The Most Phoned-In Performances of All Time

[Schlosser85]

I prefer Rosemary Harris as May.

 

[thejon93]

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

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.

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.

True, it's a performance I don't like, but I think that it's a performance that is just a spin off his In Living Colour shtick. I thought it felt phoned in because I know Carrey can act like a crazy guy no problem, I just couldn't stand it with the first Ace Ventura and Batman Forever. At that point in his career, that energy was enough of a cloak to make people think that he's a good actor when he really did very little acting back in those two movies. In movies like The Mask and The Truman Show, he gives a much more subtle batch of performances (maybe minus when he has The Mask on, but that's understandable as the film was basically a live-action cartoon whenever The Mask appears, as Stanley though, Carrey was convincing and put in the perfect amount of effort) that doesn't take you out of the movie.

In Batman Forever and Ace Ventura, he's just too showy. For some reason, that feels pretty easy to me. Maybe I was a little over the line with picking Ace Ventura, but Batman Forever was definitely phoned-in. He basically was Ace Ventura in that movie, so both were phoned-in, in my opinion, because I know that Carrey can pull off that role no problem.

 

[thejon93]

I prefer Rosemary Harris as May.

Me too. Sally Field's always been a terrible actress in my opinion. She was in a movie with Alfred Molina that I watched in History class one year, it's called Not Without My Daughter, and it was absolutely terrible. Molina was great in the film, I wanted more of his story, but Field's just terrible, she didn't phone it in for the film or anything but she has no presence when she's on-screen. A film I can say that she certainly phoned-in on was Lincoln, she was the worst thing about that movie by a mile. Especially in the scenes between her and Daniel Day-Lewis, you can tell that she's hardly trying and just lets Lewis carry the picture (as you can always count on him for that).

 

[Maximus One]

Man, as much as I hate to admit it, you are a tad bit right about Carrey there. I never really thought about much but yea in the first Ace movie he's very animated and just really over the top. I haven't watched The Mask in so many years I never really did stop to think about just his scenes as Stanley and you are absolutely correct. His performance there is actually quite solid. I still wouldn't say he phoned in his performance in Ace but he was incredibly over the top and animated. That's always been Carrey's Schtick though, his physical comedy. A much more brilliant performance of his is The Cable Guy, which was originally intended for Chris Farley. I've always wondered how that would have turned out lol.

 

[Maximus One]

Me too. Sally Field's always been a terrible actress in my opinion. She was in a movie with Alfred Molina that I watched in History class one year, it's called Not Without My Daughter, and it was absolutely terrible. Molina was great in the film, I wanted more of his story, but Field's just terrible, she didn't phone it in for the film or anything but she has no presence when she's on-screen. A film I can say that she certainly phoned-in on was Lincoln, she was the worst thing about that movie by a mile. Especially in the scenes between her and Daniel Day-Lewis, you can tell that she's hardly trying and just lets Lewis carry the picture (as you can always count on him for that).

Totally gotta disagree here about Sally Field. I haven't seen everything she's ever been in or anything but she's always been great in stuff like Forrest Gump and Mrs Doubtfire. Also, when she was on ER her performance of somebody who is manic depressive is ****ing outstanding.

 

[Pink Ranger]

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.

From my perspective, YOU'RE as awkward as hell!

 

[DarkSovereignty]

From my perspective, YOU'RE as awkward as hell!

"Don't make me ignore you."

 

[Schlosser85]

I think Sally Field is a good actress, and I didn't think she acted badly as Aunt May, I just prefer Rosemary Harris.

IMO Martin Sheen was the one who phoned it in in The Amazing Spider-Man. I preferred Cliff Robertson too.

But then (possibly unpopular opinion?) I don't really care for Martin Sheen's acting in general. I feel he phones it in a lot.

 

[Maximus One]

What could Sheen have done differently though? He seemed real to me. When he's *****ing at Peter it seems genuine to me which means he didn't do too bad

 

[Rowsdower!]

Sheen can be kind of meh at times but he's still one of my all-time favorites. His character in Apocalypse Now is legendary.

Also, just thought of another (possible) one - Willem Defoe in Spider-Man. Although I'm not sure if it was phoning it in or just being WAY too hammy. I'm kind of on the fence about that one. Shame, because I absolutely love the movie otherwise.

 

[Maximus One]

What could Sheen have done differently though? He seemed real to me. When he's *****ing at Peter it seems genuine to me which means he didn't do too bad

 

[Schlosser85]

I don't think Dafoe was phoning it in, just being scenery-chewing. His role didn't give him much to do besides be the hammy villain.

I don't think Tom Hardy ever phones in a performance (except maybe This Means War), but I thought he was hamming it up all over the place in his speeches in TDKR.

 

[Schlosser85]

Javier Bardem is a weird one who seems to be either super-creepy villains or totally phoned in and like he's bored out of his mind. Like he's one extreme or the other.

Also, Cillian Murphy totally phoned in his cameo in TDK. Granted, it was just a cameo but he seemed like he enjoyed his bit in TDKR more and didn't seem so bored with it. "Death...by exile!"

Ben Kingsley in Species. And Michael Madsen.

Michael Madsen in Sin City is as obvious an example of "phoning it in" as you can find. My God, was he ever bored. He sounded like he was reading disinterestedly straight off a script.

Actually Kingsley and Madsen phone it in lots of times. And Harrison Ford phones it in as most characters not named Indiana Jones, at least since the '80s and some of the '90s. Same with Bruce Willis.

 

[Schlosser85]

What could Sheen have done differently though? He seemed real to me. When he's *****ing at Peter it seems genuine to me which means he didn't do too bad

It's hard to put my finger on, he just seems like he's there, reciting his lines and dutifully walking through his scenes until he can get shot and go home.

It's subjective to a point, and nothing I can really pinpoint. I just don't feel "it" in his scenes. I felt Sally Field had more emotion and was acting more.

 

[Warhammer]

Bruce Willis is the king of modern phone-in performances. I was surprised when he seemed so genuine in Looper.

Also, Sean Connery in Diamonds are Forever. Worst Bond performance of the franchise.

 

[StarLord]

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.

Even when he's out ''promoting'' his movies these days, he's acting all weird and huffy.

Get yo' s**t together Bruce!

 

[Thundercrack85]

To be fair, I'm not all that convinced Bruce Willis can act.

I mean, I like Die Hard and all, but it didn't exactly require particular depth from the protagonist. Or anyone, really.

Though undoubtably he has gotten less interesting. Remember Surrogates? You know you don't.

 

[Octoberist]

And that's fine. Some actors attract an audience due to their personas.

But he was great in Unbreakable, Pulp Ficition, and The Sixth Sense.

 

[Thundercrack85]

And that's fine. Some actors attract an audience due to their personas.

But he was great in Unbreakable, Pulp Ficition, and The Sixth Sense.

Yeah. Okay, Sixth Sense, I'll give you.

 

[StarLord]

I've enjoyed some of his performances.

The Last Boy Scout, Twelve Monkeys and The Jackal.

 

[Octoberist]

True, it's a performance I don't like, but I think that it's a performance that is just a spin off his In Living Colour shtick. I thought it felt phoned in because I know Carrey can act like a crazy guy no problem, I just couldn't stand it with the first Ace Ventura and Batman Forever. At that point in his career, that energy was enough of a cloak to make people think that he's a good actor when he really did very little acting back in those two movies. In movies like The Mask and The Truman Show, he gives a much more subtle batch of performances (maybe minus when he has The Mask on, but that's understandable as the film was basically a live-action cartoon whenever The Mask appears, as Stanley though, Carrey was convincing and put in the perfect amount of effort) that doesn't take you out of the movie.

In Batman Forever and Ace Ventura, he's just too showy. For some reason, that feels pretty easy to me. Maybe I was a little over the line with picking Ace Ventura, but Batman Forever was definitely phoned-in. He basically was Ace Ventura in that movie, so both were phoned-in, in my opinion, because I know that Carrey can pull off that role no problem.

What you're saying is a little confusing.

Ace Ventura was his first starring role, and the film that broke him into the major leagues. You're seeing things AFTER the fact, knowing who Carrey is as an actor and his filmography.

Yes, the Riddler could be argued that it was phoned-in. But Ace was not because his type of humor was new at the time. If you said, Yes Man or that Penguin movie were phoned-in, then I'll agree with you.

 

[Octoberist]

I've enjoyed some of his performances.

The Last Boy Scout, Twelve Monkeys and The Jackal.

Yes he was good in 12 Monkeys too.

 

[Eddie Dean]

Every one knows that Bruce's best role is Bruno the Kid.

 

[Thundercrack85]

Let's not forget North.

 

[titansupes]

I'm sure this must have been said, but as this is my first time in this thread: Kevin Costner as Jon Kent. Now there's a man who just didn't give a ****.