next category: surprising performances.

[dean_martin]

You're watching a movie and you heard or read that so-and-so is in it and because it's so-and-so you're not expecting much, but you have to check it out to see if so-and-so makes a fool of him/herself. Next thing you know so-and-so has you spell bound.

A couple of my faves in this category come from the same movie - Sling Blade. John Ritter's performance was great. How he kept a straight face with that hair is beyond me, but he played the role of the gay dollar store manager in a hick town very convincingly. I was surprised by Dwight Yoakam's performance as the a$$hole, redneck boyfriend too. Even though his acting was a little rough around the edges, he nailed the obnoxious, redneck a-hole. Of course Billy Bob's performance was masterful, but his wasn't really a surprise.

So, whose performance surprised you? Was it an established actor in a role you never expected or was it a non-actor who pulled off a great performance?

[paul_pci]

If I may go back in time a bit I'd point to Awakenings. I knew Robin Williams as Mork and a comic actor and I remember the first time I saw him playing Dr. Sayer, I was totally astounded. And, I'd say DeNiro's performance was outstanding as well. All in all, one fantastic movie.

[Kam]

hmmm pretty strict definition... so by that i'd have to say From Dusk Till Dawn and George Clooney. Although technically the real reason i went to go see it was it was a rodriguez/tarantino collaboration, although i figured clooney wouldnt be able to carry it. I think he's the current generation's Cary Grant. He may not be the greatest actor right now, but he is a movie star in the classic (and positive) sense of the word and he can definitely carry a movie. now i can't wait for Syriana to come out, that actually might give him some oscar nods.

[dean_martin]

hmmm pretty strict definition...

didn't intend a narrow definition...feel free to expand, extrapolate and elaborate

Yeah, I like Clooney too, but I've seen some comments that suggest he's a love'm or hate'm leading man. I thought he took a risk playing the lead in Oh Brother, but he pulled it off.


BTW, Kam, where's your college/pro football update? I'll bet you're shakin' in your boots over tomorrow night's game. The computers appear to be giving more weight to quality wins. Va. Tech has a chance to pull closer to Texas. OTOH, Miami has a chance to narrow the field and position itself. This one's gonna be big.

[dean_martin]

If I may go back in time a bit I'd point to Awakenings. I knew Robin Williams as Mork and a comic actor and I remember the first time I saw him playing Dr. Sayer, I was totally astounded. And, I'd say DeNiro's performance was outstanding as well. All in all, one fantastic movie.

It's been a long time since I saw Awakenings, but I do remember not knowing what to expect when Williams started playing serious roles.

[topspeed]

Hmmm...

How 'bout Val Kilmer as Doc Holliday? He stole that movie IMO.

I thought Bruce Willis deserved more merit for The Sixth Sense. Considering his action-based history, his performance in this movie was sublime.

The Governator proved he could pull off comedy, which is supposed to be the hardest of all the arts, in Twins and Kindergarten Cop.

Sylvestor Stallone in Copland was terrific. A great example of a surprise performance.

[GMichael]

How about Roger Moore in the return of the Pink Panther?

[Woochifer]

I'd have to say Tom Cruise in Born on the Fourth of July. I knew Ron Kovic's story (and knew what he looked like in real life), and was appalled that Cruise was cast in that role. You have to remember that at that time, his previous two roles were basically Tom Cruise playing Tom Cruise in Cocktail and The Color of Money, so I held out very little hope that he could carry the lead role of a disabled Vietnam vet.

But, I wound up getting passes to a studio preview of that movie, so I crossed my fingers and prepared to hold my nose for 2 1/2 hours. By the end of the movie, I was scratching my head and asking myself "Was that actually Tom Cruise in that movie?" He played the role so well that I completely got into the character, without regard for who was playing the role.

Cruise has since reverted back to his usual vanity project form (Tom Cruise as Macho Man Tom Cruise; Tom Cruise as Tom Cruise, Esquire; Tom Cruise as Husband Tom Cruise; Tom Cruise as Agent Tom Cruise, etc.), but at least for that one movie, I was very pleasantly surprised by his range as an actor.

[Kam]

didn't intend a narrow definition...feel free to expand, extrapolate and elaborate

Yeah, I like Clooney too, but I've seen some comments that suggest he's a love'm or hate'm leading man. I thought he took a risk playing the lead in Oh Brother, but he pulled it off.


BTW, Kam, where's your college/pro football update? I'll bet you're shakin' in your boots over tomorrow night's game. The computers appear to be giving more weight to quality wins. Va. Tech has a chance to pull closer to Texas. OTOH, Miami has a chance to narrow the field and position itself. This one's gonna be big.

i know... i hadnt had a chance to post my college/pro update post... and am a tad worried about saturday night. its why i never bet on football... i can never bet against the 'canes or the bengals. i think miami has a chance, not just talking as a pure blood 'cane either, but they'll come in with a bit of a chip on their shoulder and when they're backed into a corner, they can be verrrry dangerous. i would like to think this is an extremely similar situation as the team back in 2000 after they lost their first road game at washington and then went on to reel off 34 straight victories. but that vatech team is really solid and beamer is such a good coach, am just hoping he hasnt done a good job in curbing the distractions. vatech, while being dominant lately, still hasnt been in as many games of this magnitude as miami has, and the miami program has a strange way of never exorcising is ghosts. just the fact that the program has been in so many big games without the players or head coaches around always seems to be a factor. hell, what other school has won 5 national championships with 4 different coaches? (has anyone else? am actually curious, i know the dynasties that other programs have had over quite a long time, but this miami phenomenon is a relatively speaking recent one of just the last 20 some odd years vs. eg notre dame or the other 'traditional' powers.)

[rockecat]

My call would be John Travolta in Pulp Fiction, I did not even imagine that Vinnie Barborino
had that in him[excellent].