10 Actors Who Gave Great Performances In TERRIBLE Recent Movies

Jason Momoa understood the assignment in Fast X.

Fast X Jason Momoa
Universal Pictures

There's a lot to be said for an actor who can read the script for a bad movie, agree to star, and give a performance leagues ahead of what the material deserves.

It's a noble, even heroic act when an actor puts far more effort in than anyone would ever expect them to given the material, and that's absolutely what these 10 performers did in these 10 awful recent movies.

Each of these films plumbed the depths of their respective genres and were met with indifference-at-best by most critics, if not outright disdain.

Yet you'd barely know it considering how enthusiastic these actors were, throwing themselves into their roles with respectable gusto.

And in turn, they helped these otherwise dreadful film be a little more watchable, leaving audiences content that at least one person involved with the production did their job right.

These actors all turned up, put in the work, and categorically understood the assignment. No matter how thankless their job might've been, they came to set prepared and in turn gave a performance that was basically the single standout element of these terrible recent films...

10. Russell Crowe - The Pope's Exorcist

Fast X Jason Momoa
Sony Pictures Releasing

Though it actually wasn't the worst movie about exorcism released in 2023 (we'll get to that later) The Pope's Exorcist was nevertheless an agonisingly unambitious, by-the-numbers possession flick made memorable only by Russell Crowe's wonderfully idiosyncratic central performance.

As meme-worthy, scooter-riding exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth, Crowe is clearly having an absolute blast, rocking an honestly pretty good Italian accent and elevating the entire enterprise through his sheer charismatic thrall.

Crowe basically committed harder to this blatant paycheck role than anyone could've reasonably anticipated, and the result is a film that would've been forgotten in a week without his bizarrely dedicated effort.

Instead, it's become something of a guilty pleasure among horror fans over the past few months. You know it's not good - and, often, it's actually genuinely awful - and yet, Crowe's performance has an infectiously entertaining quality to it that can't help but bleed into the rest of the movie.

A sequel has already been confirmed, and so as long as Crowe returns with the exact same aura, it'll honestly be tough to resist taking a punt.

Contributor
Contributor

Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.