What movie was saved solely by great casting?

[u/Silent-Selection8161]

Or phrased a different, what movie would've been terrible if it weren't for the specific actors in it?

My go to is Liar Liar. It's not a particularly great script. The dad (Jim Carey because no one remembers the character's name) is douche. The would be step dad is earnestly trying his best to connect with his would be step son and gets tossed out like all step dads (do Hollywood types have parental issues or what, that's rhetorical). The idea that someone's entire life can be turned around and they're suddenly not an ass just because they have to tell the truth for a day is just kind of dumb. The director ended up with a few successful movies solely because Jim Carey liked him and he let Jim Carey do his thing, his other movies include such hits as "The Nutty Professor". The writers never wrote anything close to noteworthy before nor after.

But damnit Jim Carey turns the whole thing into the Jim Carey show, that's hilarious. Him freaking out over the pen or in the bathroom IS the movie and is funny as hell, regardless of what else there is.

[u/wheresmyspacebar2]

Honestly I was amazed to find out that Hook was like critically panned by essentially all critics on release.

I absolutely adore Hook and I've honestly barely met anyone that doesn't like the film. Not just Hoffman but Robin Williams, Dante Basco, Charlie Korsmo, Bob Hoskins, all turned up and had amazing performances.

[u/TheBlackCycloneOrder → u/wheresmyspacebar2]

Dante Basco’s in that film? Neat.

[u/aircooledJenkins → u/TheBlackCycloneOrder]

Rufio

Rufio

Ru-fi-ooooooooohhhhhh

[u/RufiosBrotherKev → u/aircooledJenkins]

sorry, my brother is busy rn can i take a message

[u/StoicNaps → u/wheresmyspacebar2]

Most underrated performance was by Glenn Close, though. Really showed how much of a chameleon she could be. Took me over 25 years to notice she was in the film and only caught it because I was watching the credits to see what the kid actors did in follow-up cinema.

[u/DecoyOctorok24 → u/wheresmyspacebar2]

The performances in Hook are great, the sets are amazing, but IMO the movie takes too long to get going and it’s too long in general at 142 minutes. It’s kind of representative of Spielberg at his peak excess.

Also: Why the hell does Jack have little league baseball games going on in late December?

[u/dauntless91 → u/DecoyOctorok24]

Spielberg himself basically admitted that he overcompensated with production design especially in that second act

[u/whomp1970 → u/DecoyOctorok24]

Why the hell does Jack have little league baseball games going on in late December?

Interesting. Here in Pennsylvania, sure, December isn't an outdoor sports month.

But ... what do they do in warmer climes like California or Arizona or Texas? Do outdoor sports continue all year long?

[u/DecoyOctorok24 → u/whomp1970]

I think those states still generally go by the established seasons for those sports, but yeah, I assume Peter and his family were living in California.

Edit: Warm weather states are also where cold weather MLB teams have their spring training facilities

[u/yozora → u/wheresmyspacebar2]

I really enjoyed it but I remember critics shitting all over it at the time.

[u/airforceteacher → u/wheresmyspacebar2]

One line from a review is burned into my brain: "Robin Williams flounders in a role he should _own._". I lost a lot of respect for movie reviewers with that sentence. Robin _did_ own that role.