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Can a brilliant Actor/Actress overcome a horrific script?

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I mean a great actor can draw you in with their presence, but there's only so much they can do for a bad script. I would think the director and editing would make a difference too
 
I'm not sure about overcome, but they sure can make it entertaining.

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Who is a good call. There are a lot of 'bad movies' where the protagonist and/or the bad guy gives it all, or goes full ham, but Doctor Who, with its weird premise and sometimes very silly episodes always gets a serious performance from usually everyone involved.
 
The Star Wars prequels are pretty much unwatchable, regardless of Ewan McGregor's performance. EP1 and EP2 probably don't even feature him for more than 10-20% of the movie, so I'm not sure why people focus on him there. Presumably because he's the films' only redeeming aspect, but that doesn't change that the majority of the each film is garbage. The OP posits that a good lead actor can course correct a film, but Obi-Wan isn't a lead character in Star Wars. Most of the time he's just Anakin's wet blanket babysitter.
 
SixMachine said:
Raul Julia was something in Street Fighter. He read the script and hammed that shit up to another level, and I don't think anyone wanted M. Bison any other way. The alternative is M. Bison in the Legend of Chun-Li.....
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I always pictured Bison as an evil Irish Property developer. Sorry, an Evil Thai born property Developer who genetically inherited his accent from his dead Irish missionary Mother who died in childbirth. That fucking film.
 
I think the perfect example of this is Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman in The Bucket List. They turned a weak, pedestrian script into a watchable, enjoyable movie with their credible performances. Great film? No. But it would've been a disaster in the hands of lesser actors.

Meowster said:
Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady is a good example of this imho.
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I disagree. She was phenomenal, yes, but the movie was still BAD. No amount of Meryl-ing could save it.
 
I don't think Passengers is a fair example as the character writing is perfectly satisfactory, at least up until the final act where it starts to feel like the script is guiding their actions as opposed to actual character motivation. Regardless, both actors are perfectly fine (and I'd say Lawrence elevates the material). The movie isn't perfect but I think it's better than most critics painted it.
 
Nope.

I mean Hayden gets (sometimes deservedly) shit on all the time for his performance in SW but honestly the greatest actor in the world couldnt make that dialogue work. I mean he made it worse but I dont think anyone could have rescued that bit of dogshit writing.
 
lightskintwin said:
Passengers script wasn't horrific, at best it took an interesting premise and went the safe, sacharrine route. Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence together made it very watchable and at times enjoyable.
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I don't remember where I heard it, but someone suggested the film would be a much stronger film if it started from Lawrence's perspective first. Having seen the movie I agree I would have liked it instead of being indifferent at best, upset with it at worst.
 
Nobody worth taking seriously thinks the GoT has a horrific script. Complain all you want about pacing, convoluted motivations (from the source material), and questionable choices around sex/rape/torture. But the writing? Nah. See: Good actors doing well (Lena Headley, Charles Dance), middling actors not (Emilia Clarke, Kit Harrington).

If anything it's a credit to the script that so many secondary characters are so memorable. All the prestige shows have this thing happening. See: Mad Men, Breaking Bad, etc. The actors certainly perform, but owe many thanks to the script.
 
Volimar said:
So much gravitas even in his condition.
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Wood Man said:
Does Raul Juilia in Street Fighter count? He was fantastic

thFSjns.gif


EDIT - BEATEN
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"In this scene Mr. Julia, you will be paying your cohort with your own made-up currency with your face on it, known as 'Bison Dollars', and we need your character to treat this as a logical and witty act."

*proceeds to nail the scene*

RIP.

Bet you didn't "SEE" that, did you!?
 
plop said:
Ewan-McGregor-Star-Wars.jpg


Sometimes you don't even have to be brilliant. Just good.
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Fair point.

Ian McDiarmid is rather brilliant though, and he did a lot with the Palpatine role in the Prequel Trilogy, right up until the point he went full ham in the last act of Ep. 3.

Also: Ian McKellen is such a master of his craft that even if the Hobbit films didn't have a great ensemble cast, they'd still be worth watching for his Gandalf.
 
No. A good actor can elevate a script, but if its shit going in it'll still be a shitty story, but at least enjoyable to watch.

Thats why its always been weird to me how writers are sort of the underappreciated sector of Hollywood, they are literally the foundation of everything.
 
tbm24 said:
I don't remember where I heard it, but someone suggested the film would be a much stronger film if it started from Lawrence's perspective first. Having seen the movie I agree I would have liked it instead of being indifferent at best, upset with it at worst.
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It was a Nerdwriter video that became a thread on here.
 
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