The greatest "inconsistent " actors, of all time!

[BrentLumkin]

I was just researching a few DVD's that I plan on buying soon, and I got to thinking about something. One of the DVD's that I plan on picking up this week is Pulp Fiction: Collector's Edition, and the other one that I really want to pick up is Dances With Wolves: Special Edition.

Now, both of these films are without a doubt classics, with great performances by two of the main stars, John Travolta and Kevin Costner. Both of these guys have stared in a number of great classic films, which leaves me to wonder just why in the world so many of their films bomb, or their performances just stink. That leads to this question...

...who do you feel is the greatest "inconsistent" actor/actress of all time? Not just in terms of the film's success which they are a part of, but also how well their films do as a whole.

[THAI fighter]

You want the most inconsistent actor of all time? Look no further than...

Cuba Gooding Jr.

Let's examine the good films...

Boyz N the Hood
A Few Good Men
Jerry Maguire
As Good As It Gets

Pretty solid, right?

Now...let's go over the "damage"

Rat Race
Snow Dogs
Lightning Jack
Boat Trip

It that isn't textbook inconsistency, I don't know what is.

[Buck Turgidson]

KEVIN SPACEY. The epitome of the idea. Great in one film, howlingly awful in the next.

[sleekproductions]

Samuel L. Jackson

Great/Good Movies/Performances:
Jungle Fever
Jurassic Park
Pulp Fiction
Die Hard: With a Vengence
Eve's Bayou
Jackie Brown
The Negotiator (Questionable)
Unbreakable
The Caveman's Valentine


As You Can See, The Man Has Been In A Lot Of Good Films, And Turned In A Lot Of Good Performances...

But For Every Good Performance/Movie, Take These Into Consideration:
The Exorcist III (A Very Small Part, Yet Still A Terrible Movie)
Loaded Weapon I
Amos & Andrew
Kiss of Death
Sphere
Deep Blue Sea
Rules of Engagement
Shaft
Formula 51 (The 51st State)
xXx
Basic
Star Wars Episode I & II (I Like Them, And I Know Many People Do, But His Performances Were Pretty Damn Bad. This Part Was Really Not For Him, Showing That He Is As Good As The Script Is.)

[MarkItZero]

I'm not so sure about Samuel Jackson.
To me, it seems like he acts pretty much the same in every film he is in. That is my one problem with him, it never seems like he is acting, he is just being himself and reading the lines. (which is usually pretty entertaining)

[dh1989]

Woody Allen

He's directed and starred in some great films, but many crappy ones too.

[Hannibal21]

JOHN TRAVOLTA

Good:
Saturday Night Fever
Grease
Carrie
Pulp Fiction
Phenomenon

Bad:
Battlefield Earth
Lucky Numbers
Swordfish
Domestic Disturbance

[dh1989]

Originally posted by Hannibal21
Bad: Swordfish

:(

Am I the only who who thought that was a great action/thriller? (8/10) It seems most hate it here, and I honestly don't understand why.

[JCPhoenix]

Originally posted by dh1989
:(

Am I the only who who thought that was a great action/thriller? (8/10) It seems most hate it here, and I honestly don't understand why.

I'd give it 4/10. The first 30 minutes really made me think it was gonna be great (my cousin and my best friend both at the time loved it...tho my friend later watched it again and thought it sucked the second time around), but after that it quickly got stupid, with hacking that looked like the guy was using Macromedia Flash 5 or something, and a so-called "twist" that was just randomly latched onto the end of the movie...don't get me wrong, i like twists, but i also need a setup for the twist...the only setup in the movie for the twist was in just one scene only a short time before the twist came up...i thought that was a pretty cheap shot to take.

AND, ok, we all love halle berry, but couldn't they have put her topless scene in a part that actually would be consistent? I mean, that scene was so blatantly stuck in JUST for that it was ridiculous...he walks in, out of nowhere she puts down the magazine, and wow, she's naked. they speak about nothing for 5 seconds, and that's the end of the scene...it was just such a stupid scene i was more harsh to the movie after that...

There, that's my opinion...


OH, and now for the actual subject of the thread :P

I can't think of too many, but i was thinking that Marlon Wayans seems to be BECOMING one of these "inconsistent" types of actors...he has crap like dungeons & dragons, scary movie 2 (*shiver), and the sixth man, but he also right now has one EXTREMELY amazing film which would of course be Requiem for a Dream, and a pretty funny (and great depending on your POV) movie which is of course the original Scary Movie...

But the reason i say he seems to be becoming one of these types of actors is because his next film looks like it will be great, and he seems to go back and forth between stupid movies and good movies...(his next movie is a COEN bros movie The Ladykillers with Tom Hanks...i seriously doubt he just randomly picked that project out of a hat, i think he's out to be an actor with a broad range)