10 Actors Who Drew Critical Acclaim In Awful Movies

8. Will Smith As Nicky Spurgeon – Focus

Focus received mixed reviews from critics upon its 2015 release, which doesn't bode particularly well when you consider that it stars Will Smith and Margot Robbie in leading roles, both huge names in their own right.

In fact, the performances of its lead actors were not the issue, but instead the movie's excessive plot twists and shallow story proved to be critics' main issue.

Although Smith's previous leading role was in universally panned After Earth (which led to a couple of quiet years for the Fresh Prince), his role in Focus was the movie's high point.

Smith and Robbie boast an enticing on-screen chemistry, and seeing the actor returning to fine form was heartening for his fans, many of which had lost faith in him after the nepotism-fuelled disaster that was After Earth.

While Focus stretched itself too far in attempting to be an intelligent, fast paced crime-comedy-drama (yes, apparently that's a genre), Smith was able to pull the movie some way back into realism with his grounded, charismatic performance as seasoned con-man Nicky Spurgeon.

Contributor
Contributor

Antisocial nerd that spends a lot of time stringing words together. Once tried unsuccessfully to tame a crow.