10 OKAY Movies Elevated By ONE Phenomenal Performance
Sometimes, one is all it takes.
Sometimes, it just takes one good performance to haul a movie to cult classic status, or even lift it to the top of the box office. Even though we love it when a movie fires on all cylinders, there’s something fascinating about watching one actor perform at a level high above their peers.
It’s often because only one actor gets the right tone, or is the only one done favours by the script, while other times a supporting role ends up massively overshadowing the everyman lead. The movies here all make for decent watching, but they’d be a helluva lot worse without one particular actor kicking into overdrive.
The likes of Will Smith, Charlize Theron and JK Simmons all find themselves in someone’s shadow here, so it happens to the best of them.
Movies like Buried, Locke or Castaway which largely see a single actor on screen for most of the runtime haven’t been included, instead it’s the ones where someone has stepped up to the plate as others either phone it in or don’t have the script to develop their character in a meaningful way.
10. Suicide Squad - Margot Robbie
Margot Robbie was never going to win an Oscar for this role (although bizarrely, Suicide Squad itself did for Hair & Makeup), but few characters have become bigger cultural icons off the back of disappointing movies.
Ten years from now, she’s likely the only one who’ll be remembered from this film, aside from maybe Jared Leto who’ll be remembered for all the wrong reasons. With James Gunn’s follow up set to be a reboot rather than direct sequel, only Robbie and Viola Davis may keep their place.
Harley Quinn is one of Batman’s most iconic foes and has a history of popularity from TV shows, comics and video games, so it’s not like Robbie did it all on her own. That said, her look was a new take on the character and it’s this image of Harley Quinn which is cemented in the public zeitgeist, so clearly she’s had quite the influence.
Suicide Squad has its issues and the marketing and pressure to perform as DCs ‘kind-of-but-not-really’ Guardians Of The Galaxy’ certainly didn’t help.
However, Robbie’s performance not only carried the movie through its rocky patches, it also means it at least has some positive legacy, which not all DC movies get.