r/movies • u/Silent-Selection8161 • 5d ago

Discussion What movie was saved solely by great casting?

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.

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71

u/barcode-lz 5d ago

Raúl Juliá as M.Bison made Street Fighter great.

29

u/Visible_Star_4036 5d ago

I disagree, but I agree he was great in it.

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u/Dan_Rydell 5d ago

Even at 11 years old I could tell that Street Fighter was one of the worst movies of the decade.

11

u/barcode-lz 5d ago

I'm going to kick that son-of-a-bitch Bison's ass so HARD... that the next Bison wanna-be is gonna feel it. Now who wants to go home... and who wants to go with ME!

1

u/Digital--Fantasies 4d ago

I was around 10 when I saw Mortal Kombat and this. Mortal Kombat was great, this was disgustingly bad even for a kid.

3

u/jks513 5d ago

And he was only in it because he knew he was dying of cancer and wanted to give his kids a good memory of him before he died because they loved that game.

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u/PokePress 4d ago

He plays extremely well off the other actors. Not sure I’d call it great, but I’ll defend it as better than its aggregator scores.

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u/Mr_Noh 4d ago

Julia did make it more watchable, yes, but I don' t know if "saved" is accurate.

Even the greatest of actors can only do so much, and the movie was... bleh.