The other day I happened to catch the end of Devil's Advocate while talking with CJ on AIM (he clued me in to the movie) and I made the comment that Al Pacino was the Ric Flair of movies - old, and arguably past his prime, but still capable of carrying middle of the road actors to a better performance. Keanu was definately the broomstick in that film, and I was reminded thanks to the wonders of Netflix that Tom Cruise was completely Jack Nicholson's broomstick in A Few Good Men. Everyone knows the "you can't handle the truth" line, but the speech that contained that line was one of the more awesome movie speeches of all time.

 

What other performances can you come up with where one person was completely carried by a better actor, resulting in a better performance than you thought was possible?

Edward Norton carrying everybody in American History X.

 

Michelle Pfeiffer carrying Michael Keaton in their scenes in Batman Returns.

 

Morgan Freeman carrying Brad Pitt in Se7en.

Whoopi Goldberg was in a different fucking class than everyone else in the movie Ghost. I didn't care for the movie anyway, but imagine it without her?

- Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Affleck in Changing Lanes. I don't hate Affleck as many as others, but Jackson definitely challenged him.

 

- Robin Williams and everyone else in One Hour Photo.

 

- Jamie Foxx and everyone else in Ray by default of how fantastic his performance is.

 

- Jason Patric and Jennifer Jason Leigh in Rush. I never thought much of her as an actress, but thanks to Patric, we get some solid chemistry between the two.

 

- Al Pacino and the rest of the cast in Serpico. This movie would've been totally forgettable without him.

Jason Patric is definitely underrated. Watch Sleepers, Narc or Your Friends & Neighbors. He's clearly the best actor in each of those with only Ray Liotta giving him a run for his money in Narc.

DeNiro carried Liotta in Goodfellas with Pecsi playing his Arn Anderson.

 

Pacino in Scent of a Woman. Hoo haw!

 

The little girl in Jersey Girl carried Affleck pretty well.

The little girl in Jersey Girl carried Affleck pretty well.

Dakota Fanning?

Raquel Castro, she's a cute little girl who did a pretty good job making Affleck seem like a person with emotion as opposed to a statue. I think Jersey Girl was underrated because it was a typical Kevin Smith dick and fart joke movie.

I think Jersey Girl was underrated because it was a typical Kevin Smith dick and fart joke movie.

 

Actually it *wasn't* a typical Kevin Smith dick and fart joke movie and I think that's why it's underrated. Most Kevin Smith fans don't like it because he had the nerve to make a movie outside the View Askew-niverse when they wanted to see Jay and Silent Bob, and most non Smith fans just assumed it was going to be a typical Kevin Smith dick and fart joke movie.

Sorry, that was a typo. I meant to say that it "was not a typical dick and fart joke movie".

 

It did something right. My girlfriend at the time cried a few times during it.

 

I'm a pretty big Smith fan and haven't disliked a single picture he's made. An Evening with Kevin Smith is funny as hell. The Prince story and the Superman movie story are particularilly hilarious.

This may have been mentioned before, but can you imagine My Cousin Vinny without Marisa Tomei? Joe Pesci was good, but I don't know if anyone could've replaced Tomei, particularly in her role in the courtroom.

Her Oscar was bullshit though.

 

Rutger Hauer in the Hitcher. A B-movie plot made more credible by his cold psycho.

 

Dolph Lundgren made Rocky IV. "I vill break him" and "If he dies, he dies" are classics even if the movie itself was just an advert for how great America was.

 

Bill Murray really made LiT for me. Scarlett Johansen's role could have been filled by any number of young pretty actresses, but I couldn't imagine anyone but Murray in that role.

 

Hitch is a hell of a carry job. Will Smith shouldn't attempt serious roles when he can't make good on them; he's made to be the wise cracking smart ass or ladies man.

 

Peter Sellers in Dr Strangelove.

This may have been mentioned before, but can you imagine My Cousin Vinny without Marisa Tomei?

I didn't think much of the movie, or her performance. I still can't figure out how she won an Oscar for it.

They pretty much summarised it in cartoon form on Family Guy.

 

 

Mia Farrow in Rosemary's Baby. Pretty cheesy plot in all honesty, but Farrow's growing paranoia and desparation is very well done and makes the film watchable.

Peter Sellers in Dr Strangelove.

I really fucking love that movie. I don't know why I haven't bought it yet on DVD. Sellers is downright brilliant in it, but the rest of the cast also puts in admirable performances. Maybe I'm wrong, but I can't see anyone making a movie like Dr. Strangelove in this day and age. Truly a unique piece of work.

You should've gotten it a couple weeks back when the new SE was part of the 2-for-$20 deal at BB.

 

And I agree about Farrow in Rosemary's Baby. It's definitely an out there type of story, and the supporting cast is strong, but her performance is so intense that you feel as helpless as she does the last hour or so of the movie.

Peter Sellers was great, but George C Scott's performance is what made it a classic to me.

 

"There's no fighting in the war room!"

You should've gotten it a couple weeks back when the new SE was part of the 2-for-$20 deal at BB.

It wasn't the new SE. The 40th Anniversary edition is the new SE. Best Buy had the previous SE in that 2for$20

 

Trust me on that, because I was all over it when I saw the ad. I did research first and discovered the 40th was the better disc.

You should've gotten it a couple weeks back when the new SE was part of the 2-for-$20 deal at BB.

For whatever reason, the Best Buy near me never follows suit with any of those 2 for whatever sales. Except a couple, which they already have the two DVDs packaged together. It sucks.