Nothing is quite as annoying as an actor who’s been horribly miscast in a movie. Sometimes, however, the casting is so bad that, at a certain point, the heinousness of their performance becomes a freak show to ogle at.
By Nathan Bloch
The following article does not represent the opinions of Spike TV or its affiliates.
7. Sofia Coppola in The Godfather Part III
No, she didn’t have the lead role, and no, she clearly didn’t pursue an acting career after her cringe-worthy performance in this film. But that doesn’t mean it didn’t tarnish every single scene she was in in Godfather III. She is so god-awful that (spoiler coming up!) by the time she finally gets shot at the end, you’re cheering for the assassin. Not only that, you’re actually wishing the assassin could have gotten his s**t together about sixty minutes earlier.
It really destroys the tragedy of the film when what Michael (Al Pacino) loves most happens to be the most obnoxious little twerp on the face of the earth, so that when she is taken from him our sadness is defused like a bomb.
Stiff line deliveries, total absence of a believable character, and the knowledge that the awful turd who ruined what could’ve been a triumphant end to an incredible trilogy is the director’s daughter all combine to focus our wrath on Sofia Coppola whenever the Godfather movies are invoked. Thanks for being a stain on the satin sheets of awesomeness that were Godfather I and II, Sofia.
6. Halle Berry in Catwoman
This casting was ill-advised on so many different levels. Beyond the most obvious knock against Berry in this role, the woman simply cannot act. The “character” she created for this role is so paper-thin you can see right through it: Catwoman’s character traits consist of talking in her best phone-sex voice and walking like a stripper. Would this movie have been horrible even if they hadn’t cast Halle Berry? Probably. Is it that much worse because she’s in it? Definitely.
5. Mark Wahlberg in The Happening, We Own the Night, Shooter, Planet of the Apes, etc.
So at this point I think it’s obvious Mark Wahlberg isn’t about to win any lifetime achievement awards in acting. He publicly bemoaned getting miscast in Planet of the Apes (agreed, he should’ve been one of the head monkeys) as if that were the reason for his complete and total suckiness in that film.
After his horrible performance in The Happening (his stilted line readings and cartoonish facial expressions make me suspect he’d do better as a male model…oh, wait…) I suspect we’ll be hearing more of the same. The fact of the matter is that Mark Wahlberg gets “miscast” in every movie where he isn’t running, punching, shooting and fighting bad guys in one form or another – with the exception of a few films, such as I Heart Huckabees and Boogie Nights (in which he plays an empty-headed naïf, but he plays it well).
The thing is, Wahlberg figured out a long time ago that he delivers his lines best when he’s out of breath and/or in the midst of extreme physical exertion. It’s his “trick”, if you like. And I gotta say, I don’t like. Not one little bit.
