8. Brad Pitts Scene Destroys The Realism - 12 Years A Slave
If we had to pick a film about slavery that in its final act saw a cameo from someone involved in the production playing a different nationality to obnoxious results we'd pick Quentin Tarantino's appearance as an Aussie bounty hunter in Django Unchained. But, unlike the revenge thriller, 12 Years A Slave doesn't let it's gross mis-casting pull it down. Steve McQueen's Oscar winner serves as a who's who of great character actors. Michael Fassbender, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong'o may have got awards recognition for their performances, but the whole cast, with Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano and Paul Giamatti each going all in as slavers, was pretty damn great. That is aside from Brad Pitt as plot pivotal character Samuel Bass, whose scene sticks out like a sore thumb. Maybe it's because the film's producer is playing the one out-and-out good white guy, or maybe it's that Bass hews too close to Pitt himself, but this is the one place where the casting of a well known face feels like a mistake. 12 Years A Slave is built on a feeling of being real, with its brutality helping make it a hit. Thankfully the rest of the movie was competent enough at that to ensure the one point where it lets up doesn't have a negative impact.
