Overacting At Its Best

InformationGeek · February 19, 2010, 11:00:07 PM

Like the title says, what's your favorite examples of people overacting in movies? My two favorite are Armand Assante in Judge Dredd and Dr. Doom in the 1994 verison of Fantastic Four. Armand's scenes made me laugh, especially when he said law to mock Dredd and Doom's preformance was so over the top that it actually made the movie more fun to watch than I could have ever expected.

retrorussell · February 19, 2010, 11:50:05 PM

Bill Paxton hams it up rather shamelessly in a lot of his roles. He usually plays the completely crazy bad guy with a flair for theatrics.

Monster Jungle X-Ray · February 20, 2010, 04:57:41 AM

I'll have to say InformationGeek's choices are very good. Joseph Culp as Dr. Doom hit the nail on the head, and was the most enjoyable part of that film. Armand Assante chewed the scenery any time he was onscreen in Judge Dredd.

Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face in Batman Forever taking over what could have been an interesting interpretation if they used Billy Dee Williams as originally planned, and turning it into the Riddler-lite.

Ben Affleck in Chasing Amy gives perhaps the best under-overacting performance I've ever seen.

My single most favorite overacting moment of all time though is David Caruso in Session 9. If you've seen this movie you know the exact moment I am talking about

For those who haven't warning NSFW

http://www.youtube.com/watch#playnext=1&playnext_from=TL&videos=I-SKZEKLJLY&v=rwSYBMLTbWY

Time_Signature · February 20, 2010, 04:59:37 AM

Anything William Shatner has ever done.

RCMerchant · February 20, 2010, 07:56:51 AM

Quote from: Time_Signature on February 20, 2010, 04:59:37 AM
Anything William Shatner has ever done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAvRBDQqSmY

Dwight Frye as Reinfield in DRACULA (1931)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJv92VfGAaA
This guy from MANIAC (1931)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfa9XetyzIE

RCMerchant · February 20, 2010, 08:14:56 AM

I gotta add this...Lon Chaney Jr. in the TV version of FRANKENSTEIN! Supposdly he was sh!tfaced drunk on the set. Check out when he looks in the mirror-He starts to say "You sonofa-"! And tosses the kid!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt2Xz95DqjM

The director wanted Chaney to be totally mute for the part-he thought that would be spookier.. Yet this was live tv-and Chaney wanted to make him growl and grunt...but the director said "NO!" Lon did it his way anyhow!

Newt · February 20, 2010, 08:19:26 AM

Matthew Lillard as Duke Fallow, the King's nephew and Ray Liotta as Gallian, the rogue magus in Uwe Boll's In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale. Those two keep me howling with laughter. (Yes, I have watched it multiple times.

)

JaseSF · February 20, 2010, 06:12:47 PM

That TV version of Frankenstein was from Tales of Tomorrow.

Michael Ironside as Overdog in Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone. Actually Michael Ironside in most movies he appears in....

Rev. Powell · February 20, 2010, 08:34:44 PM

Quote from: RCMerchant on February 20, 2010, 07:56:51 AM
This guy from MANIAC (1931)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nfa9XetyzIE

Yup, that guy's eactly who came to mind when I read the title of this thread.

Shadow · February 20, 2010, 09:51:27 PM

Jeremy Irons in Dungeons and Dragons. Yikes. Talk about over the top.

Time_Signature · February 21, 2010, 05:14:24 AM

Quote from: Shadow on February 20, 2010, 09:51:27 PM
Jeremy Irons in Dungeons and Dragons. Yikes. Talk about over the top.

I was thinking of that. In some of the behind-the-scenes footage, he doesn't seem to be too happy about the whole situation. The female lead in the same movie also tends to overact, but she's not good at it and just comes off as a bad actor. There's some seriously sucky overacting in "D-Wars", too.

I think Uma Thurman's portrayal of Medusa in "Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief" is an example of overacting which balances on the boundary between being totally ridiculous and campy and being effective and appropriate. Fortunately, she manages to stay within the latter :-)

Trevor · February 23, 2010, 10:35:28 AM

Joss Ackland as Arjen Rudd in Lethal Weapon 2. So over the top, it was over the cliff.

zombie no.one · February 23, 2010, 10:53:28 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6iJRNHUOT4

Flick James · February 23, 2010, 11:23:37 AM

How about that classic scene in "An Officer and a Gentleman?"

"I GOT NOWHERE ELSE TO GO!!!!!!"

JaseSF · February 23, 2010, 04:51:24 PM

Surprised no one's mentioned Jack Nicholson, who's definitely over the top in many roles, or Vincent Price, who's certainly been quite the ham on occasion...much as I still love to see him in anything.