10 Brilliant Performances Trapped In Terrible Recent Movies

Don't feel bad if you haven't heard of Running with the Devil: it's only one of Nicolas Cage's many recent straight-to-video action thrillers, and typically, is for the most part a totally forgettable, run-of-the-mill genre offering.

But in a surprising twist of fate, Cage shares the screen with the brilliant Laurence Fishburne, and in an even more unexpected turn, Fishburne delivers a deliciously barmy performance that makes Cage's seem positively meek and restrained.

Fishburne appears intermittently throughout the movie as a coke-snorting, hooker-banging drug dealer and, rather than simply showing his face on set for a few days to make a quick buck, he fully gives himself over to the insanity of it all.

Between his larger-than-life line readings and willingness to indulge his character's hornier instincts, he injects this otherwise staid VOD thriller with just the unpredictable energy you'd have reasonably expected his co-star to deliver.

Though few will view it as a career highlight for the legendary actor, it's a performance from a man who knows exactly what he's starring in, and has the good sense to crank the insanity up to 11. Marvelous.