10 Glorious Examples Of Overacting in Movies

9. Ben Stiller €“ Dodgeball

Dwight

I realise that Dodgeball is a comedy so overacting is sort of the whole deal here, but sometimes a performance stands out in the annals as something so profoundly ridiculous you just have to stand up and applaud. So without further ado, I give you Dwight Goodman. It€™s literally a perfect performance from Stiller, who€™s clearly having a whale of a time portraying an egotistical idiot, and utterly hilarious to boot. He has to work hard to take this movie from under the nose of Rip Torn as Patches O€™Houlihan who offers him stern competition in the overacting buffoonery stakes, but there€™s just something awesome about the part of Dwight Goodman, and he€™s eminently watchable in all he does. Whether he€™s puffing up his inflatable crotch, flipping the bird from the back of camp scooter or absolutely massacring Spanish, there€™s an over-the-top energy to him which is just phenomenal. After all, nobody makes him bleed his own blood. It€™s a shame that Dodogeball is now likely to be remembered as the film which carries that now-heroically awkward cameo from Lance Armstrong, because it deserves to be remembered for Stiller€™s anarchic performance. Him shoving pizza down his shorts for some sort of gratification is something that has to be seen to be believed, and he brings a manic-ness to proceedings which is badly needed next to Vince Vaughn€™s slacker-straight man persona. Honestly though, it€™s the moustache that does it for me. It€™s like a tiny rodent just took up residence on his top lip, and the man just rolled with it. Couple that with the Globo Gym cobra dance and you€™ve got an overacting comedy winner.
Contributor
Contributor

Durham University graduate and qualified sports journalist. Very good at sitting down and watching things. Can multi-task this with playing computer games. Football Manager addict who has taken Shrewsbury Town to the summit of the Premier League. You can follow me at @Ed_OwenUK, if you like ramblings about Newcastle United and A Place in the Sun. If you don't, I don't know what I can do for you.