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A great film can be ruined by a single bad performance, but what happens when the opposite is true? We're exploring 15 surprising instances where awkward, robotic, or amateur acting accidentally made the film or TV show even better.
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So, even the best writing and tightest direction can be undone by a bad performance or two
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where a miscast actor or downright shambolic performance fatally distracts the audience from the story and indeed the characters
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And so, with potentially hundreds of millions of dollars on the line, as well as their own artistic reputations
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filmmakers tend to invest a lot of time and energy into ensuring that they've got the right actors for the job
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But there are some rare occasions where an actor gives a bad performance that's actually to the movie's overall merit
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But whatever the case, we're here to chat about them today as this is WhatCulture.com Clerks
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Kevin Smith's Clerks is one of the most iconic and beloved independent films of the 1990s
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a testament to how an inspired vision can compensate for a lack of budget or indeed quality actors
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Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson star as slacker protagonists Dante and Randall
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And given that neither of them had acted before, it wasn't terribly surprising that the amateur quality of their performances has been consistently noted by viewers ever since
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In countless scenes, the pair are kind of robotically just speeding through their dialogue in a way that seems completely unnatural and unconvincing
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And yet, this lends a certain charm to the overall product. That stilted quality accentuates the film's generally thrown together kitchen sink feel
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And while it might seem to initially undermine the realism, it also reminds the audience that we're effectively watching real people rather than movie stars
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Now, Kevin Smith's movies have rarely been about their acting prowess or technical filmmaking
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He's a dialogue guy, and that's never been more abundantly clear than in this career-making debut
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The pair certainly improved by the time the sequel came around, but their lack of acting experience was actually a weird and unexpected net positive for the original
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Do it now! Mad Men. Though Mad Men boasted one of the most immaculate ensemble casts in the history of
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television, there was one short outlier in the pack and that was in the form of January Jones
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who portrayed Don Draper's distant wife, Betty. Despite receiving Golden Globe and SAG nominations
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for her performance on the show, Jones is generally accepted amongst the fanbase to be
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the weakest link, trailing the rest of the main cast by a large margin. And yet, Jones' icy lack
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of effect throughout the series, defined by a wooden delivery that borders on robotic at times
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is ultimately perfect for the role of a dissatisfied 1960s housewife. The creative
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minds behind the show clearly appreciated that Jones' stiff performance would be perfect for the
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part of the repressed and rather shallow Betty, though Jones' post-Mad Men work, including a
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shambolic performance in X-Men First Class, hasn't exactly shown much improvement. While a different
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actress might have gone to lengths to add more life and different dimensions to Betty, Jones
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surface-level work was unintentionally quite brilliant in its own way. The Terminator
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James Cameron's 1984 sci-fi horror is the movie that put both the director and the star on the map
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and in selecting Schwarzenegger to play the titular murderous cyborg, Cameron made arguably one of the shrewdest casting choices in cinema history
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There's no mistaking the distracting awkwardness of Arnie's acting throughout this film
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yet that robotic quality is ultimately quite perfect for the role of a killing machine
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that is impersonating a human There something totally off about the inexperienced Schwarzenegger performances that only makes his infiltrator cyborg that much more unnerving to observe
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Combined with some of the makeup department's most inspired choices, such as spraying his face
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with Vaseline to give an off-puttingly fake sheen and then later shaving his eyebrows
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Schwarzenegger's clunky performance is molded in just the right way by Cameron
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and the rest, of course, is history. Twin Peaks David Lynch's Twin Peaks certainly boasted its fair share of excellent acting
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but also some performances that, to be blunt, were ultimately just quite laughable
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By far the two biggest culprits are James Marshall and Lara Flynn Boyle
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who play young lovers James Hurley and Donna Hayward. In Marshall's case, it didn't help that James is held by many fans to be the show's worst character
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a corny, boring mope whose irritation is only elevated by pairing him with the obnoxious Donna
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a hellish match if there ever was one. This all culminates in James' infamously hilariously wretched rendition of the soft ballad Just You for Donna and Maddie Ferguson
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which over 30 years later remains perhaps the show's single most ridiculed moment
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Yet David Lynch is as exacting as filmmakers come and knew precisely what he was doing here
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Lynch has never been particularly interested in realism, and with Twin Peaks existing as both an homage to and an example of a soap opera
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he clearly leaned into the off-key overall performances of his cast at every moment
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Marshall and Boyle certainly aren't the only wonky actors amongst the huge ensemble
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but their hyper-dramatic work feels more perfectly attuned to the campy vibe that Lynch was definitely
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shooting for. It only enhances the feeling that this sleepy town and the people within it are very
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very off. Old. M. Night Shyamalan's old, even those who enjoyed the film would have surely
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had to have conceded that the performances of its central cast are, to be polite, eccentric
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Talented actors with proven track records like Gail Garcia Bernal, Alex Wolfe and Eliza Scanlon are bizarrely unconvincing throughout this film
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in which they play strangers trapped on a beach which is rapidly aging them. Right from the film's very first scene, the performances feel distractingly tone-deaf
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with the actors struggling to make sense of Shyamalan's characteristically obtuse and unnatural dialogue
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While a charitable reading of the film would say that Shyamalan directed his actors to give intentionally stilted performances
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in the same way that Jorgos Lanthimas does for his movies, it does seem far too inconsistent for that
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One never gets the impression that the actors aren't trying to give earnest performances in the service of Shyamalan's off-kilter script
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and yet the off-putting result of these efforts is a parade of weird acting that only accentuates the disturbing nature of the movie
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Master of None Aziz Ansari's dramedy series Master of None has been widely celebrated for its phenomenally perceptive writing
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superbly sharp direction, and marvellous performances, though one of its major triumphs
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was a bit of a happy accident. Protagonist devs Indian immigrant parents make a few memorable
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appearances throughout the show, and best of all they're played by Ansari's real-life parents
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Yet the pair are not professional actors in any way, and it absolutely shows throughout the series
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There's an untrained awkwardness to their delivery that makes it clear that they're reading lines rather than speaking from the heart, and yet there's a charm to that clumsiness which
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only makes their on-screen interactions with their real-life son that much more funny and poignant
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That stilted quality makes them feel like real parents genuinely trying to have a heartfelt
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conversation with their son. But because they're not used to speaking in this form, they struggle to get the words out. Dazed and Confused
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Richard Linklater's legendary coming-of-age comedy Dazed and Confused is jam-packed with on-the-rise young actors who then went on to become stars in their own right, such as Ben
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Affleck, Mila Yonovich, Matthew McConaughey, Joey Lauren Adams, and Renee Zellweger. There's a
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laid-back naturalism to most of the performances on offer, and then there's Wiley Wiggins' toe-curling
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turn as awkward freshman Mitch Kramer. Wiggins was a non-actor who was discovered by Linklater
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during production, and without getting too mean to a 15-year-old unprofessional performer
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it definitely shows. Wiggins' performance is often singled out for its cringeworthy affectations
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namely the embarrassing sequence where he attempts to flirt with Sabrina and awkwardly
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touches his nose repeatedly in an attempt to seem, well, awkward. In recent years, the director blamed
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himself for letting Wiggins touch his nose so bloody much, and while it's basically infuriating
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to watch it does feel strangely authentic for a goofy nervy weirdo like Mitch Orange is the new Black Taylor Schilling is a totally solid actress and yet her performance as protagonist Piper
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in Netflix's hit prison drama Orange is the New Black has received wildly mixed responses
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ever since the show's premiere. There was much outcry after Schilling scored a lead actress
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Emmy nod for her work in the first season, many feeling that not only was Piper the most boring
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member of the series, but that by extension Schilling's performance was nothing to write
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home about. In Schilling's defense, Piper isn't a particularly interesting character, though the actress plays her as so obnoxious as to erode all sympathy for her altogether
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With so many wonderful actors in the ensemble bringing life to the excellent characters
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Schilling's work definitely seems positively bland by comparison. Evidently, the show's creator realized this as subsequent seasons edged away from Piper's story to rove around
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the infinitely more compelling supporting cast, which was ultimately an incredibly smart move
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to ensure the show's longevity. Had they kept focus on Piper and Schilling
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it's tough to imagine Orange sticking it out for seven seasons. On Her Majesty's Secret Service
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When ranking the James Bond actors, the almost de facto last place is George Lazenby
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who suited up to play 007 just once in On Her Majesty's Secret Service. It's a criminally
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underrated entry into the Bond canon, in part because many fans weren't particularly taken
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with Lazenby's off-key performance. Lazenby, an Australian model and non-actor, was an unquestionably
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strange choice to take up the mantle from the legendary Sean Connery, and his unassured
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performance could only ever seem massively inferior by comparison. But, accepted on its own terms
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Lazenby's lack of acting experience is actually basically perfect for the sort of James Bond
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this movie gave us, which is a more vulnerable, externalised spy. This is in large part because
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Lazenby's line readings and facial expressions are totally unsubtle, rendering his 007 as an
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open book compared to the more suave composed Man's Man played by Connery. Given that On Her
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Majesty's Secret Service gave audiences the most emotionally exposed and available Bond up until
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this point, Lazenby's over-earnest, skittish performance actually ends up working pretty damn
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well, Once Upon a Time. ABC's hit fantasy series Once Upon a Time was a frothy good time both
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despite of and because it was full of questionable acting. Beyond the genuinely brilliant show-stealing
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performances from Robert Carlyle as Mr. Gold slash Rumpelstiltskin, the majority of the cast
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were firmly in phoning it in territory, admittedly working with writing that could
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politely be called as not great. One takes no pleasure in singling out a child actor
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but Jared S. Gilmore's performance as the interminably annoying Henry Mills caught a lot
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of flack in earlier seasons, even if he's simply the worst of an ensemble that's totally all over
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the place. And yet, the lack of consistency between the performances with actors swinging
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for so many disparate tones only enhanced the show's already pronounced guilty pleasure quality
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It's basically a community theatre production with a budget, a fairy tale that is underlined
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by the flailing skittishness of the ensemble cast. It's not good acting, but it's way more
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fun to watch than a more serious, self-regarding version of the show, which it definitely could
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have been. Starship Troopers Now you can get away with a lot of undisciplined acting in satire
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and Paul Verhoeven proves that beyond any doubt in his terrific sci-fi war film Starship Troopers
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Now Verhoeven's film is lauded today for its political satire with regard to American foreign policy
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and the monstrous military-industrial complex, with the use of hilariously unsubtle propaganda videos within the movie
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to hammer home that it is a mockery of a fascist, warmongering global government
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Nevertheless, Starship Troopers is often criticised for the performances of its lead actors
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especially Caspar Van Dien, Denise Richards and Jake Busey, who many have suggested were cast more for their looks than their rather lacklustre acting abilities
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But that's exactly the point. Verhoeven himself admitted that he cast the lead actors based on physical appearance over acting skill
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in an attempt to approximate the style of Nazi propaganda films, where the main actors were typically impossibly attractive examples of the allegedly superior race
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And so, it makes sense that a film about humanity exerting its own will over aliens is led by beautiful young people who are, ultimately, empty vessels where acting is concerned
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Altered Carbon Netflix prematurely cancelled Altered Carbon might be the textbook example of a style TV show beautifully shot thematically rich and yet ultimately failing to realise the full potential of its ambition
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One of the chief complaints among critics and viewers alike, though, was the mediocre
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performances from the show's leads, Joel Kinnaman in the first season and Anthony Mackie in the
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second. Both Kinnaman and Mackie are talented actors, there's no question about that, and yet
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as the re-sleeved host bodies for protagonist Takeshi Kovacs, each absolutely fails to convince
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Kinnaman's hard-boiled take on Kovacs aimed for brooding, but ended up feeling dull and wooden
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And though Mackie's subsequent portrayal felt more alive, it wasn't remotely consistent with
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the character that we were introduced to previously. And yet, this disconnect between
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the two performances ends up unintentionally playing into the show's central theme of identity
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The notion that a guy being constantly swapped into different sleeves might seem inconsistent
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and off-kilter totally works. It's just a shame that Netflix cancelled the show before season 3
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which would have most likely featured Will Young Lee as the prime Kovacs
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and basically reconciled the three performances into one. The Wicker Man The 2006 remake of the classic horror film The Wicker Man
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is one of the strangest pieces of cinema you'll ever see. Panned by critics and audiences upon release
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it additionally received five Razzie nominations, including a worst actor nod for Nicolas Cage
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Cage's performance is definitely something for sure. It's as though he took one look at the script and just said
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yeah, f*** it, delivering a bonkers madcap performance that completely uncouples the film from any sense of reality or genuine suspense
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And yet, the Wicker Man remake is also a terrible movie that would have quickly been forgotten
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were it not for Cage's campy train wreck of a performance. Instead, his cartoonish work has effectively allowed the film to live on as a trashy disaster piece
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and indeed a long-standing internet meme. Years later, Cage admitted that the film was absurd
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and claimed that his performance was intentionally over the top to that effect
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Is it good acting? Not a chance, but to the same token, it's a performance that basically transcends traditional markers of quality acting
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and thus makes sure that we bloody well remembered it. Prison Break
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Throughout the mid-2000s, Prison Break was one of the most talked about TV shows on the planet
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a deliciously ridiculous, fiendishly addictive prison drama about a man named Michael
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attempting to break his brother Lincoln out of prison before he's executed for a crime he didn't
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commit. While there are a number of genuinely strong performers on the show, namely William
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Fichtner, Peter Stormer, and Wade Williams, the two leading roles are played by Wentworth Miller
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and Dominic Purcell, with a stoic reserve bordering on self-parody. Despite the immense
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turmoil the brothers experience throughout, Miller and Purcell both underplay their parts
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to the point that it's easy to call them cardboard. By any measure, their work renders
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the show's two most important characters weirdly boring at times. And much like fellow prison show
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Orange is the New Black, the wider ensemble cast ended up surpassing them in popularity
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Yet there's something to be said for their blank slate acting technique. For starters
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it provides an entertaining contrast to the bigger performances of their fellow prisoners
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and it also feels rather in step with the show's shamelessly trashy vibe. A little more emoting
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wouldn't have hurt either actor for sure, but hearing Miller unveil the next step of his wildly
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convoluted plan with a steely dramatic whisper was nothing if not highly amusing
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Squid Game Netflix's Squid Game was the undeniable surprise TV hit, becoming the streamer's most-watched
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series ever and going on to win Golden Globe and SAG awards for the performances of its cast
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Yet, as wonderful as the ensemble's performances are, there is one aspect of the show that made
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a lot of fans turn their noses up, and that was those damn VIPs. In the show's seventh episode
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we're introduced to a group of American VIPs who are all wagering on the games
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and many viewers noted the strangely stilted quality of their masked actors' performances
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some even citing it as an example of distractingly bad acting. And while it was suggested that this
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was simply a result of the language barrier between the American cast members and Korean crew
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it's also being claimed that the disjointed performances were entirely intentional, so as to create an intentional disconnect between them and the rest of the cast
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Whether intended or not, the off-base performances are certainly effective in portraying the VIPs as stereotypically coarse, boneheaded American tourists, an amusing reversal
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of America's media tendency to portray Asian characters amid broad stereotypes. If the hammy
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acting made the gross VIPs even more off-putting, then good, you're not meant to like them