Embarrassing scenes in otherwise decent films (2024)

'Mystic River' isn't a great film, but the scene with Laura Linney and Sean Penn is truly terrible.

[quote]Their daddy's a king. And a king knows what to do and does it. Even when it's hard. And their daddy will do whatever he has to for those he loves. And that's all that matters.

Horrible acting, horrible writing.

by Anonymousreply 68August 19, 2020 9:39 PM

Mikey Rooney's scenes in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

by Anonymousreply 1October 21, 2015 2:08 PM

The lesbian makeout scene in 'Birdman.'

by Anonymousreply 2October 21, 2015 2:10 PM

Brad Pitt as the Great White Hope in [italic]12 Years a Slave[/italic] comes to mind.

by Anonymousreply 3October 23, 2015 3:51 PM

If I'm not mistaken, that speech by Laura Linney is almost verbatim from the novel. That being sad, I thought it was ridiculous, too.

by Anonymousreply 4October 23, 2015 4:17 PM

R4 did it work better in the book? The movie didn't establish her as a Lady MacBeth type. She didn't have much chemistry with Penn either. I like her but she reads as middle class or even upper class, not working class. She was miscast it the movie.

by Anonymousreply 5October 23, 2015 4:50 PM

In The Devil Wears Prada, when AnnE's friends scold her at the party. It's so After School Special stupid I cringed.

by Anonymousreply 6October 23, 2015 5:28 PM

R5, in the book there's a conversation (which wasn't in the film) Linney's character is having with the cop (the one played in the film by Kevin Bacon) which makes the latter scene much more in character.

by Anonymousreply 7October 23, 2015 6:37 PM

IS MY OSCAR IN THERE????? IS MY OSCAR IN THERE?????

IS MY OSCAR IN THERE?????

GAAAAAAAAAAUGH!!!!!!!!

by Anonymousreply 8October 23, 2015 7:42 PM

Every scene that Keanu Reeves is in.

by Anonymousreply 9October 23, 2015 7:47 PM

There's also a scene in the novel where Celeste (Marcia Gay Harden) confronts Sean Penn at the funeral home regarding her husband's death. I think this is much better than her simpering and acting the fool at the parade at the end of the film.

by Anonymousreply 10October 23, 2015 8:16 PM

Patty Duke wailing in the alley in Valley of the Dolls.

by Anonymousreply 11October 23, 2015 8:24 PM

Barbara Stanwyck hitting on Richard Chamberlain in The Thornbirds.

by Anonymousreply 12October 23, 2015 8:26 PM

The Breakfast Club, when Ally Sheedy's goth girl character sells her soul and puts on the clothes from Seventeen Magazine. The movie suddenly takes a turn towards The Stepford Wives: 90210.

by Anonymousreply 13October 23, 2015 9:08 PM

Heath Ledger when he was huffing that shirt.

by Anonymousreply 14October 23, 2015 9:14 PM

Every scene in Deathproof that didn't involve a car chase.

by Anonymousreply 15October 23, 2015 9:15 PM

I don't blame Linney really. Her character is the book is really the most terrifying of all of them in the end. But the character is barely in the film, so that scene comes out of nowhere. I know that the film was widely praised, but I thought Eastwood - with his slow, pedantic direction - and the screenwriter blew it. Eastwood is best with very simple stories, not complex narratives with multiple, intertwined storylines (don't get me started on how he screwed up MIDNIGHT IN THE GARDEN OF GOOD AND EVIL).

I also thought Linney and Harden should have switched roles, but I guess Eastwood assumed - rightly - that doing so would result in the actresses cast the roles you expect them to do as opposed to mixing it up a bit. Unfortunately, it didn't work out as neither actress comes off well in the film.

Although Tim Robbins 2-note mopey performance was really the worst of all. Even Penn's over-emoting wasn't as bad.

by Anonymousreply 16October 23, 2015 10:23 PM

I agree r9. Keanu in Dracula was particulary embarrassing to watch in the scene where he 'reacts' to the female vampires eating a baby. It was supposed to be horrifying but his reaction was just so bad he made it funny.

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by Anonymousreply 17October 23, 2015 10:26 PM

R16, I saw the film and then I read the novel. After reading the novel, I felt Sean Penn and Tim Robbins should have switched roles. THAT would have been more interesting to me.

by Anonymousreply 18October 24, 2015 1:22 AM

[quote]The Breakfast Club, when Ally Sheedy's goth girl character sells her soul and puts on the clothes from Seventeen Magazine.

I don't agree that she sold her soul. Molly Ringwald's character made her up to look that way. We don't know that she stayed that way. She could have returned to goth come Monday.

by Anonymousreply 19October 24, 2015 1:51 AM

"Is it raining? I hardly noticed."

by Anonymousreply 20October 24, 2015 2:08 AM

I've never understood the hate for the Laura Linney scene in Mystic River; I thought it was actually one of the better moments in an otherwise overwraught film, with Penn giving one of the worst Oscar-winning performances I've ever seen.

by Anonymousreply 21October 24, 2015 3:05 AM

When Glenn goes all Jason voorhes at the end of fatal attraction. She was a tortured soul not a psychopath. American audiences are so basic.

by Anonymousreply 22October 24, 2015 4:57 AM

R22 Glenn hated it too. Though I have to admit, I don't like the original ending either. I don't really think there was a satisfying ending.

by Anonymousreply 23June 4, 2020 5:19 AM

Trying on costumes while "Brown eyed girl" plays in "Sleeping With the Enemy."

by Anonymousreply 24June 4, 2020 5:20 AM

Madonna's crying scene in A League of Their Own.

by Anonymousreply 25June 4, 2020 5:25 AM

It felt like an obligatory scene in Mystic River was left on the cutting room floor. I didn't quite 'get' LL and Sean Penn's dynamic. Linney had to deliver a really unrealistic speech, and pulled it off IMO.

by Anonymousreply 26June 4, 2020 5:46 AM

Can’t even remember it exactly, but the Scooby-Doo-like montage in A Few Good Men when Demi, Tom and I don’t remember who else were putting in overtime to put all the pieces together.

Schlock.

I hated Reiner as a director from that moment on.

by Anonymousreply 27June 4, 2020 5:49 AM

I won’t condemn Keanu to being embarrassing in every film, but I do find something very contemporary about him, which causes him to standout awkwardly in period films. The primary example being Dangerous Liaisons, especially being surrounded by so many other excellent actors who blended seamlessly into the period.

by Anonymousreply 28June 4, 2020 6:48 AM

Antonio Banderas attempting to play gay in that one scene in Femme Fatale...or Romjin saying "I'm a bad girl...real bad...rotten to the heart".

by Anonymousreply 29June 4, 2020 7:07 AM

Linney was AWFUL in this movie. She must have needed the money.

by Anonymousreply 30July 25, 2020 2:44 PM

Why the FUCK did I have to see this thread. I have not thought about this GARBAGE film in years.

Sean Penn gave the most horrific and over the top performance EVER. What garbage. His learning about his daughter has me HOWLING.

This entire film is an embarrassment and somehow makes me hate Boston more than I already do.

Linney was better than Penn, and that's not saying much.

Overwrought film, overwrought acting- Just garbage.

by Anonymousreply 31July 25, 2020 2:49 PM

[quote]Mystic River' isn't a great film, but the scene with Laura Linney

Linney was miscast in the role and completely wrong for the role. She was the weakest link in the film.

by Anonymousreply 32July 25, 2020 2:54 PM

Agree with R9, and especially in Much Ado About Nothing. It’s such a fun movie, but the casting of Keanu as Denzel Washington’s villainous brother is totally beyond baffling.

I hope he gave Kenneth Branagh the fuck of his life because otherwise, there’s absolutely no excuse for his casting.

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by Anonymousreply 33July 25, 2020 2:56 PM

The rape scene in Showgirls. I was laughing until then.

by Anonymousreply 34July 25, 2020 3:00 PM

R6 I agree! One was a gallery owner & the bf worked for a celebrity chief - two jobs that ment they, too, would have no life.

by Anonymousreply 35July 25, 2020 3:02 PM

[quote] Every scene in Deathproof that didn't involve a car chase.

Exactly. The bizarre way Tarantino fetishizes women, I’m surprised he’s not a trans.

by Anonymousreply 36July 25, 2020 3:10 PM

[quote] Linney was miscast in the role and completely wrong for the role.

Really? BOTH of those things?

by Anonymousreply 37July 25, 2020 3:11 PM

R11 has failed to realize that the scene he instances is in fact the culmination of everything that is delicious about Valley of the Dolls.

It isn't just bad, R11, it DEFINES the kind of bad that drama queens and bored professional critics pray for.

by Anonymousreply 38July 25, 2020 3:15 PM

[quote] Really? BOTH of those things?

Give me a break. I just woke up and haven't had my morning allotment of caffeine yet.

Linney was too "matter-of-fact" for the role. It should have been played by a young version of Michelle Pfeiffer or someone who could pull off sexy and submissive. Linney is not someone you want to think about having sex with. The character is a woman who needs to use sexuality to get by in life. Had they properly cast that role, the scenes with the wife and Sean Penn would have played better.

by Anonymousreply 39July 25, 2020 3:24 PM

[quote]Mystic River' isn't a great film, but the scene with Laura Linney and Sean Penn is truly terrible. ... Their daddy's a king. And a king knows what to do and does it. Even when it's hard. And their daddy will do whatever he has to for those he loves. And that's all that matters. Horrible acting, horrible writing.

So don't agree. My friend actually called me right after seeing it to rave and rant about that scene and how much he hated Linney's character because of it. We got to meet her and tell her the story of how upset he was with that scene, she was lovely.

by Anonymousreply 40July 25, 2020 3:31 PM

In Outbreak during the helicopter chase scene there is a sound effect that has always bothered me. The two helicopters narrowly avoid a crash and some genius decided to add a PLUCK sound as they almost collide. Outbreak is not The Godfather but it’s not a Tom & Jerry cartoon either. A really good movie that got sloppy in the second half. Idiotic. See around 3:00.

Also, the rednecks trying to escape the town are precursors to Karens and Trumpers.

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by Anonymousreply 41July 25, 2020 3:35 PM

Just watched the "Is that my daughter?" scene on YouTube for the first time. Awful.

by Anonymousreply 42July 25, 2020 3:40 PM

It's probably some form of gay male heresy to even think this, but I HATE this scene from "Philadelphia". Pure cringe. I wanted to crawl under the seat in the movie theater and cover my eyes and ears until somebody made it stop.

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by Anonymousreply 43July 25, 2020 3:49 PM

The ending of Wall Street. Daryl Hannah was the worst thing about that film

by Anonymousreply 44July 25, 2020 3:51 PM

Speaking of Boston: The Town was a very good film except for an embarrassingly awful performance by Ben Affleck.

Hunching up your shoulders and yelling is not acting.

At least he was consistent, he was terrible throughout the entire movie.

by Anonymousreply 45July 25, 2020 3:53 PM

[quote]Just watched the "Is that my daughter?" scene on YouTube for the first time. Awful.

It played better on the big screen.

by Anonymousreply 46July 25, 2020 3:55 PM

This one is easy. All About Eve is one of the best scripts ever written, but the scene where Gary Merrill has the big monologue about "the Thea-tuh" is the most cringe-inducing couple of minutes on film. It's pretty over-the-top writing to begin with, but a more talented actor could have pulled it off. With him, it is just awful.

by Anonymousreply 47July 25, 2020 3:57 PM

R47 Definitely. He was pretty awful and that scene was the nadir. I think he’s in another Davis film, “Another Man’s Poison”, where is as mannered and clunky as he was in All About Eve. On the set, Davis and Merrill were pretty miserable to be around, according to an account by Celeste Holme in Vanity Fair and a book I read called something like “All About All About Eve”.

by Anonymousreply 48July 25, 2020 4:12 PM

R43 I knew which scene you meant even before I clicked on your link.

by Anonymousreply 49July 27, 2020 1:59 AM

[quote]Just watched the "Is that my daughter?" scene on YouTube for the first time. Awful.

He might as well screamed

IS THAT MY OSCAR IN THERE?????????????

IS

THAT

MY

OSCAR

IN

THERRRRRRRRRRRRE!?????

by Anonymousreply 50July 27, 2020 2:00 AM

Actually, I would take any of Merrill's scenes over the under-acting of Hugh Marlowe and the overwrought Anne Baxter.

by Anonymousreply 51July 27, 2020 2:11 AM

I love the movie "Fargo", but that scene with Frances McDormand and the Asian man was just cringeworthy.

by Anonymousreply 52July 27, 2020 2:11 AM

R50. And it was!

by Anonymousreply 53July 27, 2020 2:19 AM

R48 I suspect Celeste Holm (not the spelling) was a pill to be around. She never really rose above supporting player, was not renewed as Ado Annie after her contract was up because she was difficult to work with and called out with too much frequency for someone as new to Broadway as she was and was often replaced before openings by much more talented actresses like Karen Morrow and Holland Taylor. Her final (of many) marriages was to s gay man young enough to be her grandson.

I doubt her reliability as a source.

by Anonymousreply 54July 27, 2020 2:25 AM

The “GIVE US FREE!!!” or whatever scene in the courtroom in Amistad. Spielberg just can’t resist that crap. Not a huge fan of the “I could’ve done more” scene at the end of Schindler’s List either.

by Anonymousreply 55July 27, 2020 2:27 AM

Clint Eastwood films are an embarrassment. Period.

by Anonymousreply 56July 27, 2020 2:58 AM

[quote]I suspect Celeste Holm (not the spelling) was a pill to be around. She never really rose above supporting player, was not renewed as Ado Annie after her contract was up because she was difficult to work with and called out with too much frequency for someone as new to Broadway

That's not true. Shelley Winters says in her book that she had a run of show contract when she went into Oklahoma, but she was asked to step aside so that Celeste Holm could close the show.

Then later on in her career, she stepped in as a replacement as Anna in "The King & I" and Mame in "Mame". Additionally, she did revivals of "Anna Christie" where she played Anna and "Candida" where she payed Candida. So she did rise above supporting player.

by Anonymousreply 57July 27, 2020 4:32 AM

Who are these men??!? I wanted to be a NURSE!!!!

by Anonymousreply 58July 27, 2020 4:35 AM

Sally Field’s cemetery scene in Steel Magnolias. I was cringing and saying “No, no”, too, but for different reasons.

by Anonymousreply 59July 27, 2020 8:34 AM

[quote] This entire film is an embarrassment and somehow makes me hate Boston more than I already do.

I don’t hate Boston as a whole but I’m kind of repulsed by stories about Boston working class white trash. Just not a milieu that I have any interest in or sympathy for. Take your big, sloppy emotions and codes of loyalty elsewhere.

I’m really not usually a snob like that but something about Southie kind of people, yuck.

by Anonymousreply 60July 27, 2020 10:39 AM

[quote] Agree with [R9], and especially in Much Ado About Nothing. It’s such a fun movie, but the casting of Keanu as Denzel Washington’s villainous brother is totally beyond baffling.

I saw the film when it first came out. Early in the movie, Keanu's character says, "I am not of many words," and the audience literally laughed and applauded. I’ll never forget that.

by Anonymousreply 61July 27, 2020 10:47 AM

Re Much Ado, call me shallow, but I, like Branagh, believe Keanu’s hotness in the film made up for what he may have lacked. I did buy his causal cruelty though.

Eh, I’m easy.

by Anonymousreply 62July 27, 2020 11:07 AM

The scene in Showgirls....no wait.

by Anonymousreply 63July 27, 2020 11:53 AM

You know R43, being stoned out of my gourd REALLY helped that scene.

by Anonymousreply 64July 27, 2020 12:31 PM

I recently re-watched "Silence of the Lambs" after decades and man, Jodie Foster is absolutely RIDICULOUS in it.

by Anonymousreply 65July 27, 2020 12:34 PM

Unbreakable was a steaming pile of shit so it doesn’t really belong here but it would be wrong not to mention the “put the gun down” scene.

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by Anonymousreply 66July 27, 2020 12:58 PM

R65 I thought she was pretty good. Which parts didn't you like?

by Anonymousreply 67August 19, 2020 9:36 PM

Carey Mulligan's "singing" in this scene from Shame is unbearable. The director is trying to portray how broken she and her brother are and how they have "survived". I wanted to throw a chair at her. Being molested is no excuse for horrible singing!!!

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by Anonymousreply 68August 19, 2020 9:39 PM
Embarrassing scenes in otherwise decent films (2024)

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