The Most Phoned-In Performances of All Time

[DarkSovereignty]

No way in hell Jim Carrey phoned Ace Ventura in.

Exactly, at this point people are just listing movies or performances they don't like.

 

[kedrell]

I'm sure it's been said a bajillion times in this thread already but I'm not gonna go back and check: Bruce Willis in AGDtDH.

 

[Octoberist]

Bruce was awful, just awful, in Die Hard 5. Bored as crap, even when shooting a machine gun. The whole movie was kinda fun until you realize how the mighty have fallen since the first film, which is a bonafide classic.

 

[kedrell]

I don't think I've enjoyed a movie he's been in since Sin City 8(almost 9) years ago.

 

[Octoberist]

He was fine in Looper but he didn't carry the movie either. It was all JGL.

 

[Marvolo]

Ace Ventura to this day is one of my favorite comedic characters, and Jim Carrey in the 90s shaped my sense of humor a great deal. No way he phoned that in. That was pure Carrey.

O agree about Bruce in AGDTDH. That is one of the worst performances I've seen on the level of something from a Uwe Boll film.

 

[Octoberist]

Who brought up Ace Ventura anyway?

You have to think that it was one of Carrey's first starring roles, before he was known by that persona. You can't fault him for that because he was just starting out. Think of it in retrospect, not as a modernist.

 

[Wolfwood]

When I look at 80s Bruce Willis and compare him to modern Bruce Willis, it feels like he was abducted by aliens and replaced with an android who is trying to learn how humans feel. He somehow lost a lot of his charm and charisma.

He does good work every now and then, but most of the time he embodies "Disinterested Bruce Willis", a man totally unphased by everything around him.

 

[Marvolo]

Who brought up Ace Ventura anyway?

You have to think that it was one of Carrey's first starring roles, before he was known by that persona. You can't fault him for that because he was just starting out. Think of it in retrospect, not as a modernist.

This guy:

-Jim Carrey in Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, I hate this film so much. Carrey's disgusting physical "comedy" scenes make me squeamish in every way. In no other film have I hated Jim Carrey more so than in this film, this was just an atrocious and highly overrated mess of a film that I hope to never (EVER) see (EVER) again.

 

[Octoberist]

You see..Jon didn't understand the concept of this thread then. (IE Phoned in)

 

[Thundercrack85]

Martin Sheen in The Amazing Spider-Man. It was an awful movie anyways, but I digress.

You know, I enjoyed the movie, and Martin Sheen is a great actor, so I have to agree with this. But in fairness to Sheen, they really didn't give his character much to do. He's just there to die.

I think it's somewhat forgivable to phone in a performance when you might as well be able to do it over the phone.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Basically the whole cast of The Phantom Menace. Though most of the blank stares and wooden delivery is probably due to the awesome directing by Lucas.

Also half the scenes are with a green screen backdrop, and often they're talking to something that hasn't yet been CGI-ed into existence yet.

Not to mention that if you look at the script... there's no way to deliver those lines in any way that isn't awkward as hell.

 

[ThePhantasm]

Heck, basically the whole cast of the prequel trilogy phoned it in, except for the scenery-chewing Ian McDiarmid.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I still think that's a little unfair.

You stand in front of a green screen, talking to an imaginary object, with a terrible script, and being directed by George Lucas and try to make that sound good.

 

[Ant-manic]

When I look at 80s Bruce Willis and compare him to modern Bruce Willis, it feels like he was abducted by aliens and replaced with an android who is trying to learn how humans feel. He somehow lost a lot of his charm and charisma.

He does good work every now and then, but most of the time he embodies "Disinterested Bruce Willis", a man totally unphased by everything around him.

he lost out to Ashton Kutcher. you'd be bummed, too.

 

[Loki882]

You know, I enjoyed the movie, and Martin Sheen is a great actor, so I have to agree with this. But in fairness to Sheen, they really didn't give his character much to do. He's just there to die.

I think it's somewhat forgivable to phone in a performance when you might as well be able to do it over the phone.

I completely disagree. I loved Sheen as Uncle Ben. He came across as a real person, which was appreciated. I totally bought him in that role.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

I completely disagree. I loved Sheen as Uncle Ben. He came across as a real person, which was appreciated. I totally bought him in that role.

Agreed.

 

[kedrell]

I agree as well. Ben in the movie never really had anything to do UNTIL Sheen came around. Robertson was the one who was just there to die. Now Sheen could play that role in his sleep so sure it was no stretch for him. Same could be said for Tommy Lee Jones in CA:TFA. But just because those roles are a piece of cake for these guys doesn't mean what we got wasn't good. In both cases they were damn good, IMO.

 

[TheNextNolan22]

Raymond Burr in the American version of The Return of Godzilla/Godzilla 85.

 

[Schlosser85]

William Hurt in The Incredible Hulk. So bored out of his mind.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

William Hurt in The Incredible Hulk. So bored out of his mind.

Now that I agree with. It doesn't help that that version of Ross was so 2 dimensional. Sam Elliot was superior in both performance and writing.

 

[Lily Adler]

If I say Kristen Bell in Frozen, will X Knight scratch my eyes out?

 

[Marvolo]

I completely disagree. I loved Sheen as Uncle Ben. He came across as a real person, which was appreciated. I totally bought him in that role.

Agreed. Martin Sheen and Sally Field were gold in that movie. Vast improvements over uncle Ben and Aunt May in Raimi's trilogy. Garfield and Stone were also a massive improvement over Toby and Kirsten. The only weak acting was Rhys Iran's, but that may be script issues.

 

[DarkSovereignty]

Hell, even flash, with his 7 collective minutes of screen time, was infinitely more 3 dimensional than the guido jock stereotype in raimi's movie.

 

[Marvolo]

Hell, even flash, with his 7 collective minutes of screen time, was infinitely more 3 dimensional than the guido jock stereotype in raimi's movie.

Honestly, if TAS had had a better developed villain it would have topped Raimi's in just about every way imo. If they bring back J. K. Simon's ill lose my mind.