CAN YOU HEAR ME? I'M OVERACTING! SOME GREAT ACTORS DO IT AND WIN AWARDS FOR IT. SOME BAD ACTORS DO IT BECAUSE THEY DON'T KNOW ANY BETTER. IN SHORT, EVERYBODY DOES IT. SO LET'S TALK ABOUT IT. GIVE ME YOUR TOP 5 BEST OVERACTING PERFORMANCES.
HERE ARE MIIIIINNNNNEEEEE!!!!!!!
1. Michael Douglas in Black Rain. "I usually like to get kissed before I get fucked!"
2. Sean Penn in Mystic River. "She's my own little daughter, and I can't even cry for her!"
3. Nicolas Cage in Snake Eyes. "This is fight night and I am the king."
4. Jodi Foster in Nell. "Trouble go away at nigh', an' Nell caw Mi'i - an' Nell an' Mi'i - ye', Nell an' Mi'i - like t'ee in the way!"
5. Al Pacino in Scent Of A Woman. "HOOOO HAAAAAA. I'm just getting warmed up!"
My favorite Cage line from Snake Eyes is one I actually use myself occasionally: "There he is! There is the man whose life I want!!"
ReplyDeleteMy favorite overacting performance has to be Gary Oldman in The Professional: "Bring me everyone ... EVRRRYYYYONNNNNNE!!!!"
I know it was for the pic and not on the list, but is it possible to overact when playing the devil?
ReplyDeleteAdam - Gary Oldman can not overact - he can only act very, very well.
My list:
Nic Cage in The Wicker Man
Nic Cage in Face/Off
Nic Cage in Con Air
Nic Cage in Matchstick Men
Nic Cage in...
Oh wait, this wasn't a "Nic Cage only" list, was it? Shit...
How about Gloria Swanson in Sunset Blvd? Yeah, I said it.
Damnit, Adam! When I saw the title of this post and hadn't read a word of it, Oldman was who I thought of. He's the greatest overactor of our generation - and yet, rewatching Batman Begins the other day, I was struck by how much restraint he shows.
ReplyDeleteBy "best" overacting, you mean "awful", right?
Willem Dafoe - Speed 2
Billy Zane - Titanic
Halle Berry - Catwoman
Shatner, naturally
Richard Dreyfuss - most anything
I do the entire Gary Oldman thing. I shake the drugs in the little bottle right up by my ear, I crack my neck and then I say "Evvvverrrrryooooone!" No one gets it, but I still love it.
ReplyDeleteFletch,
I was ready to do an entire post on Al Pacino.
Burbanked,
Best means Worst. Right.
When I read Shatner, naturally I thought Shat, Natch. I like the sound of that.
And Richard Dreyfus is good.
Has Shatner written his autobiography yet? He should totally title it Shat, Natch.
ReplyDeleteGod I'm a cliched gay by offering up Elizabeth Berkley in Showgirls, aren't I? But I love that terrible performance with every fiber of my being.
Nicholas Cage - WICKER MAN
ReplyDeleteAl Pacino - SCENT OF A WOMAN
Faye Dunaway - MOMMIE DEAREST
Jack Nicholson - THE DEPARTED
Sean Penn - I AM SAM (just for milking every last bit of bathos from the role.)
One word for ya.
ReplyDeleteKHAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNN!
Shoot me if thou wilst, but I love that bit in the credits for "Liar, Liar" when Swoosie shouts - "Overactor!!!"
ReplyDelete"You are out of order. You are out of order. The whole court room is out of order."
ReplyDeletePacino in "And Justice For All"
Nicholson on the stand in "A Few Good Men."
Burt Reynolds in "Striptease."
I have some more.
ReplyDeleteChristopher Walken in most everything.
Donald Pleasence in Halloween. "He's gone, the evil's gone!"
Charlton Heston in Planet Of The Apes "Get your hands off me you damn dirty apes!"
I've never used so many exclamation points in my life.
Ditto on Joan Crawford in "Mommie Dearest" - also Diana Scarwid in same.
ReplyDeleteDunaway: "Christina, WHY can't you give me the RESPECT that I would get from ANY STRANGER ON THE STREET?"
Scarwid: "Because... I am not.. one ...of ... your FAAAAAANS!!!!"
Oh...i agree on Jack for the Departed.
ReplyDeleteI love me some Pacino, but the one that always gets me is "Heat"- "cuz she's got a GREAT ASS! and you got your head, ALL THE WAY UP IT."
ReplyDeleteJust last week at 1am (umm late church services?) I muttered the beginning line and about 4 people at my table finished it up. That's when you know something has officially entered the overacting lexicon.
Also Pacino in Heat: GIVE ME WHAT YOU GOT! GIVE ME WHAT YOU GOT!
ReplyDeleteHa!! Oh my, Cage was bad in Snake Eyes. That line is riiiidiculous!!
ReplyDeleteMay I add Brad Pitt in 12 Monkeys to these other great choices.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think Pacino in Scent of a Woman should take the top honors.
"Personally, I think Pacino in Scent of a Woman should take the top honors."
ReplyDeleteOh, that does it. "If I were half the man I was five years ago I'd take a flame-thrower to this place!!"
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ReplyDelete