AfterAl Pacinoconfessed in his memoirSonny Boythathe starred in movies he didn’t relate tobecause of money problems, the question arises -is this true for most Oscar winners who’ve starred in terrible movies?While it could be a combination of needing money or staying in the limelight, they’re also just people, and it’s possible for them to make the wrong call when picking a movie. A lot of the time, they have high expectations of the execution, and often invest their own money if they believe in the story enough.
While some movies wereso bad that even their directors disowned them, the most disappointing movies starring Oscar winners may not be all that terrible;they could just be below the standard audiences and critics are used to. After all, an Oscar is a prestigious award, and winners are expected to get the best roles, but sometimes these expectations are the reason for failure. Al Pacino has had his share of bad movies since 2011, but who has joined him in that club?
10’The Monuments Men' (2014)
Starring Cate Blanchett, George Clooney, and Matt Damon
As many as four Oscar winners starred inThe Monuments Men, a story aboutan unlikely platoon of US soldiers during WWII tasked with retrieving stolen art piecesfrom Germany.George Clooneyco-wrote, directed, and starred inThe Monuments Men; he became a two-time Oscar winner before this movie, forSyrianaandArgo. Clooney is joined by longtime collaboratorMatt Damon, winner of the best screenplay Oscar forGood Will Hunting,Cate Blanchett, winner of two Oscars, andJean Dujardin, one-time best actor winner.
Such a stellar and well-awarded cast joined forces in a somewhat okay movie. It’s like a"Clooney & friends" historical drama with hints of a caper crime and an ensemble comedy. With the attempt to makeThe Monuments MentheOcean’s Elevenof World War II, the seriousness of the topic (which happened in real life) was slightly diminished. Without looking at those elements based on reality, this movie could be fun. However, for all of these Oscar winners, it’s just disappointing.
The Monuments Men
Watch on Hulu
9’Hide and Seek' (2005)
Starring Robert De Niro
People enjoy talking trash aboutRobert De Niro’sHide and Seek. When someone is that experienced and sought out, their career can normally have some misfires; they can also be a two-time Oscar winner, like de Niro. Many would argueBad Grandpais worse thanHide and Seek, but it at least knows it’s a cheeky feature with some clichés.Hide and Seektried to be a bold psychological thriller with an interesting, unexpected twist, but ends up a clumsy attempt at that, though no one can say Robert De Niro orDakota Fanning, who plays his daughter, were terrible in it.
Hide and Seekfollows psychologist David Callaway, who moves to upstate New York with his daughter Emily after the death of his wife, Emily’s mother.Emily starts playing with an imaginary friend, Charlie, and unusual events start happeningwhenever she brings him up. The plot twist is both predictable and not, but it was unanimously voted as poorly executed; critics and fans alike sayHide and Seekmanages to build tension up until the point when everything is revealed. It relied too hard on making the twist its crescendo, that it simplyabandoned the rest of the movie, like an unfinished painting.
Hide and Seek
Watch on Apple TV+
8’Movie 43' (2013)
Starring Emma Stone, Naomi Watts, and Kate Winslet
Movie 43was a joke, but it was meant to be one. It’s an anthology comprised of fourteen different stories, all directed by different people, and full of incredibly talented acting names. BesidesKate WinsletandEmma Stone, two brilliant best actress Oscar winners,the movie is full of other award winners and Oscar nominees, likeHugh JackmanandNaomi Watts, to name a couple.Movie 43counted on these people to star in somethingoutside their usual landscape, but instead of allowing them to be edgy and funny, most of the stories in the movie rely on awful gags and unfunny bits.
Roger EbertcriticRichard RoeperdescribedMovie 43the best, saying that, “ProducerPeter Farrellysomehow coaxed more than a dozen A-list stars and talented character actors into appearing ina series of aggressively tasteless scenes loosely strung together.” While Kate Winslet has displayed a great sense of humor over the years, her funniest performance was inRicky Gervais’Extras; if anyone really wants to see that side of her, watch that episode instead of the entirety ofMovie 43. Because of its specific kind of humor, the disappointment inMovie 43was expected, but not at the level it actually produced.
Watch on Plex
7’Hick' (2011)
Starring Eddie Redmayne
A lot of things can be said aboutHick, but not that it’s good. Although it came beforeThe Theory of EverythingforEddie Redmayne, he’d most likely prefer that film to be forgotten as a lead up to one of his greatest performances. In a way,it’s actually a testament of improvement for Redmayne, where he went from playing an unstable drifter in love with a 13-year-old girl to portraying a real-life scientific scholar.Hickwas adapted from a novel of the same name, which received universal acclaim; the movie got the opposite treatment, with5% critic approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Hick follows 13-year-old Luli (Chloë Grace Moretz), a runaway girl whowishes to reach Las Vegas from Nebraska and meets various types of people on her journey. She hitches a ride with Eddie (Eddie Redmayne), an erratic man who can’t leave Luli alone; over time, he becomes intensely infatuated with her. Luli also encounters other people during her roadtrip, like Glenda (Blake Lively), a woman equally erratic to Eddie, and folks who only seem to want to hurt her. While this road trip is a life lesson for Luli, it’s very depressing and not that well executed.
Watch on Peacock
6’Air Strike' (2018)
Starring Adrien Brody
Air Strike, also known asThe Bombing, is more or less an unknown movie, but that’s because it’s a Chinese production that went straight to home video in the US. HowAdrien BrodyandBruce Willisended up in this movie can only be attributed to some sort of necessity. Adrien Brody won an Oscar forThe Pianist, a movie that put him on an elite list of the best of the best actors to hire, soAir Strike’s directorXiao Fengvery likely thought Brody’s appearance would make that sort of impact.
Air Strikerevolves around the Chinese Air Force fighting off attacks of the Japanese Army during the Sino-Japanese War;the events of the movie focus on the Battles of Shanghai and Nanjing, and the efforts of the Chinese army to deter the Japanese attacks. Adrien Brody appears briefly, but is still pasted on the movie’s official poster next to Bruce Willis. The movie was critically panned; even the audiences hated it. From goofy VFX to unwatchable dialogue, it didn’t really help that the movie cost $65 million or thatMel Gibsonserved as the art director.
Air Strike
Watch on Tubi
5’Babylon A.D.' (2008)
Starring Michelle Yeoh
A movie disowned by its director,Babylon A.D., was meant to be one of a kind, but ended up being just another dystopian sci-fi thriller trying to dissect the human condition and class differences. The movie starsVin Dieselas the protagonist, Toorop, who must escort a young Russian girl, Rebeka, to America; he doesn’t realizeshe’s actually a biological weapon and that they’re being simultaneously chased by a dangerous groupthat wants to use the girl for evil.Michelle Yeoh, cinema legend and Best Actress Oscar winner, appears inBabylon A.D.as a nun and Rebeka’s carer who travels with her and Toorop.
French directorMathieu Kassovitzwrote and directed Babylon A.D., whichVarietycritic Jordan Mintzer noted wasmeant to have a similar impact toChildren of Men.Most critics agreed that the movie had sluggish action sequences and a hollow storyline, which Michelle Yeoh’s charm and talent couldn’t really save. The documentary titledFucking Kassovitzshows the chaotic process of filmingBabylon A.D.and how Kassovitz’s vision was dissected by the studio to the point of no recognition for him.
Babylon A.D.
4’Dark Tide' (2012)
Starring Halle Berry
Halle Berry’s career took some wild turns after receiving the Best Actress Oscar forMonster’s Ball; first, it wasCatwoman, potentially the worst iteration of the sexy Batman villain, and years later, it wasDark Tide, which boasts a rare0% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In one ofthe worst thrillers of the last 25 years, Halle Berry portrays a shark expert and diver whose career takes a downturn. When bills start piling up, she reluctantly agrees to take a billionaire and his son to a cage-free shark dive.
While Halle Berry’s prowess as an action hero is commendable, she remains in great shape and has the potential to be one of the greatest action stars of today, the scripts she keeps receiving are much less than ideal.Dark Tideis a deep ocean-based mess that’s hard to believe and even harder to cheer for; it feels more like a shallow, lukewarm puddle.The Guardian critic Peter Bradshawwrote, “The sharks themselves are the only ones to emerge with credit from this.”
A shark expert, haunted by a tragic incident, is lured back to the deep waters for a risky venture. With tensions rising and danger lurking beneath the surface, she must confront her fears and the predatory creatures that threaten their expedition.
3’Dolittle' (2020)
Starring Robert Downey Jr., Emma Thompson, and Rami Malek
Not one or two but three Oscar winners,Robert Downey Jr.Emma Thompson, andRami Malekcouldn’t saveDolittlefrom itself. The story was based on writerHugh Lofting’s character, Doctor Dolittle, who can understand and speak to animals. Such a beloved character was depicted in other iterations, but the latest one byStephen Gaghan(Syriana) failed miserably both at the box office and critically. The story follows Doctor Dolittle (Robert Downey Jr.) ashe embarks on a ship voyage to find a cure for Queen Victoria’s illness, and takes a bunch of his animal and human companions on his voyage.
Dolittlewas meant to be a story for all ages, but it didn’t resonate with any particular age group that well. It’s a decent children’s story because of the fun talking animals and the colorful adventure,but its running gags consisting of farts and bottoms can’t carry two hours of any movie. Robert Downey Jr., as talented as he is, does his best to save the movie, while having Rami Malek and Emma Thompson as the animal characters' voices didn’t really do much for the plot.
Watch on Amazon Prime
2’Theodore Rex' (1995)
Starring Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldbergwon her Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1991 forGhost. In it, she plays the medium Oda Mae Brown, who helps the main character, Sam (Patrick Swayze), a ghost, protect his girlfriend Molly (Demi Moore) from the people who killed him. InGhost,Whoopi Goldberg really found her spot and the role that suited her perfectly. Then she madeTheodore Rex, which was, to say the least, an interesting choice. This movie never made it to theaters, andit was a total mess all around, with lawsuits, arguments, and lost money.
Though Whoopi Goldberghas the acting chopsfor serious roles, it’s unclear whether she was typecast later on or had a terrible agent. It seems, however, she made a verbal deal to makeTheodore Rex,a buddy cop movie about her and her anthropomorphic dinosaur partner solving anti-dinosaur crimes. Interestingly, this deal led her to some legal problems, so she settled for more money eventually. Though Goldberg is likely as disappointed asTheodore Rex’s viewers, it’s not her fault that the movie was pushed. It was, after all, a terribly expensive ordeal that they needed to work, something that happens too often in Hollywood.
Theodore Rex isn’t available for streaming.
Theodore Rex
1’Christopher Columbus: The Discovery' (1992)
Starring Marlon Brando, Benicio Del Toro, and Catherine Zeta-Jones
Christopher Columbus: The Discoverywas a passion project for father and sonAlexanderandIlya Salkind. The shoot was troubled, the production was tumultuous, and finally, the movie was received so terribly thatAlexander Salkind fought terribly with his sonand vowed to never make movies again.The movie follows the titular character as he struggles to gain financing for his planned voyage.Marlon Brandoportrays the famous Catholic friar, Tomas de Torquemada. Joining him areTom Selleck, and two Oscar winners -Catherine Zeta-Jonesas Columbus' mistress Beatriz, andBenicio Del Toroas Alvaro, one of the ship’s crew members.
Marlon Brando notoriouslydeclined his second Oscarwin forThe Godfather, but he won his first forOn the Waterfrontin 1955. Benicio Del Toro won his best actor Oscar in 2001, soChristopher Columbus, for him, was way before he earned his spot on the Academy’s list. Finally, Catherine Zeta-Jones also won her best actress Oscar in 2003, much after this movie, soher and Del Toro’s careers didn’t take much of a hit for making this movie. Brando had the most to lose, so to speak, though his choices often reflected his mental state andattitude toward Hollywood and acting.
