Can casting totally crush what could have been an awesome movie?

[ramairthree]

I am not talking about personal opinions of actors.

I do not like Tom Cruise but he can deliver some charisma and box office profits.

I think Val Kilmer in his day was an insanely good actor and hate to admit admit it but George Clooney can seriously act as well. So could Keaton and so can Christian Bale, but people have various opinions on Batman.

Anyways, I went to see Terminator yesterday. Theater was all but empty. This movie must be seriously under performing. I did not think the movie sucked.
But, some b team player as John Conner? Christ, what were they thinking? And Kyle Reese? For real. Because everyone in the future is running around At about six four and hitting the gym and has zero trace of poor socialization, lack of school, carving out a life desperately day to day. And zero reverse crazy father son chemistry between the two.

The only lesser chemistry was between Reese and Sarah Conner. It was like a gay dude at a strip joint for their chemistry.

Any ways, I remember in the first movie Sarah seemed actually vulnerable, cared, and then in the second truly pulled off the scarred, haunted, role. And Reese was jacked up and not quite all there. A fanatic with beyond ptsd desperate to do his mission.

The casting seemed really off for the third movie to me as well as this one.

Anyways, what other movies do you think totally missed casting wise?

You know, the expendables movies with not have worked with the guys from magnum pi, the a team, and mcguyver. Something just has to work actor and chemistry wise.

[AKDoug]

They totally jacked up Jack Reacher by casting Cruise. It also missed the beat in other ways, but that was the big one for me.

[Matthew]

I agree with you completely. For example, could anyone else REALLY portray the adult Charles Xavier as perfectly as Patrick Stewart? I doubt it.

Yes, Tom Cruise is a nut, but he is an excellent and entertaining actor. I will watch a movie with him in it, simply because it's very, very likely to be decent if not excellent.

For me, Christian Bale was the best Batman thus far, but to your point about casting, look what happened when they had to replace Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. Maggie Gyllenhaal? No, sorry. Poor, poor choice.

Brilliant, spot on casting? Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, Harrison Ford as Han Solo and Indiana Jones.

Here's a near disaster, Burt Reynolds was offered the role of Han Solo...

But when it comes to how an actor comes across and performs and interacts with their co-stars, much of that has to do with the director. If the director isn't there, telling them how to come across, how to feel, how to engage one another, then you end up with zero chemistry.

Or Star Wars Episodes II and III with Hayden Christenson, thanks George.

Or Denise Richards in The World Is Not Enough. Or Kevin Costner in Robin Hood. Sofia Coppola in Godfather III. Jack Black in King Kong. Rosie O'Donnell in The Flintstones...or anything for that matter. Ted Danson in Saving Private Ryan.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Individual casting can be bad but the kiss of death is:

'ensemble cast'

Which means they spent all the money on actors and nothing on the script and production.

[Averageman]

Jar Jar Binks.
I rest my case.

[ramairthree]

They totally jacked up Jack Reacher by casting Cruise. It also missed the beat in other ways, but that was the big one for me.

Yeah, I thought preacher was supposed to be more of an unnaturally large and strong, but never go to the gym not good looking sort. Not a little pretty boy.

[SteyrAUG]

Yes, Colin Farrel and Jamie Foxx are a big part of why Miami Vice was so terrible.

[JBecker 72]

Yes, Colin Farrel and Jamie Foxx are a big part of why Miami Vice was so terrible.

I generally like Jamie Foxx though.

Oh and Bale was the best Batman by a long shot IMO. As was Heath Ledger as Joker. Nolan did a kick ass job on all 3 Dark Knight movies.

As for casting misses there are too many to count, but Clooney was a horrible Batman, that one sticks out to me as one of the all time worst performances.

[SteyrAUG]

I generally like Jamie Foxx though.

Oh and Bale was the best Batman by a long shot IMO. As was Heath Ledger as Joker. Nolan did a kick ass job on all 3 Dark Knight movies.

As for casting misses there are too many to count, but Clooney was a horrible Batman, that one sticks out to me as one of the all time worst performances.

I like Foxx too, he was great in Collateral. He just made a horrible Tubbs. In fact almost everyone in Miami Vice was horribly cast. I actually hated Trudy and Gina. Of course the worst was casting Gong Li (and I'm a huge fan of her stuff) as a Cuban? So either she was supposed to be actually Cuban (hispanic) for a giant WTF or she was supposed to be a Cuban raised Asian who just happened to be part of a huge narco operation which is another giant WTF? They also managed to make her look like shit despite being an incredibly attractive female.

The entire movie was a giant mess. Instead of being Michael Mann's crowning achievement, which it could have easily been, it ended up being one of the worst things he ever did. The only thing that wasn't terrible was the new theme music, and trust me I'm partial to the original theme music so I'm being incredibly objective with my opinions of this film.

Could agree more regarding Bale and Ledger as the best Batman and Joker...ever. Clooney generally sucks at everything. Val Kilmer was a pretty horrible Batman as well.

[BoringGuy45]

Casting most often crushes movies when the movie is no more than a vehicle for the cast. The vast majority of Johnny Depp movies suffer from this: Almost every one is an excuse to cast him as a neurotic weirdo in freaky white makeup (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Alice in Wonderland, Dark Shadows, etc). Another example is The Tourist. Basically, it was an overdone premise with a twist ending I saw coming from the very beginning that was marketed as "It stars Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. What else did you want?" The vast majority of movie watchers want a good movie; they couldn't give a crap who was starting in the movie so long as the actor pulls it off well.