Good writing but bad acting?

[Outofbodyinhungary]

We often hear that a show or a film was very well acted or had great cinematography. Even in the past year there has been numerous examples of these. But what are some examples of films that are very well written with a great plot that ends up having bad acting ?

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[Trap Jesus]

This is a good thread, I feel like so much is more reliant on direction/writing/casting to bring out good or bad performances than the other way around. I've never seen it but I'm sure some would say Keanu Reeves in Bram Stoker's Dracula, but that's the fault of casting more than anything.

One that comes to mind for me is Justin Timberlake in The Social Network. Well written and well made movie by all accounts, but he just had no depth to his performance and it was very clearly Justin Timberlake trying to play a part.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

Oddly, Kevin Smith was the first name that came to mind. He has a distinct style and wit to his writing that I got some enjoyment out of (haven't revisited one of his movies in years), but the acting can be a little rough. I think that's compounded because he isn't a great director.

Good question.

Now I need to think of better examples.

 

[discostu]

I watched The Kid Who Would be King recently, and, I can rarely differentiate between good writing and directing, but it stood out to me in that one. With kid actors though, it's usually more a case of the director not getting the performances out of them,

 

[LoveHateLeafs]

I saw this thread yesterday and have been wracking my brain trying to think of an example, but I can't. My guess would be that poor acting makes good writing seem bad, so we don't think about the writing itself as being good. But you make an excellent point that it doesn't seem to work the other way. It's relatively easy to think of bad/mediocre lines that were so well delivered that they become good. Maybe a psychologist can explain this weird mental one way street.

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

As Kallio pointed out, Kevin Smith movies are good examples. Clerks is the most obvious one, which makes sense because Smith went out of his way to cast non-actors.

 

[KallioWeHardlyKnewYe]

As Kallio pointed out, Kevin Smith movies are good examples. Clerks is the most obvious one, which makes sense because Smith went out of his way to cast non-actors.

Clerks is a good example, but I didn't want to pick on it too much. Some of the acting in other Smith movies is a little rough too. But a lot of low-budget first movies are like this. Coincidentally I've been on a run of first films (really wasn't a plan) but in the past few months I've seen the first movies from Jim Jarmusch, Stanley Kubrick, David Cronenberg, John Carpenter, Christopher Nolan, David Mamet and if there's a shared characteristic it's some real rough acting in some places.

That does remind me though -- Lindsay Crouse in House of Games is brutal and a fitting example here as well.

 

[Tkachuk4MVP]

Clerks is a good example, but I didn't want to pick on it too much. Some of the acting in other Smith movies is a little rough too. But a lot of low-budget first movies are like this. Coincidentally I've been on a run of first films (really wasn't a plan) but in the past few months I've seen the first movies from Jim Jarmusch, Stanley Kubrick, David Cronenberg, John Carpenter, Christopher Nolan, David Mamet and if there's a shared characteristic it's some real rough acting in some places.

That does remind me though -- Lindsay Crouse in House of Games is brutal and a fitting example here as well.

Good point. I assume most early filmmakers are just scrapping together whatever actors they can for their first film.

And Crouse is a GREAT example. A really awful performance which stands out even more because everyone around her is great using that same Mamet dialogue.

 

[bigdirty]

The Expanse is one of my favourite shows, but Steven Strait is really not very good in it. I will say that he was better in the last season, but early on his two facial expressions and emotionless delivery was, at times, a little tough to get past.

 

[Outofbodyinhungary]

Anyone think of any more examples? I just recently watched this Hungarian short film that had a really interesting plot and really cool dialogue but the quality of acting and cinematography was quite low.

 

[sdf]

The film that named: An Spectacular Story With Some Pretty Crapy Actors

 

[Peter Sidorkiewicz]

True Detective with Vince Vaughn.

Or basically any Vince Vaughn movie / tv show. Dude can't act for shit.

 

[Blackhawkswincup]

Scanners script is not bad

Stephen Lack acting on the other hand is atrocious

Scanners would be better movie if it had cast anyone else in Lack's role. Hell a high school drama student could have out acted him

 

[Spring in Fialta]

True Detective with Vince Vaughn.

Or basically any Vince Vaughn movie / tv show. Dude can't act for ****.

Ohhh I thought the dialogue was pretty bad in that True Detective season. His death scene was terrible.

 

[member 51464]

Ohhh I thought the dialogue was pretty bad in that True Detective season. His death scene was terrible.

"Don't do anything when you're hungry. Not even eat." lol. awful writing.

 

[Rhaegar Targaryen]

Phantom Menace

 

[nameless1]

That does remind me though -- Lindsay Crouse in House of Games is brutal and a fitting example here as well.

And Crouse is a GREAT example. A really awful performance which stands out even more because everyone around her is great using that same Mamet dialogue.

I love David Mamet. That man absolutely knows how to write.

Your point on Lindsay Crouse is very interesting. If you two have the time, try to find the Criterion version of the movie. I had the same reaction as you guys initially, but I have also seen her other works, and I knew she had more than that in her. Then I watched the extra features, and she explained that the detached style was what Mamet wanted from her, since she played a psychiatrist who had lost interest in her work and simply went with the motions. Observation is a large part of her training, and it actually helped me to understand her performance and also notice some of the subtleties she employed. I thought it also accentuated the climax, one of the very few times she showed emotions, and she absolutely nailed it.

To be fair, while I am still not sure if I liked her performance overall, I know that, at the very least, there is a purpose to her acting choice, and that it is not exactly her fault, as she simply followed Mamet's instructions.

 

[kingsholygrail]

Phantom Menace

Good writing?

 

[Rabid Ranger]

Another Mamet mangling: Rebecca Pidgeon in The Spanish Prisoner.

 

[NyQuil]

The obvious and rare miscasting in a Nolan film was Katie Holmes in Batman Begins.

Considering they replaced her for the sequel, it was obvious to Nolan as well.

Again, that's just one character as opposed to the entire cast.

 

[End of Line]

The Room

 

[KingBran]

Phantom Menace

Yup. I say this a lot about the prequel trilogy. Amazing stories / plot. Horrible acting.