12 Actors Who Were Brilliant In Utterly Sh*t Movies
11. Paul Giamatti - Ironclad
Ironclad would most accurately be described as siege porn. When King John decides that he probably shouldnt have signed the Magna Carta, he hires an army of Danish mercenaries and marches on Rochester only to be met by resistance from a rag-tag group of free men. What follows is a film made up entirely of repeated attempts to storm a castle with lots of limbs being lost in the process.
With a cast including Charles Dance, Brian Cox and Derek Jacobi (not to mention James Purefoy and Kate Mara) youd be forgiven for thinking that Ironclad would be a gripping tale of medieval warfare and feudal politics but instead, audiences are offered a shallow action film with swords fights. The only real reason to watch the movie is Paul Giamattis entertainingly irate take on King John.
As the films main antagonist, he has a lot of heavy lifting to do; mainly in the form of rousing maniacal speeches. Giamatti is no stranger to villainous roles but he really goes above and beyond to make the audience despise his character. It take a real skill to create a persona that people love to hate but Giamatti excels and if not for his performance, viewers would have little to no motivation to root for the films heroes who are as forgettable as they are dull.