10 Underrated Comedy Performances In Film

When you talk about underrated performers, look no further than the late, great Bill Paxton. He was the master of turning up in a couple of scenes but remaining the most memorable character in the film.

With his floppy side parting and Errol Flynn ‘tache, Paxton’s Simon is the perfect cinema sleazeball. Initially arriving as an earnest and paranoid secret agent, forced to blow his cover to Jamie Lee Curtis’s Helen, he is later revealed to be a used car salesman who pretends to be a spy to get women to sleep with him. “These women…need some release. A sense of danger. I provide that for them.”

Not just a comic subplot, Simon’s function in the film is to drive a wedge between Helen and her husband Harry, only to inadvertently strengthen their relationship as the stakes get higher. Paxton delivers this with aplomb whilst clearly relishing every slimy boast, and when the character finally tastes justice at the hands of Harry’s Omega Sector pals, it’s hard not to feel some compassion for him.

Stand-Out Moment: The car ride with Arnie’s Harry Tasker, husband of the woman Simon has his eyes on. “Let’s face it, if the husbands took care of business, I’d be out of business!”