies would have been if only Jason Statham and Megan Fox had been the leads in them, e.g. TITANIC, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, AMERICAN BEAUTY (Jason in the Spacey part and Megan in the Mena Suvari part). And even some classics. THE AFRICAN QUEEN, anyone? CASABLANCA? IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE? The mind boggles.

the hat doesn't help

I'm surprised that no one has yet mentioned Johnny Depp and Pirates of the Caribbean.

I was coming to post that. If Jack Sparrow was done by someone like Brendan Fraser, there wouldn't have been 2 more sequels.

^ but that didn't stop the two Mummy sequels ...

Paging Dr. Seuss......

The Boys from Brazil, without Laurence Olivier.

The little kid, in a crucial role, is absolutely awful.

Rickman in 'Robin Hood'

Anna Faris in Smiley Face. The film is still a mess, but her performance is amazing. I wouldn't have made it through five minutes without her.

Taken, Liam Neeson

I'm not sure The Shining, The Dark Knight or Tombstone would be terrible films without Nicholson, Ledger or Kilmer. I meant more in the realm of excellent performances in otherwise lousy films, like the Prentiss example I gave.

Thomas Ian Griffith in Karate Kid III.

Here's another one more in line with the topic I had originally suggested: Guy Pearce's spot-on Warhol in the wretched Factory Girl.

Oh yeah...he made it soooo much better. Poor DiCaprio and Diaz...they were severly beaten to a pulp in any scene involving Day-Lewis. Diaz was pretty weak though...DiCaprio was fine it's just...he's not as great as Day-Lewis. DDL is too good sometimes..