10 Brilliant Performances Trapped In Terrible Recent Movies

John Crowley's The Goldfinch was probably the most unexpected Oscar bait dud of last year: with an acclaimed filmmaker, Pulitzer Prize-winning source material, and a killer cast, it had all the makings of a ferocious Best Picture contender.

But as it turned out, the movie was an almost unbearably overlong 149-minute misfire, a pretentious mish-mash of overwrought melodrama and unearned tonal shifts, led by a thoroughly miscast Ansel Elgort as protagonist Theo.

Though the cast was clearly straining to elevate Oscar nominee Peter Straughan's script, there's only really one performance which manages to truly transcend the stodgy, dull-as-dishwater filmmaking.

Sarah Paulson has a small but memorable supporting role as Xandra, the cocktail waitress girlfriend of Theo's father (Luke Wilson), and she's easily the most energetic and entertaining presence in the entire film.

Playing massively against type with her spray tan, hair extensions and tacky attire, Paulson brings the much-needed levity in a movie that otherwise takes itself deathly seriously.

Though she only appears intermittently throughout the outrageously bloated runtime, Paulson's performance is the most self-aware and expertly calibrated of the huge ensemble.